I know this may spark something because it has with a select few officials I have brought this up with, however the majority of officials I work with agree with me.

First off, I'm a P. A. announcer who is also an official (I'm a refs worst nightmare, I know what I can get away with).

Second, what is up with the big-headedness and the "I'm too good for this" attitude I've seen from some officials. This is at all levels of basketball. I once announced a high school girls JV tournament game where one official made all the calls and his partner did not want to be there. The problem was, this official couldn't get a travelling call right. You must move your feet for there to be a travel (which is another post altogether) or did they invoke a new rule and not tell Dickie V about it? He's the only one that communicates new basketball rules.

Anyway, back to the situation at hand. The official threw out four fans and a scorer. As the PA announcer and tournament official, I was in my rights to inform him that he cannot eject the fans for what they say. He also informed me that there was to be silence from the fans for the rest of the game. I told him I was embarassed to call myself a member of his association and if he wanted it, he'd have to tell the fans himself. He threatened me with a technical, except I was not affiliate with any of the teams in the tournament, but with the facility. My question here is, who shoots the ball?

But after this tournament, the home team at the facility in which I worked, didn't get officiating like that but the referee was assigned several high profile games. Is there really a grading system out there? If so, then why not get fans to rate officials and not other officials. I talk to coaches, players, fans and administrators after games I do and what do I get? Helpful information. I've had fans curse at me, but when I ask them for help and they give it to me, I don't get yelled at later on and the fans don't get as riled toward the officials. I walk on the court and I'm a calming influence. Why can't all officials do this and get over the "I'm God" personality.

Thank you for your time.