School Motivational Mottos VS Coach Antics

In nearly every school I referee at I see large posters proclaiming a variety of virtues the schools wish imbued into their student's consciousness- Honesty, Integrity, Fairness, Courtesy, RESPECT for others, ect.

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And so I wonder what the School Administrators are thinking when they hire Coaches that often make a mockery of those sort of ideals.

A case in point-

Refereeing a Summer League game this week I called a Player Control Foul. The Player, rather displeased with the Call (when are they NOT?), turned his back on me and rather than bounce the ball to me, flipped it behind and towards the End Line, away from me & any other players. The action cause the game to be unnecessarily delayed while the ball was retrieved.

I called a "Delay of Game WARNING" on the Player. Because it was disrespectful, I could have "T'd Up" the Player but did not want to go that far. I figured a warning would be enough to teach the lesson of courtesy towards a Referee. I also figured a Coach might appreciate a Warning instead of a "T"......

Then I heard the Coach say something to the player on the bench that asked what the call was that sounded something like, "The Ref was to lazy to get the ball himself." Because I did not clearly hear the comment I ignored it.

A Ref may ignore something, but that does not mean the Ref will forget it......

Not long after that incident I called a Foul on the Opposing Team. THAT player, without exhibiting an attitude of disgust with the Call, lobbed the ball toward the spot I pointed to as the Inbounds Spot where my Referee Partner could collect it for the Inbound. It did not delay the game.

The initial Coach sarcastically hollered at me, "Is THAT gonna be a Delay of Game Call, too?"

(Now folks, it is never a good idea to try and upstage the Referee or act in an outwardly disrespectful manner. The Ref might be the Worst Ref Ever, but it is pretty much a guarantee that the Ref will still be there at the end of the game whereas anyone that overly irritates said "Worst Ever Ref" might not still be in the gym at the end of the game!)

"No, Coach," I replied. "It will not. But your disrespectful comment WILL be a Technical Foul!" And I "whacked" him with a "T"!

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I think the school ought to review their motivational mottos with that Coach before the Season begins this coming year!