He had an interesting quote:
"One of the most interesting things I discovered since coming to this site is that officials truly don't care who wins. I mean, they really don't care. They're more concerned about calling a good game than who wins."
I've only been reffing high school for three seasons now. But in all my pregames, classroom time, and other off-court (read brownpop) conversations, nobody has expressed any concern about who wins or loses. We are there to call a fair game, improve our performance, and impress other officials or assignors who may be in the game by our steller game management
.
We may come with an idea about which team may win based on prior performance, season record, or watching them warm up. But that all gets tossed out the window once the ball goes up. We really don't care who wins, and I truly believe that goes double and triple for those folks who officiate D1.
I spent some time in Blacksburg (chasing a girl); it's a super nice town. I respect the students there but am really impressed with the humility you showed when you said that you don't know much about bball or officiating. Please don't let anyone's caustic comments on this site discourage you from asking further questions.