Ref. Michaela Tabb Responds To Basavich's Slow Play

[LastTwo]

Quoted from Michaela Tabb at worldpoolchampionship.com forums:

OK, I feel I have to respond to this topic being the referee of the match...

Firstly, this was the first time I had refereed Dan although I know him and a nicer more polite person you will never meet!

It's different on the tv table, I didn't know him as a player and it was his first televised game... I believe in giving a little room so settle due to pressure, tv, live action, etc. which I did. I did notice that he was slow but it is a period of information gathering and judgement making, if you know what I mean... Also, you will be unaware that the air conditioning had broken down and the heat on table 1 was unbearable for me - so you can imagine how much it was effecting Dan...

In the middle of the match he wasn't as bad and I didn't worn him which may in retrospect have been an error of my judgement. The next thing I know he is on the hill and this is when all the wheels came off! But, as a referee and per our guidelines it is not accepted to worn a player for slow pay when he is on the hill - it's just not the done thing... So of course he takes forever on nearly every shot in the final rack and there is nothing I can do...

I did decide there and then to have a 'quiet' word with him away from the table which I did following the match.

I advised him that he takes too long - we always give a player extra time when it is following the break, when it is a difficult shot, they are snookered eccetera but that obvious shots he has to get on with! I also advised him that he wouldn't be allowed to continue taking that amount of time. He was very gracious about it and appreciated the privacy and he now knows where he stands...

Lastly, I would like to add that he played some fantastic shots in that match and I can see talent there but it was sadly lost in all the slow play...

Anyway, I that's my reasons rightly or wrongly.....

 

[sjm]

Tabb has, essentially, said nothing.

What rules, if any, apply to slow play at the WPC? To what extent may the ref exercise discretion?

What will be viewed as taking too long on a routine shot? How many minutes and how many seconds?

What penalty would be imposed for slow play? A foul? Loss of rack? Loss of match?

Was Danny told what pace of play he will be asked to maintain?

 

[BlowFish]

Tabb has, essentially, said nothing.

What rules, if any, apply to slow play at the WPC? To what extent may the ref exercise discretion?

What will be viewed as taking too long on a routine shot? How many minutes and how many seconds?

What penalty would be imposed for slow play? A foul? Loss of rack? Loss of match?

Was Danny told what pace of play he will be asked to maintain?

"Lastly, I would like to add that he played some fantastic shots in that match and I can see talent there but it was sadly lost in all the slow play..."

No *one* noticed how good he played, but *everyone* is lambasting him on his slow slow play. Enough said.

 

[thecardman]

Tabb has, essentially, said nothing.

What rules, if any, apply to slow play at the WPC? To what extent may the ref exercise discretion?

What will be viewed as taking too long on a routine shot? How many minutes and how many seconds?

What penalty would be imposed for slow play? A foul? Loss of rack? Loss of match?

Was Danny told what pace of play he will be asked to maintain?

SJM

In my opinion, Michaela has answered her "critics" in this matter and it is to be seen what Danny does if/when he gets back onto the TV table in the later stages of the tournament.

As for the penalty, if memory serves me correctly, I believe it is upto the judgement of the referee regarding how long a player has. If the referee feels that the player is taking too long over a shot, they can warn the player to speed up. After that warning, it then goes to loss of rack then loss of match.

This sort of thing happened to Reid Pierce at the Mosconi Cup a few years ago - he was taking a while to play his shots and the referee had to give him a verbal warning to speed up.

They have the power, it is just up to their discression to use it. I'd rather have this situation than the introduction of shot-clocks, etc!

Best wishes

thecardman

www.scottish9ball.com

 

[thecyclone@btin]

Tabb has, essentially, said nothing.

What rules, if any, apply to slow play at the WPC? To what extent may the ref exercise discretion?

What will be viewed as taking too long on a routine shot? How many minutes and how many seconds?

What penalty would be imposed for slow play? A foul? Loss of rack? Loss of match?

Was Danny told what pace of play he will be asked to maintain?

discretion... as you said was in the hands of the worlds most famous ref, i think she said it all. every match and situation is different.

 

[thecyclone@btin]

"Lastly, I would like to add that he played some fantastic shots in that match and I can see talent there but it was sadly lost in all the slow play..."

No *one* noticed how good he played, but *everyone* is lambasting him on his slow slow play. Enough said.

if "no one" noticed why is it in tabbs statement???????????

 

[DaveK]

discretion... as you said was in the hands of the worlds most famous ref, i think she said it all. every match and situation is different.

But surely there are written guidelines, or perhaps even rules on which to apply this discretion. The rules and discretion guidelines do not change from match to match, and they must be understood by all prior to play. Then the ref can apply his/her discretion as required. The only concrete thing she seemed to say was (I paraphrase) 'we have a guideline that states we should not warn a player about slow play for the first time in a match when that player is "on-the-hill" '.

Dave

 

[sniper]

What rules, if any, apply to slow play at the WPC?

Slow play can certainly be viewed as unsportsman like conduct, which certainly isn't permitted at WPC, but whether or not Danny's slow play is considered "unsportsman like" can be debated until the end of time.


I think Michaela is a fine referee that has handled sticky situations in the past properly. What I admire most is that she admitted she made a mistake in failing to issue a warning.

 

[Renegade]

Yes, I think she handled it all very well, even admitting to some error in judgement but corrected it appropriately. Congratulations!

 

[LadyRef]

The guidelines...

Our guidelines are if we believe the player is taking an exessive amount of time then we would firstly warn the player and advise him that should we have to speak to him again it will be a foul, third time it is lose of rack.

As I said, the tv table is always a difficult period as we like to be human and give the player time to settle. A race to 5 is a short race and doesn't give a lot of room for movement, not like a race to 9,10,11 etc. I have already stated how I dealt with this issue and Dan knows that he isn't given the same grace a second time!

We don't use shotclocks - rightly or wrongly...

 

[Renegade]

I like it that they leave it to the discretion of the referee. Shot clocks can't decide on a case to case basis. A human referee can. And with a good referee like Michaela the game is all the better for it. Keep up the good work, Ms. Tabb!