Infalability of the scorebook?

[White hat]

OK, I probably know the answer to this.

I was covering a basketball game for a newspaper. I keep my own stats when I do that. During play, Team A #21 fouls. the referee comes to the table and reports the foul on Red 21. The PA announces the the foul is on #31. I look to make sure I wasn't going crazy and #31 wasn't even on the floor. At end of half I have #21 with 2 fouls and #31 with 2. The PA gives points and fouls and says 21 has 1 and 31 has 3.

I go to the book to make sure I'm right and assistant coaches from both teams comes too, all with the same question. We all have 2 and 2, but the book has 3 and 1, The visiting team has a kid who appears to be 12 years old on the book and he prompty erases one foul from 21 and gives it to 31.

We are all sure that it's supposed to be 2 and 2, but the home book keeper gets very angry very quickly about the whole thing.

We all just threw our hands up. I guess sometimes there's just no way to correct a mistake. If she had been more willing to listen and admit she made a mistake, could it have been changed?

 

[FBRef]

Yes. It's a scorer's error and can be corrected anytime up until the end of the game.

Was it ever corrected?

 

[White hat]

Nope. The kid fouled out -- with 4 fouls. she wasn't going to hear about some error on her part. After the game she had one too many points in the player boxes. mine was right and I could see exactly where she made a mistake, saying a kid in the 4th quarter made a FT when he missed it. I pointed this out and she said he made it. But then how was her total wrong. She took the point away from another player. I'm just a newspaper guy. I put it in the paper right, even if she give it to the school wrong.

 

[FBRef]

Both of the asst. coaches should have gone to their respective head coaches and told them of the problem. Then, helpful the home coach could have some control over his scorer.