[Gator]

I am not a ref and am an avid reader of this forum to learn more about the rules of the game and how they are administered.

From what I know, your premise makes no sense. In our conference, (a major D1 conference) I see officials all of the time who I have seen on TV working the Big East, the SEC, etc. etc. I would bet if you check it out, many of the refs used in the PAC 10 also work multiple other conferences.

Officials are the most scrutinized profession I know about - tapes of games are reviewed, individuals are rated, they are coached, etc. I wonder how you would do if your work day were videoed and critiqued. Our conference has a person who oversees officials and includes review tapes of games to rate performance. Coaches can submit tape for review if they think something is wrong but may not publicly criticize officiating - the conference will discipline them if they do. I have deduced that this is because it is the conference policy to not deal with individual calls - good or bad. It would thus be unfair for a coach to criticize a person who is not allowed to respond. Each year they determine which refs (if any) they won’t schedule the next year. All refs are given feedback of deficiencies which have been observed. Refs who do not improve are part of the group not invited back. Nobody claims refs don’t miss stuff or, MUCH less frequently, get stuff wrong. At a game I was at recently, the refs missed a clear push after the ball was dead - the push was to the back of the person who had just fouled the pusher. Fact: replaying the gamed I had TVOed, the refs weren’t looking in the direction where the push happened - they were reporting the foul to the table and beginning to set up the free throw. It was a dead ball after all! Refs can not call what they don’t see. BTW - the team who fouled took that push as a challenge and went on a tear - stealing and scoring a couple of times.

The more I learn about the “real” rules (ie, many fans seem to invent their own rules about what is a foul) the more I realize just how good officiating is in the conference I follow. I hope this doesn’t insult you, but I would suggest that part of the problem may be your lack of knowledge. Do you scream about over-the-back “calls” not being made? How about reach in “fouls” the refs miss. If you could find a HS or other official to watch a tape with you and explain what you are seeing you might find that it is not what you THOUGHT you saw.

Frankly, instead of some of the amateurish boring and otherwise waste of time half shows which are put on, I wish there was a mini clinic on the rules of the game and officiating. I think informed fans are better fans and there are precious few ways a fan can get informed about this issue.

Sorry officials, this is YOUR forum and I hope you will forgive this intrusion but, I just could NOT resist. I’ll go back to reading and learning now.