Game log 1/15/09: One interesting dilemma in a good boys' game

Tonight's boys game was quite good for us. There was whining throughout...a walk here, a moving screen here...and a little of it may have been warranted, but on the whole it was a strong day. I can see where it's a lot harder to ref lower levels of boys' ball than higher ones (except for the pressure from testosterone-addled coaches). But on the whole, no real issues.

Screens at the elbow. Damn hard in boys' ball. C's call! I'll keep my eye out, since I have a few 2-person (very small school) varsity games coming up.

Here's the dilemma I faced.

Third quarter of a close game. Suddenly, Red coach is annoyed. He says "If he gets to [don't know what he said] than I get to [unclear]."

At the next dead ball, it turned out what he was complaining about was that the White coach was out of the box.

I looked up. He was. Just a step or two, but he was near the table.

Hmmmm.

It's my job to keep coaches in their box, and I honestly hadn't noticed until the coach said something. I decided that, although it might make me appear weak, I'd tell him.

Coach was annoyed--"I'm barely out!" he said.

I said "Well, coach, the other coach is complaining, so I need to keep it fair."

Probably shouldn't have said that, as White coach started jawing across the table at Red coach. Thankfully, it ended quickly. If it hadn't, I'd have called a double technical...and BOTH coaches would have lost their box privileges!

Anyway, I guess I had three options:

1. Ignore the Red coach's complaint.
2. Do what I did, but not blame the other coach.
3. Do exactly what I did.

And, of course, one more:

4. Pay closer attention to the coach so that I can take care of this myself.

Any suggestions? Which would you have chosen?

The game was close late, and everything went all right...I was happy with how it went. I even handled strategic fouling correctly!

THINGS I DID WELL: Communication with partner, felt more confident, handled end of close game well.
THINGS TO WORK ON: Elbow screens, coach management,
NEXT UP: Doubleheader on MLK day. Boys' and girls' varsity, tiny little schools.