We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us (Walt Kelly) ...
 

As much as I hate to say it, sometimes they are an official.

Pants On Fire ...
 

Agree. If he ends up being a liar with a ripped ear lobe, then so be it. I did my job by asking about the bandaid, if the player tells me that there's not an earring under the bandaid, then I feel that I have fulfilled my duty as an official. Just my opinion, and the opinion of my local interpreter. As usual, when in Rome, check your local listings.

We've been told to check under band aids. Even if it is covered, if it gets ripped out, we may be libel since the rules state no jewelry, and not checking could mean it is our fault.

That's your argument? :rolleyes:

Like I said, you go ahead and look the other way. I guess that's how "they" roll down in Houston.

Exactly. The day I see someone tell me it is for anything else, then I'll consider the alternative. Until then, bandaids on the ears mean only one thing....the earrings need to come out or they do not play.

I'm asking the kid because every time I see band-aids where earrings go, it's earrings. Having a matching set makes it even more obvious, IMO. I see it about 3 or 4 times a year (normally in off-season youth ball), and I've never had it be anything but earrings.

I'm not checking under the band-aid (unless I'm instructed to do so by the assigner or state) because of what you state above. I have no desire require the player to open a bandaged wound and possibly need to get a new one.

All I see is a bandage, and if the player tells me it's not covering earrings, I'll go with that. I'd probably have a quick chat with the coach about the dangers of earrings on the court, but I'm not butting in beyond that.

I'll have to check with the MS assigners around here and see how they want that handled in the .0001 chance that a player tells me the band-aids are for something besides earrings.

Me: Hey, #21, what's under those bandaids on your ears?
21: Nothing. Just some sores.
Me: OK. Let's go double check that with your coach.

Me: Coach, your player here tells me there's nothing under his bandaids. No earrings or anything like that.
Coach: Come on, Steve. I told you not to try to pull that crap. Take them out right now.

OR...

Coach: Yeah, he got attacked by the family cat and got both ears clawed up.

Problem handled. No peeking where I don't want to peek...and the liability is now squarely on the Coach.

I reply to the complaint about the holes closing up in this fashion: "If they close up in the amount of time it takes to play a game, you need to get your money back."

We ask every game, "Coach, are your players properly equipped?"

They always answer "Yes".

No longer my problem if the player lies.

I guess we is they

So simple.

And yet, it took a page and a half to get to it.

Doesn't IDon'tKnow play second base. :p

MTD, Sr.

Page and a half? That's 150 posts at the maximum setting (I increased the posts allowed per page to 100 recently).

Had a high school player last summer ask if I was going to pay to get them repierced. "No, and I'm not going to pay to get your ears sewn back together, either."

Here are my marching orders from the NYS Girls Basketball Officials Association:

Ear Lobes Taped
If an official notices that a player has her ear lobes taped, the official will ask the player to remove the tape. If an earring is found, that player cannot enter the game until the player removes the earrings. If you believe that tape on any exposed area might be covering jewelry, then ask the player to remove it, to see if it is covering jewelry.

As far as boys go, I was taught from the time I started officiating in NYC (20+ years) to check if they had band-aids/tape on their ears, especially in summer leagues since they do it more often.

As for how they justify it, not my concern. They give me my certification and this is what they tell me to do, so I do it. It's no big issue for me and I'd just as well not deal with a kid having his/her earlobe ripped in half.