Every jam ref has had this happen. His jammer ends the jam in the box. He flashes points to his scorekeeper, who is she knows what she is doing is looking at him. Maybe she isn't. But in any case the bench coach for the other team has a fit. Veins bulge from the forehead. "SHE WAS IN THE BOX HOW THE F*CK DID SHE GET POINTS. RAWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR."
And said bench coach proceeds to tell the world about how the refs at *fill in the blank here* league suck. Whomp, whomp, whomp. Haters gonna hate, yo. Whatevs.
But even sane, informed bench coaches often don't get opposing jammer penalties quite right. Most decent ones do track whether the OJ was on her first pass when she went to the box. So, if they choose not to ice her, they don't have their jammer even consider calling it until she completes her first pass. This is great!
However.... Points, like lead jammer status, are not be announced until the jammer exits the engagement zone (because she has not forfeited her right to rectify no pass no penalties by passing specific blocker(s) in-bounds for one, and it just causes bad communication with the scorekeepers for another), but she earns passes (and therefore points) constantly and can never lose them. Theoretically (I hope just theoretically), a jammer can pass a blocker (while upright and in-bounds), turn around, punch that blocker in the face, get expelled, but her team is still awarded that point.
So, when a blocker is sent to the box in the middle of a scoring pass, that pass is "put on hold" until she completes that pass or the jam ends. See the points held behind the jam ref's back? Look at him as she sits in the box. They are still there. A good bench coach can probably see them. How many are there? 4? Then that jammer has already earned all the points for the pass she will complete after leaving the box. This is no different than if she is on her initial pass. 2 or 3? Assess the damage she can do with a more critical eye. 1 or none? Proceed as usual.
Jammers usually go to the box on a pass that wasn't smooth. Often they have been hit out, recycled, etc. and make a mistake out of exhaustion. This makes it all the more likely that the OJ did pass a few of your blockers before she was sucked back.
I can't tell you how many times I see teams forfeit a potential scoring pass just because an OJ has re-entered play. This could add up to 20 or more points in a penalty-heavy game. Be smart! Find that jam ref's fingers. Then smile as that OJ has to fight through the pack for exactly zero additional points. Why just call the jam and give them to her? Don't blow your load.
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