Why say "foul"? Just say, "Blue, 33."

(I saw a lot of IL officials say "blue shirt" when working games down there. I found that equally weird.)

+1

They actually brought told us not to say "foulzon" in a meeting this year. I don't think I've ever said that. Til my first game after that meeting. Stupid power of suggestion.

That's a Big Ten-Four -- I Mean a One Hundred Four -- Good Buddy
 

If this had a Like button I would click on it. :)

I do not get the use of the "shirt" part. Not everyone does it and so few people do it from what I can tell it always raises my eye brows.

Peace

Fairly or not, it always struck me as an attempt to be obvious about not talking about skin color, as I've only seen it used with black and white jerseys.

"Where They Will Not Be Judged By The Color Of Their Skin" (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
 

Political correctness to the extreme.

Hard for me to comprehend the inordinate measure of self-afflicted, over-the-top sensitivity inherent in the person's psyche, but I actually had a partner who made this an issue right before the jump ball to start the game several years back. He spent the whole game calling "visitors' ball"..."foul, visitors"..."visitors' timeout," while calling the other team naturally by the color of the home jerseys.
Appeared so ridiculous that the obvious, unnatural avoidance of his verbalization of the color of the jersey of that team attracted more attention than it really needed to.
I just called it by jersey color. Didn't really matter to anyone in the whole gym but my partner that day, I guess.

I have never heard that explanation to why guys say "shirt." Actually the people that do this are old timers mostly and I guess that is the way they used to say things and it never changed. Not sure it is that well thought out.

Peace

You're probably right. That's just how it came across to me as a new guy (I haven't heard it in years.)

I am sure to some people they want to avoid some offensive issue, but that just sounds so absurd if that is the case. I say the color and it does sometimes strike me funny when I have to say, "Black coach" or "Red Coach" and there is some sort of association with their race, but that is never taken serious by me. I even chuckle when I say, "Black ball." Again it does not mean someone should be honestly offended. I know I am not offended as a person that could be labeled if I was to mention a color. Just like it would not offend me if I heard someone say, "I like to wear black (or white) clothing."

Peace

Just "black" works here, too.

I say both. No particular reason, just know I say both. I think we worry too much about what people say. The average person or official hardly if ever notices anyway.

Peace

Many years ago I played in an independent tourney where both teams showed up wearing gold jerseys. Their team was all black. Our team was all white. So that's the way the officials identified us. Then and now, it seems logical and inoffensive to me.

Seems logical under the circumstances, but no way officials could get away with it now. Someone (probably completely unrelated to the teams and just sitting in the crowd) would get offended and the lawsuit would be filed before the final horn.