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I agree with everything you said. It shook me mainly because it occurred at halftime of my game. They guy should have mentioned it at the end of the game, or not at all would have been even better. I don't mind someone questioning my judgement - I am open to contructive criticism, but this guy was just an arrogant a$$ and his comments had no redeeming value, especially after he admitted he didn't even hear the exchange between myself and the coach. It was difficult as well because it was my first year in the association and I was trying to make a good impression and get a feel for everyone and all the coaches in the area.
Those arrogant "veterans" are what burned me out at my last association (Bay Area, CA). I was on the cusp of becoming a varsity official, but I found out that in order to get there, I would have to hang out with these guys on Friday nights at their favorite bar and generally suck up to the politics. I also witnessed one of those arrogant a$$es rip apart one of my partners for a call he had made in a game. That just turned officiating into no fun anymore for me, so I took a 5 year sabbatical until last year.
Just last night after my JV game, one of the top officials in our association was getting dressed to work the V game as we came down into the room after our game. He asked if we were staying to watch his game and if so, to please come into the room at halftime and let him know what we thought of the first half. He was genuinely interested in our comments so he could continue to get better. Talk about a class act.
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