First Fight and Ejection

[maven]

Originally Posted by grunewar

I was always told coming up, if there's a fight in your game, it's because you missed something.

As a rule of thumb to prompt preventive officiating, this bromide is useful.

As an iron-clad rule that covers all cases and makes you feel bad, not so much. Like any other rule of thumb, it has exceptions.

Your task now is to reflect on anything you might have missed (probably nothing if you called 29 fouls in the half) that might have prevented it.

If a careful game evaluation turns up nothing, let it go: sometimes it has nothing to do with the game (player just had heart broken, flunked a grade, found out Santa doesn't exist, etc.).

[26 Year Gap]

It isn't always "our fault". Poor sportsmanship has been taken to a new level this year. We had 2 booted for fighting last night in the JV game. Long rebound. Clumsy collision. One kid takes a swing and his opposite number retaliates. Look at all of the vitriol during this past year's campaign. Civility and sportsmanship have taken it on the chin.
We had a hard intentional foul in the varsity game last night by the team that lost 96-60. One of my partners advised the coach about the player losing control. His response was that "we let it get that way". This is the same coach I had the problem with on the OOB violation last week. When your butt is getting kicked all over the gym and you don't even request a timeout, it surely is not the officials' "fault."

As an aside, his team was shooting a T and I asked which player was shooting. I told me and another player was lined up. I confirmed it with the coach and the other player reluctantly left. He(the player who left) then proceeded to get T'd up by one of my partners for a string of F-bombs. Tell me again coach about who doesn't have control.