First time to start the game with a technical

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by letemplay

Tis true...but, if you are an official assigned to a game and you see, for instance, next Tuesday looming as a possible conflict, you probably come off that assignment to avoid any cluster___. A lone coach (some don't have assistants) might not have this luxury.

An official can have something come up at the last minute at his 9-to-5. One of my assignor's has a great deal of trouble filling in those 4:00 start times. Someone could say they are taking off from work at 3:00 and then get that unexpected phone call or meeting that holds them up.