What did he do that was obviously out of line? He stepped to a person yelling at him. Sorry, but I do not believe that officials are to act like they are children and only speak kindly to adults yelling at them. I feel that he is a man and if you want to yell and point at him, he has a right to step to you. I would be mad too if a I was short and a bigger guy stepped to me too.

And like other things, people have the right to disagree.

Peace

Agreed.

The whole notion that we can throw tantrums like the coaches do, or that it is OK for us to charge at and "get in the face of" a coach, is ridiculous. We are - and should be - held to a different standard than any other participants in the game. If a coach or player crosses the line, handle it in a professional way. If the coach goes personal, handle it in a professional way. Valentine is one of the best officials in the country, but this was out of line.

Camron I disagree with you here. What's wrong with after having to hear complaining and whining, game in and game out and coaches saying some pretty crappy stuff about once in a while giving some back?

He didn't T him up after that so who cares. If he were to have acted that way and then issued a T I would say, "shame on him". But why is the expectation that we are to act as robots all time ok and reasonable?

It takes two to make an argument. I see no point in contributing to an argument that I have the authority to end.

Tantrums are when people raise their voice, flailing their arms and continue with that actions. Stop it already. If you do not like someone stepping to you, that is fine, but let us not exaggerate. And if you just act like you cannot say anything, in my parts they will run over you. Sometimes they need to know you are right here. Teddy did not even appear to be mad, except for the stereotype that certain people cannot stand up for themselves without being threatening. And we know no one ever thinks of it that way. ;)

Peace

It would not be the first time.

I remember the T he called against the Texas coach a few years ago and then stood there for like 30 seconds until the coach said enough to get the 2nd T.

Couple of things....

Teddy looks good after having lost the weight.

Teddy IMO is dead a$$ wrong in this situation. You don't charge at a coach no matter what he says. As others have said we are held to a higher standard.

I find it interesting that Teddy also threw out a fan earlier in the week. He went about three rows deep on the baseline and ejected a gentlemen. Long season might be doing a number on Teddy... or maybe he needs a snickers to calm down.

I went to a men's D1 college camp in SoCal where an official made a call and went to report it. The HC went off on my partner. He got T #1 and waited at the table as the HC continued his rant. I thought maybe I should go help, but one of the clinicians close to me told me to stay in my spot and that my partner is a grown man and can/should handle this himself. The coach complained for about 20-30 seconds, got his second T and went off.

At the first stoppage of play the clinicians commended my partner for the job he did. Once a coach starts a tirade and is given a T, the message was, we don't run and let them continue. We let them have their say and we can determine if they get a second or not.

I wish this was drilled into HS officials, instead we are taught the complete opposite and T's have such a bad rep around them like it's the official's fault for handing one out.

Valentine's already admitted he was totally in the wrong to the AAC supervisor of officials.

I don't think he was right, I just don't get the big hoopla when an official looses his cool.

Man, I think you nailed it 100% with this comment. Sure we'd all like to react this way every now and again, but that doesn't make it acceptable. I teach high school, and sure I'd like to slap a couple of these smartasses upside the head...

I could not disagree more with that. Turning professionally to attend to the penalty and the coach following you is not running.

Standing there and then whacking gives the appearance of baiting. Actually it is more than appearance it is baiting.

From Seth Davis:

After the game, Valentine called the AAC’s supervisor of officials and acknowledged that he should not have stepped toward Cronin in such an aggressive manner. “I was just totally wrong. I was out of place by walking into his space,” Valentine told me by phone on Sunday. “It was just one of those situations where I got caught up in the moment. I was out of bounds because I walked into his domain. That’s why I didn’t give him a technical because I knew I was wrong, and two wrongs don’t make a right. If it had been 15, 16 years ago, I never would have caught myself like that.”

My respect for him just went through the roof. He's a better man than I am.

In my opinion, in the moment, that was a case of "I'M ALLOWED TO GET IN YOUR FACE AND SCREAM AT YOU! YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO GET BACK IN MINE!" And the video shows Cronin's face as soon as TV steps back toward him - the look on it is one of complete incredulousness. He is absolutely astounded that the official would come back in any kind of aggressive/defensive manner - and it takes him completely by surprise - and looks as though he's actually hurt by the gesture.

And it's total crap. And it's never going to change at that level, despite what some talking heads are saying (Bilas's fairly reasoned and poignant piece about it, for example), because it's "their" game.

I'm not suggesting that basketball officials - head coaches interactions should look and sound like baseball managers and umpires. I'm just saying it's a double standard. What those HC's get away with saying on a weekly basis to college officials during games is completely ridiculous. I don't care if they're the highest paid state employee or otherwise.