[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by ballpunk
JR

That's ballpunk not fanboy. Try to keep it clean.

Um, is "fanboy" somehow vulgar? It's just a term we use around here to denote people who are fans of the game, but know nothing about officiating; especially those who want to criticize the officials. Sorry if it seemed offensive to you. It shouldn't be.

It's not hard to spot terrible refs. We've all seen too many of them and, as they say, it ain't rocket science, it's a game.

So how do you spot terrible refs? Seriously, how do you personally judge an official's ability? And please don't talk about bias, b/c honestly, you are more biased (while watching the game) than any official who is working the games in question. I don't mean that you would cheat!! I mean only that you care about who wins. You have some sort of rooting interest in the game. The officials couldn't care less which team wins. Somehow people don't seem to understand that.

And while officiating is not rocket science, I assure you that it is much much more than a game. It's difficult, it's hard work, it's competitive. If the official goes to camps to improve (which many of us do), then it's also very expensive, and still most people think the officials are either blind, stupid, or cheaters. You try making 20 judgments per second under those conditions. It's no game, believe me.

And as officials advance through the ranks, people's jobs (coaches, mostly) are actually on the line with the officials' calls. So the pressure to be correct only increases. That obviously doesn't apply to the officials you observed; but please don't presume to come in here and tell us how easy a game this is.

In my book, terrible refs are not just inconsistent, illinformed or stupid, they exhibit some bias towards a team,

With all respect, and I mean that sincerely, this statement simply shows your absolute and complete ignorance. Officials simply don't care who wins. Even if there were an official who was favoring one team (and I admit the theoretical possibility), there is no way you could have a whole tournament's worth of biased officials. If you truly believe you have rampant bias among officials, you're not living in reality. Sorry to disappoint you.

Your suggestion about "strapping on a whistle" (obviously an oxymoron) is good.

I don't see how it's an oxymoron. You could buy a lanyard (essentially a thin rope strap) and attach a whistle to it. Put the lanyard around your neck and you have strapped on a whistle. Have I misunderstood your point?

Oh, and, here's the lawyer part...I never said you were retierd from reffing.

(from previous post in this same thread. . .) Glad you are retired JR.

Um. . . Although you did not use the words "JR has retired from officiating", the fact that you are glad that he is retired logically implies that you believe that he is retired. You therefore implicitly stated your belief that JR is retired. You may wish to reconsider "the lawyer part".

Now, here's the sympathetic part. If conditions are truly as you describe them -- elbows connecting with opponent's heads and players being intentionally maimed without fouls being called -- then you should immediately withdraw your team and/or child(ren) from that league. In all honesty, however, I don't think it can be as bad as you claim.