First AAU Follies of the Off-Season

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by ODog

Tourney in CT last weekend:

New partner, never met her before. 1 minute into the game, I'm the trail, a shot bounces on the top of the backboard, falls back into play and my partner (lead on the endline underneath the basket) whistles out of bounds. Ughhh, long day ahead: PCA -- fail; Rules -- fail. At the first timeout, I say, "On that shot a minute or so ago, looked to me like it just bounced on the top of the backboard. What'd you see there?"

"Oh, well I'm from Massachusetts," (so am I) "and up there, top of the backboard is out of bounds." I tried to explain the rule but she just said, "We can do it your way." So we did it "my" way for that game, but be forewarned: she's out there and was unswayed by my attempts at polite reform.
So it's not just the fans, coaches and players, fellas. The horror show is across the board.

Same tourney, different game. A1, inbounding on the endline, passes to a teammate across the free-throw lane, the ball hitting the net as it enters the court. Team B coach asks, "Isn't the net out of bounds?" Just when you think you've heard it all, you discover there's a whole other level of thought you never knew was possible.


I went the sarcasm route -- never advisable -- and said, "That'd make scoring pretty tough, wouldn't it?" and luckily that was the proper tack with this coach, who laughed and gave an "Oh ... right" look.

AAU is like an outlaw society.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by ODog

A1, inbounding on the endline, passes to a teammate across the free-throw lane, the ball hitting the net as it enters the court. Team B coach asks, "Isn't the net out of bounds?".

Maybe he was thinking of the "side baskets" we occasionally see in the "down position" on a few of the courts where we may officiate. Usually with Catholic middle school kids, I say, before handing the ball to the inbounder, "Be careful, that (pointing up) basket is out of bounds." I hate to admit it, but here, in my little corner of Connecticut, we have a few high school courts like that.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

Impossible. I'be worked with That Girl this summer, and she's not from Massachusetts.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by ODog

"Oh, well I'm from Massachusetts," (so am I) "and up there, top of the backboard is out of bounds."

Being from MA, I take offense at that.

[ODog]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

Being from MA, I take offense at that.

Yup. As did I.

I think she thought, because we were in Conn., that invoking her out-of-stateness would make me think, "Oh, there must be fundamental differences in the basic rules of basketball from state to state" and cause me to just let her consistently enforce her fantasized rules from outside her PCA.

She wasn't banking on me being from the next town over from her. The MSBOA patch (with the state outline) on my sleeve didn't tip her off that her alibi wouldn't check out. Alas geography, much like basketball, just isn't her thing.

But you'd never convince her of that. She was definitely "that girl," as one of you so eloquently (and visually) put it. Sadly, she was no Marlo Thomas.

Scrapper, if it's any consolation, she wasn't an IAABO official.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by ODog

Scrapper, if it's any consolation, she wasn't an IAABO official.

It's not a consolation, but it definitely explains a little bit. Not that all IAABO officials know all the rules, but the non-IAABO officials -- in my region, anyway -- are really bad. Really. Bad.

[ODog]

I hear you. In our neck of the woods, we have two IAABO boards and a "women's" board. I'm not sure what the board's intent was when it first began, but members of this board (who are both male and female, btw) can now officiate both girls and boys high school hoops in our area. And, obviously, those of us on the IAABO boards can also officiate both genders.

So I'm not really sure what the point of the rogue board is, but it's a painfully weak lot, with a few pleasant exceptions.

Maybe someone can help me out here: One of the things they do on "their" board is have the trail stand tableside on free throws, which conflicts directly with our mechanic. I also find it incredibly ineffective because A.) they're right in position to take an earful from the coaches, and B.) they are COMPLETELY oblivious to subs (which might be the case regardless of their position).

I've asked some of the officials on their board why they do this and their answer has consistently been, "That's the NFHS mechanic."

For reasons A and B, if no others, this couldn't possibly be true, could it? Any non-IAABO officials weigh in here?

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by ODog

I hear you. In our neck of the woods, we have two IAABO boards and a "women's" board. I'm not sure what the board's intent was when it first began, but members of this board (who are both male and female, btw) can now officiate both girls and boys high school hoops in our area. And, obviously, those of us on the IAABO boards can also officiate both genders.

So I'm not really sure what the point of the rogue board is, but it's a painfully weak lot, with a few pleasant exceptions.

Maybe someone can help me out here: One of the things they do on "their" board is have the trail stand tableside on free throws, which conflicts directly with our mechanic. I also find it incredibly ineffective because A.) they're right in position to take an earful from the coaches, and B.) they are COMPLETELY oblivious to subs (which might be the case regardless of their position).

I've asked some of the officials on their board why they do this and their answer has consistently been, "That's the NFHS mechanic."

For reasons A and B, if no others, this couldn't possibly be true, could it? Any non-IAABO officials weigh in here?

ODog, I think I can help a little.

If you're in Western MA the women's board you're talking about appears to be borrowing from the women's board in NY. In NY you have to be certified separately to work girls' H.S. ball since they/we use modified NCAAW mechanics (you also don't have to be IAABO to be a member of the women's board). Those mechanics include the T going tableside on shooting fouls.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

ODog, I think I can help a little.

If you're in Western MA the women's board you're talking about appears to be borrowing from the women's board in NY. In NY you have to be certified separately to work girls' H.S. ball since they/we use modified NCAAW mechanics (you also don't have to be IAABO to be a member of the women's board). Those mechanics include the T going tableside on shooting fouls.

I think he's talking about two-whistle mechanics, and I believe they (NFHS) did move to table-side trail on FTs. Three-whistle always has had T tableside anyway.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by ODog

Tourney in CT last weekend:

New partner, never met her before. 1 minute into the game, I'm the trail, a shot bounces on the top of the backboard, falls back into play and my partner (lead on the endline underneath the basket) whistles out of bounds. Ughhh, long day ahead: PCA -- fail; Rules -- fail. At the first timeout, I say, "On that shot a minute or so ago, looked to me like it just bounced on the top of the backboard. What'd you see there?"

"Oh, well I'm from Massachusetts," (so am I) "and up there, top of the backboard is out of bounds." I tried to explain the rule but she just said, "We can do it your way." So we did it "my" way for that game, but be forewarned: she's out there and was unswayed by my attempts at polite reform.

So it's not just the fans, coaches and players, fellas. The horror show is across the board.

Same tourney, different game. A1, inbounding on the endline, passes to a teammate across the free-throw lane, the ball hitting the net as it enters the court. Team B coach asks, "Isn't the net out of bounds?" Just when you think you've heard it all, you discover there's a whole other level of thought you never knew was possible.


I went the sarcasm route -- never advisable -- and said, "That'd make scoring pretty tough, wouldn't it?" and luckily that was the proper tack with this coach, who laughed and gave an "Oh ... right" look.

AAU is like an outlaw society.

Female official? She'll work the state HS finals in about 3 years and have a full D-1 schedule in about 5 and think it's because she's a great official.

[amusedofficial]

Originally Posted by Welpe

I was working games while my daughter was a newborn

I T'd up my daughter when she was seven hours old. 20 years later I still can't call that second one.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Impossible. I've worked with That Girl this summer, and she's not from Massachusetts.

Brewster, New York.

[ODog]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

I think he's talking about two-whistle mechanics, and I believe they (NFHS) did move to table-side trail on FTs. Three-whistle always has had T tableside anyway.

I am indeed talking about a two-whistle game. That's insane to me that any federation would want the T to stand tableside on FTs in a two-whistle setting.

Forget putting yourself in the line of fire of barking coaches. You'll get your share throughout the game regardless of where you're positioned. But having your back turned to the scorer and all of the subs is just stupid.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

Filling in for Padgett in his absence?

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by amusedofficial

I T'd up my daughter when she was seven hours old. 20 years later I still can't call that second one.

I'm teaching mine to signal "T". She's almost there and I think she has the ejection mechanic down more or less.