You big dummy...

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Last Saturday I was calling 13-14 year old boys. Great game...athletic teams...very close. I was T, A1 drives the sideline then turns toward the hoop on the drive. As he is gathering the ball for a lay-up B1 reaches in. I see what looks like B1's arm across A1's arm and as I am stepping in I blow my whistle (a split second before my partner blows his). I am raising my fist but my new angle clearly shows B1 has all ball. My partner is giving the jump ball sign and now I know it is not a foul so I yell "Jump" (but remember, my fist is up...didn't think fast enough to open the hand).

So now, I have a confused coach who thinks he should be getting free-throws and a confused partner who is wondering what is going on. To his credit he immediately comes to me and asks if I had a foul first. I explain to him what happened but I don't think he believed me.

I was kicking myself for making such a stupid mistake. Coach was a little "chippy" for a while but I let him go because we were close to halftime and I figured I deserved it. I explained at halftime and suggested we move on and he obliged.

Lesson learned (again)...a patient whistle is your friend.