Who Is "They?"

[MD Longhorn]

And I wonder what your response would have been had the player said, "nothing".

[#olderthanilook]

"They" is a close relative of "Idontknow".

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by #olderthanilook

"They" is a close relative of "Idontknow".

Doesn't IDon'tKnow play second base.

MTD, Sr.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

And I wonder what your response would have been had the player said, "nothing".

I'm not checking under the bandaids.

Would you?

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by Adam

I'm not checking under the bandaids.

Would you?

Yep. Under NYS girls' rules I have to. When I'm working under NFHS rules it's standard practice for us to check in my area.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

Yep. Under NYS girls' rules I have to. When I'm working under NFHS rules it's standard practice for us to check in my area.

Um ... really? What rule do they use to justify that? (Or is it a special NYS rule?)

There's ZERO chance I'm going to be asking to look under a bandaid of any sort. (In fact, I probably never get in Adam's situation as I would not have asked). They've got a bandaid, I'm assuming it's there for what it's supposed to be for - and there's no way I want to see some kid's open sore (much less make them possibly have to get another new bandaid when they mess up the first one from me asking to see.)

[Adam]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

Um ... really? What rule do they use to justify that? (Or is it a special NYS rule?)

There's ZERO chance I'm going to be asking to look under a band-aid of any sort. (In fact, I probably never get in Adam's situation as I would not have asked). They've got a band-aid, I'm assuming it's there for what it's supposed to be for - and there's no way I want to see some kid's open sore (much less make them possibly have to get another new band-aid when they mess up the first one from me asking to see.)

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.

[rockyroad]

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.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

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.

So simple.

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

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

Um ... really? What rule do they use to justify that? (Or is it a special NYS rule?)

There's ZERO chance I'm going to be asking to look under a bandaid of any sort. (In fact, I probably never get in Adam's situation as I would not have asked). They've got a bandaid, I'm assuming it's there for what it's supposed to be for - and there's no way I want to see some kid's open sore (much less make them possibly have to get another new bandaid when they mess up the first one from me asking to see.)

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.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

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.

Honestly, in the grand scheme of things, this may affect one of us, once in our career, in how we approach a situation.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

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

Fair enough... if those are your marching orders, it is what it is.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

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.

I do with without a directive and would not need one. But it is good they use one and are very clear. I think it is our obligation to find out when illegal items are being used, when they are visible to us. And the penalty is they cannot play until corrected, not like we are giving a T. I do not see the big deal and this is so rare because usually a coach takes care of this long before we have to address this issue. We often have to deal with it because a coach does not understand his or her responsibility and makes us the bad guy. And I just do not want to be the one that never asked when someone gets hurt and there is a clearly stated rule.

Peace

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I do not see the big deal and this is so rare...

We often have to deal with it ...

Confused. Does this happen rarely or often?

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I do with without a directive and would not need one. But it is good they use one and are very clear. I think it is our obligation to find out when illegal items are being used, when they are visible to us. And the penalty is they cannot play until corrected, not like we are giving a T. I do not see the big deal and this is so rare because usually a coach takes care of this long before we have to address this issue. We often have to deal with it because a coach does not understand his or her responsibility and makes us the bad guy. And I just do not want to be the one that never asked when someone gets hurt and there is a clearly stated rule.

Peace

JRut, I feel the same. I'd do it even if the state didn't tell me. My mentors taught me to do it and they told me why: liability. Some here say "it's not my responsibility" or "we asked the coach if everyone is properly equipped" but if it came down to it, a good attorney could blow that out of the water.

If 90-95% of kids wore tape/band-aids on their earlobes then it wouldn't raise an eyebrow but that's not the case. Tape on earlobes isn't the norm. When something isn't the norm on the court don't we usually ask a few more questions?