end of game procedure
 

I'm looking for inputs to settle (or advise on) a debate.

NFHS varsity game. At the conclusion of the game, plate umpire returns game balls to home team and begins to leave looking for BU to join so they can leave together.

The base umpire goes to the plate area. The BU that stayed at the plate area believes that (both) umpires are supposed to stay there to oversee the players going through the handshakes.

Is staying at the plate to do this part of any sanction's end of game procedure? Is it required or even recommended? Softball, baseball, other sports?

Thanx.

Unless it is a local protocol, leave. :rolleyes:

Once the game's over, you're not officiating anything. You're all equal, just friends, whatever. So if you want to shake everybody's hand, go ahead. But it's a good way to transmit colds and possibly set yourself up for an inferred snub if you miss shaking someone's hand.

I'm not sure if Mass. requires umpires to observe the post-game handshakes like they do (or did) for basketball. Other than that, CecilOne is right that unless one of your sanctioning bodies requires it, don't hang around.

My state has no such requirements, so I try to leave the field as soon as I reasonably can. Nothing good comes from lingering around longer than necessary.

The BU did not stay to shake hands, only to observe the players/coaches shaking hands.

Course, if you hang around long enough you'll likely get some fist bumps from players and handshakes from coaches.

When the final out is made or the final run is scored: GET THE HELL OUT OF DODGE!!

MTD, Sr.

What was the point of that? If they need someone to keep order, that's the job of police or local security. Is a Fed basketball result not official until hands are shaken?

The StateHSAA in Mass., a few years back, started requiring the Game Officials to remain on the Court and supervise the pist-game hand shake. There have been a number of threads in the Basketball Forum discussing the requirement. A search of the Basketball Forum will find them all.

MTD, Sr.

I don't even do that. If I'm still somewhere in the vicinity of home plate, I'll either drop the extra game balls at the plate or roll them back to the backstop. If I am somewhere else, such as having trailed the BR to first or taking a call at third, I'll roll the balls to the circle. I'm not going around looking to hand the balls over to someone, especially if the home team isn't very happy with me. ;)

Not butting into the handshake crowd for a personal handoff, but rolling the balls to the home dugout is practical and easy.

I did, thanks.

Over the years I've read here about some silly, picayune rules established re sportsmanship. However, this one is the stupidest, & apparently it does apply to all team sports, although apparently its implement'n in basketball is the most problematic. I can only conclude the Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Ass'n has a great desire to make trouble for game officials -- actually a desire to make trouble for everybody, but falling hardest on officials.

RG, I'm not sure where you're from. Is it MA?

I've confirmed with a friend that the viewing of handshakes after a softball game is in place:

"In Mass...per MIAA......we have been instructed to stand together between home plate and pitcher's circle and observe the team handshake."

I live in nearby NH, but I don't know the reasoning for that instruction.

Unless you know the whys and wherefores, it seems rather harsh to criticize from afar. Labeling this action as silly, trivial, stupid, problematical is unbecoming, especially if you have no idea as to why it was implemented in the first place. (I do not, BTW.)

To claim that a state sports agency would create a policy with a goal of causing trouble for officials, coaches, players, administrators is very small minded.

It's not that difficult to conclude that what they want officials to do is keep an eye out for any unsporting behavior during the "gah-game" ritual. There is no other reasonable motive behind this. Something likely happened after a game ended that escalated into a fight, and the state powers-that-be felt the only way to deal with this was to have the game officials to stay and watch.

Manny, I believe that is a very plausible explanation for why officials are asked to oversee the handshake. As such, not silly, trivial, etc.

Not sure what officials might be expected to do if a fight did break out, though, other than observe and perhaps serve as witnesses.

I never suggested that the requirement was silly or trivial. There may very well be a legitimate reason, at least in the eyes of those who require it. But it does put officials in a precarious situation in that they leave themselves as targets for any upset coaches to get in their last licks. That's why we're supposed to make haste to get off the field afterwards. So rather than silly or trivial, I would consider it ill-advised.

Just A this Q: Why do games have officials?

Because the teams, players, coaches won't always agree; let alone know the rules.

It was a poster earlier in the string that suggested that.

My opinion is that officials should leave immediately after the game. However, when in Rome, or in this case, Massachusetts, abide by their protocols.

Suggest you ask Calvin.

https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandho...rgm8wAom-EnYvo

In softball, it makes a little more sense as you would have an objective third party who could "eject" the miscreants and file the appropriate reports. I can't think of a way this would affect the outcome of the game that was already essentially complete.

In basketball, if the officials were to assess technical fouls, you have the possibility that the free throws could extend the game, making the situation even worse.

I'm not a referee, but I don't think that once a game was finished, an official could un-finish it and award free throws. But I'll let the referees chime in on that point.

Did you have to ? :eek:

The game is not finished until all the officials approve the score and "leave the visual confines of the playing area". By rule, the game can be finished after time has apparently expired, if one or more officials still remain on the floor.

Exactly. The officials are arbiters of a contest. In the case of some sports, some of the rules can affect the safety of participants as well as deciding the contest.

Nowhere in that job description do I see anything about enforcing decorum except insofar as it facilitates the contest. You need a certain degree of decorum to move the proceedings along, inasmuch as certain types of bad sportsmanship could be a distraction, so -- an unfortunate necessity -- officials sometimes need to enforce decorum.

That excuse goes away completely once the contest is finished. The MIAA has apparently tacked on something to the job description of game officials at interscholastic contests by having them oversee a post-game ceremony. Why not leave that job to any number of other personnel whose presence might otherwise be required at extracurricular activities at a school?

The MIAA apparently said at the time that either the mandate of handshakes or their being supervised by the people who officiated at the game just concluded "improved sportsmanship". I don't know if that's supposed to be euphemism for "resulted in fewer trips to the emergency room" or just "looks so pretty". 1st of all, mandated handshaking is a charade, giving only the appearance of comity. 2nd, having the officials there is supposed to...what? If you expect there to be trouble, you want to embroil the game officials in it too?

The basketball situation is the worst because it's among those that take place in a gym, &, because of the way the rules are written, introduces doubt into the outcome of the game, i.e. when exactly it ends, which was discussed at that time in the basketball section here. One could even envision scenarios in a game that ended close where a team might try to "game" the handshakes by provoking "fouls" by their erstwhile opponents. But even in sports where the officials have an easy getaway & the final score isn't on the line, this looks like a way to squeeze something extra out of game officials at their expense, like drafting them to class up the act. Feh.

You say that like I might have actually had a choice! ;)

Once the game is over you and partner(s) leave the field immediately and proceed to the umpire area or wherever. Do no interact with either team or fans.