My First Technical Call

[Archie Lib]

In my 17th game of the season, which is a total of 17 games for me.

This is a boys' freshman game, rival schools. I am calling what I see, and just working on signal mechanics and good whistles. But every time I ended up at trail I had the home coach in my ear. He did not like my calls, nor my partner's, or God's apparently, and just went on and on as if this were Duke/UNC or the round of sixteen. I found out later that my partner was not really getting the same treatment to the same level. He must have figured out I was new at some point.

I did the best I could to ignore it through the first half and into the third quarter. Made a few comments along the "I'll keep an eye out, coach" or "I'm just calling what I see, coach" or "It's gonna be a foul every time if he moves the ballhandler" etc., etc. but I was not looking forward to ending up in his decibel area as we transitioned. He was not under my skin but I was tired of it. He just would not shut up, and my thoughts were what a remarkably poor example he was for his team and his school.

So I make a call on an out-of-bounds along the sideline near the division line tableside. He is on it right away. I am trail and moving up to inbound. It was the usual he saw a phantom touch the ball thing. The ball is headed his way so I am on that side of the thower and he is just in my ear.

At one point, during his harangue, he comments "That's the first call you've made all night!". No idea what this meant, but my response was "Well, coach, here is the second." And then T'd him up. We administer the free throws and the inbound, and he stayed relatively mellow after that.

My only thought is whether or not I should have done it sooner.

What is your general threshold for this kind of behavior?

[grunewar]

Congratulations on your first T! You never forget your first!

A "T" is just another tool in your kit bag that helps you control the game. Once you issue one, they become easier as now you know what YOUR tolerance level is and how to use the "T". Don't dwell on it, it's just another game management tool. Everyone's has a slightly different tolerance level.

But, comments about you or your partner personally or questions about your integrity should be "almost" automatic.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by grunewar

... comments about you or your partner personally or questions about your integrity should be "almost" automatic.

It's not automatic for me, but when the coach gets to be distracting to me, it's then that the part of my brain that controls charging technical fouls starts to energize, and after that, it's only a matter of where I am on the court, what is actually said, and how loud it's said, and then, boom goes the dynamite.

[justacoach]

Congrats, well earned on coach's part but you could do without the snarky comment. Sounds like a classic case of 'accumulated bull shite' (ABS). Good on you and it appears the game environment improved after you shut him down.
As you progress you will come to have many more regrets about Ts that you failed to call than otherwise. Don't be bashful about using this tool but still work on the people skills that can help you deal with conflict.

Many will refer to the 3 Ps that can lead to a T:Persistent, personal or profane.

You will find your own tipping point as you do more games. I am sure others will chime in with their perspectives.

[SC Official]

I've said it many times, and so have others on this forum. The only technical fouls I regret are the ones I didn't call but should have. Did you wait too long? Only you can answer that. But you did the right thing by calling a T at some point. That says to the coach that he doesn't get to walk all over you. You gave him the opportunity to fix his behavior, you didn't put him on ignore, and he continued to run his mouth. Good work.

[Mark Padgett]

[crosscountry55]

Originally Posted by Archie Lib

At one point, during his harangue, he comments "That's the first call you've made all night!". No idea what this meant, but my response was "Well, coach, here is the second."

Yeah, as was mentioned, probably better left unsaid. However, I think you deserve an honorable mention for just how quick-witted yet simple that response was. If you're going to say something, you might as well make it count. Maybe the coach will remember it and chuckle about when he thinks about it going to bed that night.

I'm not as quick or good at one-liners. It's a gift. If you use them well (preferably in less tense encounters), they can really set you apart in a good way.

[bob jenkins]

It's possible / probably that you could have issued a warning earlier in the game to see if that helped the situation.

[Refk]

I agree, the T is a useful tool and the only one's I regret are the those I didn't give (early in career). You will develop your own level of tolerance and if you continue to officiate the same locale, the coaches will figure out what you will tolerate as well. I usually give the coach a warning (ie stop sign, verbal) unless personal or profane. Each of us has their own level of BS we are willing to listen to and you will figure it out.

Hang in there

[Rich1]

As most know, I am an advocate of being patient with T's but do give them out regularly. As suggested above, it sounds as if you could have put up the stop sign or verbally warned coach earlier in the game. I will usually show the coach my open palm (stop sign) and say "coach, I've heard you and that's enough". Continued comments or questions get the T immediately. Of course, blatant behaviors (throwing clipboard, profanity, etc.) get a T withno warning every time.

As others have also stated, you will learn where your personal tolerance level is as you do more games. Many coaches are able to ask questions or "work the ref" without crosing the line and many seem to think their arguementative styles or misbehavior ishow they are supposed to do their job. I never terate the later, I appreciate the former, and deal with the area in between as patiently as posible until they need a T to let them know its past time to reel it in.

[Rich1]

You said this was your 17th game this year and the fact tt you are doing some HS work tells me someone must see some level of skill and potential in you to be a good ref. So I am wondering why only 17 games this season. Are there a lot of refs in your area? Are you not available every night? Are there not a lot of achilles out there (my hunch since I grew up in NM not far from El Paso/Darkened)? Do you only work for one league/association?

I ask because it is not uncommon in my area for a good new ref to work 30-50 games a season if they are doing MS and HS and show promise. Of course, we have more than 400+ schools that use our chapter but we also have a lot of officials (350+) so there is plenty of work to go around, esoecially MS games.

Have you considered joining chapters in both NM and TX? I assume you are having to drive extended distances to some of your games anyway and since Las Cruces is probably closer to some TX schools than El Paso you might pick up more work from them.

[Archie Lib]

Originally Posted by Rich1

You said this was your 17th game this year and the fact tt you are doing some HS work tells me someone must see some level of skill and potential in you to be a good ref. So I am wondering why only 17 games this season. Are there a lot of refs in your area? Are you not available every night? Are there not a lot of achilles out there (my hunch since I grew up in NM not far from El Paso/Darkened)? Do you only work for one league/association?

Thanks Rich and I hope that's the case. Actually I came on board late in the season - my first games were in late January when they assigned me 3 bantam games to break in with our association assigner. These were the first three times I'd been on anything other than a rec court since high school. So I came in behind and have only been working regularly for about 3 1/2 weeks.

Right after bantam I had a week of MS games with vets. The next week they moved me up to Freshman and JV games as well to get me 3-man experience and let the vets evaluate me. I'm doing mostly MS games with 2 or 3 HS games each week. I get assigned around 8 games per week, so right now I've got all I want. By the end of the season I'll be around 30 games and ready for camp.

I work with the Las Cruces Basketball Officials' Association through NMAA. Yes we're shorthanded always, and have several very experienced vets that probably will be hanging it up in the next 2-3 years.

[crosscountry55]

Originally Posted by Archie Lib

Yes we're shorthanded always, and have several very experienced vets that probably will be hanging it up in the next 2-3 years.

Hah! They always say that, but usually only death stops them. As Exhibit A, I direct your attention to Board 84 in Rhode Island.

Fortunately for you, you have the advantage of being relatively rural. Supply and demand works in your favor, both in terms of court time and fees.