Did I bait the coach...?

[VaTerp]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

I really don't understand the whole "what did you say?" thing...if you heard the coach or player say something that warrants a T, then call the T...the whole making them repeat it and then calling the T just makes us look like jerks and opens the door to criticism that - as the OP title suggest - we baited the coach or player.

+1

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

Methinks you should've whacked him immediately after the "You're a bad ref" comment.

If you think that's what he said but you aren't 100% sure, give him a quiet "Do you want to repeat that, Coach?". If he repeats himself, then he's definitely earned the T. If he doesn't repeat himself, you've given him a chance to get out of the situation.

Similar to what I do when a player drops an F-bomb in frustration at himself that's quiet enough that nobody else heard it except me. "You said 'truck', right? Because if you said something else I might have to issue a technical foul"

Agree with the immediate whack but I don't really like either of the other approaches you suggest. If you hear it you either address it or choose to ignore it. You address it with a T or a warning.

Asking people what they said, to repeat themselves, or manipulating what they said has a lot of downside and very little upside.

You end up in an exchange that can quickly go downhill and then you have to issue a T that's going to look terrible on tape or subject yourself to further unsporting comments on behalf of the coach and swallow your whistle. Sure, sometimes it can work to diffuse a situation but IMO there are much better ways that have much less downside.