[JRutledge]

The bottom line to this entire discussion is this is our own opinion at play. I know of guys that have worked a very long time that I do not respect or never will respect as officials. I mainly feel that way because these officials do not keep up with the changes and hold on to things they did years ago. This will be my 10th year and every year something has changed and I had to adjust. If I ever get to the point that I cannot improve, I will need to stop working games.

I have also been to camps and had clinicians there I did not respect as well. This usually happens at the high school level and guys who are telling you things based solely on their individual knowledge, not what is advocated by anyone but them. This discussion is not much different than the one we had several years ago about the rules knowledge vs. presence debate. Some people are always going to believe that working a certain amount of games are key and others will think that working a certain amount of years makes the difference (or whatever issues you might have within this topic). Experience from my point of view can only take you so far. You have to have some talent to go along with that experience. Some of the best officials in this country do not have a lot of experience before they were picked up at the highest of levels. Michael Jordan was a very good player at a very young age at his career. Just look at LeBron James as well. These players just get it. There are other players that had similar experiences and did not understand the game or their role ever. Experience is one thing, but you have to be good as well.

Peace