A bit of a mess at an Indiana HS game

[Rich]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Agree. If those two officials were not wearing belts, then the knockout punch, and its aftermath, would never have occurred. See what happens when officials try to hold their pants up. The horror.

You may not care, but the second I see an official wearing a belt, my perception of them changes in a negative way. Period. I have never seen a top notch official wearing a belt at the HS or college level. (At least not since the early 1990s.)

You can keep on bragging about your belt all you like and the fact that they're still OK in CT (where you work zero 3-person, which is another indicator for me on the state of officiating in CT), but all this does is make me think that CT is even further behind the curve than where I live. Which is, in some ways, pretty hard since we're still working way too much 2-person for my liking.

Now, as for the play. Both are getting ejected. I'd have a technical foul on the initial shove by white and this started a fight. wouldn't even be a second thought in my mind. I also like to think that on the shove we're closing quickly and maybe with a strong whistle or two that punch doesn't happen.

The dead ball officiating (especially the baseball ejection mechanic by the guy with his shirt coming out of his pants and his standing over the injured player with his hand in the air) doesn't impress me a bit. Another official turns his eyes away form the court and the other players still there and doesn't seem to urgent about the entire situation. Those three officials need to become very well seen and the center of attention at that point and that just doesn't happen.

This whole thread is just a reminder that things like this can come from anywhere at any time and we need to be ready. Even in a girls game.