How not to miss a timeout request

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich

We had a game earlier this season where a coach got on us for not recognizing the timeout quicker.

What's left out of this story is that the coach never left his seat on the bench -- his assistant got whacked in the second quarter and apparently he didn't realize he could stand to request a timeout. And the timeout was wanted in a very non-standard time where we'd be actively looking to the bench to see a request.

And yet, this was our fault.

I almost cried as I consoled myself in my post-game beer.

We had a similar situation last year where a coach was given a T early in the game for a uniform infraction (don't get me started). Then as the game went on I ended up calling a T on a player for language. So late in the game where he was not going to win at that point, he requests a timeout while sitting down and I could not at all hear him as I was literally right in front of the bench. He was more visual than vocal and my partner properly saw the request and granted the timeout. Then the coach immediately tried to suggest I ignored him on purpose. Then when I was asking him what he was saying as I was standing right in front of the bench, he tried to accuse me of "going after him."

To make a long story short, there were "Special Reports" written by me because of something the Principal said to me while the game was going on. And all of these was my fault for the uniform technicals where I had almost nothing to do with the actual penalty they incurred as I did not follow the policy personally we were asked to use to come to a conclusion a uniform was actually illegal. Long story short, I do not work that conference at all anymore (Thank God) and I will never take a game in the near future outside of the suburbs again at the high school level as a normal practice.

I just love how coaches make something they do not understand into some thing you did as an official wrong.

Peace