Ejection Championship Game
 

I was in the stands last night watching A good buddy & his crew work Playoff Championship game and yes I got all my calls right from the stands:)

Hotly Contested game..lots of emotion in the building...Q3..A's best player feels he was fouled at said to the official.."Call The F%^&*ing Foul"..Whack #1...as player is walking away from official..sez "You Bitch" (Male Official)..Whack #2 and dumped!

With the ejection A's player must sit next game which is first round state playoffs.

Ejection official did not provide explanation to A's Coach..Just stood opposite table side.

Questions:

1) In a regular season game..This post does not exist:)..but since its a championship playoff game, do we change our tolerance level?

2) How would you handle getting the player subbed out after first whack, since kid is a knuckle head and is about to be dumped?

3) Communication with the coach? How would you approach under these circumstances?

Sometimes explanations aren't needed.

1. For this behavior, absolutely not.

2. The second T is his own doing, and likely can't be prevented. Preventative officiating should always be used, but sometimes players hang themselves. In this case, the first T is preventative portion of the officiating. He knows the rule, yet continued on and therefore has to suffer the consequences.

3. It seems that both T's were called by the same official. He took care of bidness; good for him! If the HC isn't in control of himself, after the 2nd T, you could have, by local adaptation?, have the officials meet, and have a/the non-calling official handle the coach. Otherwise, I would gladly deal with the coach if I was the calling official.

Both technical fouls were justified. Absolutely cannot tolerate that behavior in any setting - championship game or not.

As far as talking to the coach, it varies on the situation and the coach. Most don't want an explanation; they just want to use the opportunity to complain. A very brief explanation - "he used profanity resulting in the first technical foul and made a personal derogatory comment directed at me with additional profanity."

That's all that's needed and after I say it I'm not going to stick around to engage in a conversation.

1) No.

2) Not my job to get him "subbed out." He apparently didn't have enough self-discipline to keep himself in the game long enough for his coach to get him out.

3) I'd give the coach a quick explanation as a courtesy, if he wanted one, then I'm on my way.

The coach will let you know if he needs an explanation -- either by a look, or by standing at the corner of the coaching box, or by asking, etc.

It's likely that the coach didn't need an explanation here.

1. Even if your tolerance level goes up, both of these are as close to automatic as it gets.

2. That's a coaching decision, but the kid made his second mistake before the coach could even sit him down.

3. If I think the coach could hear the kid's second comment, I don't need to explain anything. If I think there's a chance he didn't hear the 2nd comment, I'll give him about a two second recap if he asks before taking my position on the other side of the court.

Coach: "What did he do to get that second technical?"
You: "He called me your name." :rolleyes:

1) You can manage and expect more emotion, but this is still unacceptable. Both T's deserved.

2) All you can do is sub in and out properly. If he does/says something stupid I'm not ignoring it just because he's being subbed out.

3) I think it is reasonable to give the coach an explanation if he/she is being reasonable. If you want them to manage the kid and situation effectively they need facts too.

Why should my tolerance change?

Do my responsibilities change?
Is the pay changed by a "nice" margin?
Do the rules change?

These are automatic. In fact if the second comment was said first the kid's done in my game.

if you whack the best player on a team and throw him out in ANY game - let alone a playoff game, you better provide the coach w/ an explanation. to do otherwise would simply be a complete lack of officiating common sense and game management.

Is our job to differentiate between the best player and everyone else?

To not whack or throw out ANY player for this kind of behavior, or to not whack or throw out a player on the basis that he is the best player on the team, would also simply be a complete lack of officiating common sense and game management. It would also fly right in the face of what our job mandates we do. Our responsibilities don't change because of the game's platform, believe it or not.

And please show me where our job description mandates that we give a coach an explanation after throwing out the best player. If (s)he wants an explanation, (s)he'll let me know with his/her words or body language.

Your insistence on avoiding technical fouls and ejections at all costs is not going to get you far.

The more I thought about this thread, I started thinking this more and more. If the teams have championships coming up, they need to not do and say things that could get them suspended.

I've also thought about this over the years. Most (all?) states have some mandatory suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct. But, how many officials are hesitant to call conduct unsporting because it "didn't rise to the level that warrants a suspension." Sometimes I wonder if we would call things more often if there wasn't an automatic penalty beyond the contest that we are assigned to.

Somebody the other day pointed to NBA officials not being afraid to call technicals or even ejections for unsporting behavior. They know that if the conduct deserves additional penalties, the league will fine or suspend the players involved. Their job is to take care of the game in front of them, not worry about other ramifications.

Like I said before, if I think the coach might not have heard the kid's comments, I'll give him a quick recap.

The OP, however, is told from the perspective of someone in the stands. There's a good chance that in that case, I'm going to be confident that the coach heard every word. * I'm not going to give him a recap in that case, because if he heard the comments and still needs an explanation, he doesn't really want an explanation. That conversation is likely to end with the coach saying something stupid, like "Well, you should have called a foul."

If there's any doubt, I'd start by asking, "Coach, did you hear what he said?"

If he says anything but, "no," then see above *.

And I'm giving the coach the same consideration whether it's his best player or his last kid on the bench.

They also know if they fail to take care of business, they'll lose their jobs.