"That was a WEAK foul!!!"

Chris Whitten

May have kicked a technical foul last night. Very competitive MS boys game. B spectators quite vocal, bordering on abusive/personal comments toward officials. A1 is driving across the lane when he is hacked on the arm By B1 as he is gathering the ball. Coach B is immediately asking me what B1 did. After reporting the foul, I explained the call to him. He huffs and stomps off yelling, "That was a WEAK foul!!!" I took it as directed at me and my call (and possibly inciting his already boisterous crowd). After meeting with my partner and going over the foul shooting order, etc., Coach B called me over (calmly) and contended that he was yelling at his player. Until that moment I had not considered that as a possibility. I explained the way I perceived it and we moved on. After that we had a better game.

Indianaref

Doesn't sound like the way coach's "speak" to player. Sounds like the T worked the way it should.

jeschmit

Chris Whitten wrote
May have kicked a technical foul last night. Very competitive MS boys game. B spectators quite vocal, bordering on abusive/personal comments toward officials. A1 is driving across the lane when he is hacked on the arm By B1 as he is gathering the ball. Coach B is immediately asking me what B1 did. After reporting the foul, I explained the call to him. He huffs and stomps off yelling, "That was a WEAK foul!!!" I took it as directed at me and my call (and possibly inciting his already boisterous crowd). After meeting with my partner and going over the foul shooting order, etc., Coach B called me over (calmly) and contended that he was yelling at his player. Until that moment I had not considered that as a possibility. I explained the way I perceived it and we moved on. After that we had a better game.

This was directed at you. Good call on the T, and don't think anything else about it. He can call you over after the fact and say it wasn't directed at you, but if he does that right after you explained to him what happened on the play -- its a T.

Adam

"I wasn't talking to you" is the oldest, and weakest, defense in the coaching book. I'm guessing he hadn't exactly earned the benefit of the doubt up to that point.

OKREF

Prime Example.

Fast break to A1 dribbling towards the basket, A2, running along sets an illegal screen on B1 tryining to get across to A1. I am opposite the table and coach jumps and yells as loud as he can, "That is pathetic, just pathetic". I give him a T. He then says he wasn't talking about me, and say the call was pathetic not me.

maven

Adam wrote
"I wasn't talking to you" is the oldest, and weakest, defense in the coaching book.

Weak indeed. A good response is, "Coach I know who you were talking to." Not antagonistic, sarcastic, or disrespectful, but it doesn't let him slide nor invite further discussion.

Or, for my fellow English speakers, "Coach, I know to whom you were talking." 😉

Now, if I just had a good response to the new coach fave around here: "C'mon, maven, you're better than that!" My most recent response to that one is, "Thanks, coach!"

Freddy

maven wrote
"Coach I know who you were talking to."

Attention: Grammar Police Alert . . .

maven wrote
"Coach, I know to whom you were talking."

Oh, nevermind. 😉

Adam

maven wrote
Weak indeed. A good response is, "Coach I know who you were talking to." Not antagonistic, sarcastic, or disrespectful, but it doesn't let him slide nor invite further discussion.

Or, for my fellow English speakers, "Coach, I know to whom you were talking." 😉

Now, if I just had a good response to the new coach fave around here: "C'mon, maven, you're better than that!" My most recent response to that one is, "Thanks, coach!"

I told a player once, "No, you were talking to me through your teammates." I'll go with yours instead.

On your last, depending on my rapport, I might respond with, "I think we both know I'm not."

Raymond

Adam wrote
I told a player once, "No, you were talking to me through your teammates." I'll go with yours instead.

On your last, depending on my rapport, I might respond with, "I think we both know I'm not."

I've warned a coach who was having a very audible convo with his player by telling him that's the type of conversation I don't want to hear in the future.

MD Longhorn

Adam wrote
I told a player once, "No, you were talking to me through your teammates." I'll go with yours instead.

On your last, depending on my rapport, I might respond with, "I think we both know I'm not."

My assignor must not agree - he keeps sending me to your games.

twocentsworth

OKREF wrote
Prime Example.

Fast break to A1 dribbling towards the basket, A2, running along sets an illegal screen on B1 tryining to get across to A1. I am opposite the table and coach jumps and yells as loud as he can, "That is pathetic, just pathetic". I give him a T. He then says he wasn't talking about me, and say the call was pathetic not me.

"I understand Coach. The T wasn't because you're pathetic....it's because what you said was pathetic."

Sharpshooternes

twocentsworth wrote
"i understand coach. The t wasn't because you're pathetic....it's because what you said was pathetic."

rsl

Chris Whitten wrote
After that we had a better game.

And there is the answer... Good T.

Adam

rsl wrote
And there is the answer... Good T.

The answer to whether it was a good T rarely involves asking if the game got better. The two are perhaps correlated, but not causal.

rsl

Adam wrote
The answer to whether it was a good T rarely involves asking if the game got better. The two are perhaps correlated, but not causal.

Agreed, but what the OP described (raucous crowd and borderline coach) makes me think the it was casual in this case. Just my opinion.

deecee

Chris Whitten wrote
B spectators quite vocal, bordering on abusive/personal comments toward officials..

Nip this in the bud. Especially in a MS game.

As for the T, it was a good one. Whenever a coach tells me he wasn't talking to me I usually laugh inside.

Adam

rsl wrote
Agreed, but what the OP described (raucous crowd and borderline coach) makes me think the it was casual in this case. Just my opinion.

Probably, I just don't like asking that question when a guy is second guessing himself. Too many times the coach is stupid, and a good T doesn't help.
Or a smart coach will just live quietly with a bad T.

rsl

Adam wrote
Probably, I just don't like asking that question when a guy is second guessing himself. Too many times the coach is stupid, and a good T doesn't help.
Or a smart coach will just live quietly with a bad T.

OK, I see your point.

APG

Chris Whitten wrote
May have kicked a technical foul last night. Very competitive MS boys game. B spectators quite vocal, bordering on abusive/personal comments toward officials. A1 is driving across the lane when he is hacked on the arm By B1 as he is gathering the ball. Coach B is immediately asking me what B1 did. After reporting the foul, I explained the call to him. He huffs and stomps off yelling, "That was a WEAK foul!!!" I took it as directed at me and my call (and possibly inciting his already boisterous crowd). After meeting with my partner and going over the foul shooting order, etc., Coach B called me over (calmly) and contended that he was yelling at his player. Until that moment I had not considered that as a possibility. I explained the way I perceived it and we moved on. After that we had a better game.

In of itself, "that's a weak call," is nothing in my books. I don't think it's a comment that's personal. Now with the theatrics that you mentioned, plus the inciting of the crowd, I wouldn't have a problem with the call.

Adam

APG wrote
In of itself, "that's a weak call," is nothing in my books. I don't think it's a comment that's personal. Now with the theatrics that you mentioned, plus the inciting of the crowd, I wouldn't have a problem with the call.

For me, the comment alone would get rung. It's no different than "that's a middle school call."