Origin of pulling your whistle out of pocket when you're just about to tip off
 

I don't do it, I use a laynard and put on when I'm in locker room, nor due I tuck whistle in shirt. I'm R last week and our U1 is a fairly new varsity official and so wants to be a big dawg. I noticed he had his laynard hanging out of his pocket and as he is leaving block to get into position pulls out whistle only to have noose be in a knot, we wait about 30 seconds before he has unknots it and puts it on, even home coach is razzing him. My partner and I good naturedly ripped him at half.


So when did this all start? I'm guessing this filtered down from D1 and copied

never heard of it

I believe you can edit your own title. That being said I do take the whistle out late before I jump the ball, but usually after we run across the court. But I never did this because someone at the college level did this. Actually I basically did this to not have the whistle dangling well before the contest.

Peace

Edited the title for you...

As I don't like to use a lanyard and my assignor doesn't care if I use one, my whistle is in my pocket until I'm getting into whether position I'll be for the jump ball.

How Rome is Here
 

I did this for a coupla games early this season and after an observer told me it looked stupid I put it back inside my shirt and don't do that anymore.

Maybe it will catch on sometime, but right now only maverick big-time wannabe's from a rather distant large city go without a lanyard. If more guys did it it might look normal, I suppose. Not sure if it will catch on or not. Doesn't look like it.

I did realize tonight right after taking off my coat that I forgot my whistle. Partner had a nice new Fox 40 with lanyard in his pocket. Handy.

Did you always leave it in pocket until tip off?

Virtually all of the referees with whom I work keep their whistles in their pockets until just prior to tip-off. Further, whenever there is an extended break -- time outs, between quarters, etc. -- they (we) either remove our whistles or tuck them in our shirts. I personally started doing this when a veteran official suggested that someone could come out of the stands and grab the whistle and create a very uncomfortable situation for the referee. Ever since, I have kept the whistle out of plain sight until ready for play....

Tucking it away during time outs and intermissions seems a little unnecessary, but before and after the game and during halftime, mine goes under the shirt. It's too easy for someone to grab to leave hanging out there. And if you're wearing a neck lanyard, it could be life-threatening in a fight if it's grabbed.

I'd say yall are being too paranoid about people grabbing the whistle in a fight, but we've seen way too often that you can't put anything past anyone.

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me :D

Seriously though, if someone is going to throw a haymaker at you, they usually will grab at the center of your shirt to try to hold you in place for the punch. Why give them one more thing to grab at?

Having a lanyard hanging out of your pocket looks sloppy and attracts undue attention to yourself. He should have been humiliated that he held up the start of the game and if not, I would have made sure to let him have it at halftime.

Lighten up, Francis. If I had done it, I'd probably be laughing with the rest of my crew.

My goodness, this isn't brain surgery we're performing out there. Seems as though some people can't ever have a little FUN on the floor.

(That said, I used to be a pocket person and I just put my noose on under my jacket now.)

No, it is not brain surgery, but it is unprofessional to have a lanyard hanging out of your pocket and then have to untie a knot and hold up the game. This is not the tone we want to set starting a game.

Well I guess I am "unprofessional" as I have my lanyard hanging out of my pocket before the game. I do that so I make sure I have it with me and hardly anyone notices considering it is black and my pants are black. But hey if that is a problem then someone would have been saying something by now. Now I put my lanyard on well before the jump ball in time. I do what I do kind of as a superstitious thing and to get my mind right with a routine.

Peace

I do this. I don't like it around my neck unless it needs to be, which is when the game starts. I tuck it in my shirt during all time-outs b/c I don't want it bouncing around. As soon as the horn for halftime goes off I take it off my neck and put it in the pocket of the direction we are going in the 2nd half.

Would only change this is if Tio was a supervisor signing my checks.

Here is the origin:

Classic Movie Line #34 - YouTube

Like Rich said, Lighten up Francis (great movie by the way)...

There mare so many other things more important than this when it comes to "setting a tone" to start a game.

It really is ok to laugh and smile on the court when things like this happen.

Last week I was about to tip off the 1st game a BJV/BV DH and realized I didn't have my whistle. It actually ended up lightening the mood of the official scorer who seemed irritated during my pre-game table meeting. She teased me about it and then she and I were best of friends the rest of the evening.

Speaking of pi$$ing off table staff...

We were watching a bit of the JV game at a school last week. My partner noticed that the timeout timer was put up on the clock and ticked down for every timeout called. He wanted that shut off and, well, I agree. Teams want to know how much time is left in a quarter, the officials want to know, etc. etc. Watching a timeout tick down is silly.

During his meeting with the timer, he told the timer to shut that function off. This really ground the timer's gears apparently, cause when I went over prior to the game he turned away when I went down the line to introduce myself and shake hands. I immediately turned to my partner and said (pretty loudly), "Now look at what you did."

He did turn off the function, however.

Had a stinkin' parent during the same game I tossed the coach running the clock for 6th grade. Clock was only supposed to stop for TOs and during FTs. The entire game he would stop the clock when he wasn't supposed to and then forget to restart it pretty much every time. Bill, clock, every 30 seconds was really annoying. Anyway, got that game finished and realized he would be doing the next game because his son's team was doing a DH. About 3 min. into the game I had been hollering at him for about a minute and so was my partner to start the clock. he didn't. As we were transitioning, I slapped the table really loudly and hollered at him "clock!!!" The rest of the game ran very smoothly after that. :D

indeed. :D

I think having the whistle hanging out of your pocket is just another ritual. I don't see it being a big deal either way. Really, people don't pay as much attention to us as some of us think.

What I do with my whistle is actually on the opposite end of this discussion. When I start getting dressed, I put my whistle around my neck...before I do anything else. Well, almost anything - depending on what I'm wearing. If I'm wearing anything except a tie, the whistle goes on before I start undressing. It is just something I do and have done for a long time.

+1.

But I do think you should take it out of your pocket in time so that if you do need to straighten it out, you don't delay the start of the game.

Up next: at EXACTLY what time during the introductions do you take off your jacket? Does it depend on whether the announcer alternates teams or doeas all of one team first followed by the other team? (Sorry -- flashing back to an overly detailed pre-game from many years ago)

For the first time in awhile I had a game where the announcer alternated each starter. That has not happen in some time. :)

Peace

When I feel like it? We used to always take them off after the visiting team was announced. Now I may take it off earlier, depending on how I feel at the time.

If both teams go in and we go back to the locker room, we may just leave them there. Hasn't happened this season, though.

Another one of the "normal" rituals I don't participate in...I don't fold my jacket up when I take it off. What I do it close to balling it up and sometimes I do actually ball it up. I'm a rebel! :D

Only The Old Timers Will Get This ...
 

I'm picturing Brooke Shields, as a basketball official, getting dressed.

"You wanna know what comes between me and my whistle? Nothing."

(And it's a pretty picture.)

Oh. That's completely unprofessional. It even borders on affecting your integrity. You're just trying to "big-time" me. I'd never work with you if you do that.

Why? Because it's not how I do it and my way is the only right way.

Now if we could just make that the auto reply to all threads of this sort and then automatically close the thread we'd all be better off.

(First two paragraphs in blue. Third one is reasonably serious).

I have my lanyard hanging out of my pocket. I've done it for a number of years. I don't like having the lanyard around my neck, which is the style I wear, and I don't want it to ball up into a knot in my pocket.

Jacket comes off between national anthem and starters being announced.

I started putting my whistle in my right pocket after I forgot my whistle at the start of one game. If it is on your shirt / around your neck it is easier to think you have it on when you don't — at least for me it was.

Just started putting it in my right pocket and as I left the locker room I would pat my pocket to make sure I had it ... never forgot again!! :)

Agreed on both points. I think it's funny that so many people think that anything other officials do that they don't personally like or do themselves then those other officials are trying to be "big dawgs" or "big time" or copying officials at a higher level.

And besides other officials, people do not pay nearly as much attention to us as many of us think.


When I transferred into my current association 4 years ago I noticed many of the veteran officials putting the whistle in their right pocket. I had never done this myself and didnt really like it at first so I didnt do it.

Then I forgot my whistle in the locker room one time because I thought it was around my neck. Another time I couldnt find my whistle only to discover it already around my neck. And as I started getting more R assignments and having to runn across the court with the ball in my hand prior to the toss/tip, I didnt like also holding my lanyard with the other hand to keep it from bouncing.

So I now put my whistle in my pocket because it lets me know I have it and I don't have to hold my lanyard or worry about it bouncing around before the game. I do check for knots prior to putting in my pocket and pull it out when I get opposite the table.

Bottom line is that IMO something like this is much more about personal preference/ritual and not about big timing it or anything that should bother anyone else.

I put my whistle around my neck before I leave the house. I've forgotten it twice in 27 years but remembered it before I got a mile from home both times.

Ha.....just was thinking about this last week. my rule of thumb is after player intros we take them off, always waiting for R to start first. Had a partner last week, just before intros, unzips and jacket comes off as myself (r) and U1 kept them on.

It was a harbinger of things to come for rest of the night by the way.

I have no rule of thumb, myself. I usually take it off as soon as the introductions start. Nobody's looking at us that.

Just a little thing, IMHO makes you look like more of a team. Small potatos.

By the way, working kids games last night and talking to partner about videos with plays situations and he says " you won't believe the one I saw where trail(new lead) calls an inbounding five second call after made basket " I smiled!

I wear a smitty and tuck it into my shirt until we're ready to go

Amateur. I wear a whistle around my neck 24/7. Yeah, it gets in the way in certain situations, but it's a small price to pay for being ready to go in a case a game breaks out in my living room.

+1

I can't imagine anyone ever doing that.

Especially not at the end of a closely contested game...

Yeah, why would they?

Nope, it could never happen! :D