The single most aggravating question I get asked on a regular basis by coaches at every level is: “how are you going to call the game today?” This is where the game-within-a-game begins between the officiating crew and the coach. Key point number one is that the Referee, or crew chief, does all the answering. One crew, one voice.
When I am the Referee I tend to give variations of the same answer - “We’re going to call whatever the players give us today coach.” I learned the hard way not to paint myself into a corner with statements like:
