When is "too late?"

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by KJUmp

What is the best/proper way to handle it?
Opinions please. Citations/references if you have any that are pertinent.

I think that there's no "proper" way, as there's no rules here. But if you want references, I can tell you that thousands of football referees have had a 6th grader say, "We want to kick off" and corrected them "Are you sure you don't want to defer?" Several times a season. I don't think you can be faulted for what you did - like you say, you had to decide on the spot.

But as to your worry about a protest, exactly what rule would they win this protest by? Does it actually say anywhere that the first word uttered by any player on the coin-flip-winning side is binding? If anything, the girl's utterance was her answer TO HER COACH when he asked her what SHE wanted. You never got an answer from the coach. (Honestly, I'm not sure I'd have enforced a coach for saying it wrong either... but you at least have a ready-made fix with the girl saying it).