Goose,
How much experience a 7-year official has varies throughout the country. For that matter, it can vary in the same city! This has little to do with how good an official can be. I think Zack Zarba doesn't have much more experience than that. I guess the NBA thinks he is good enough.
You mentioned a gripe and IAABO. IAABO, enough said.
If your counting, no matter how you do it, has the possibility of hitting a player then your method of counting isn't the problem.
While you may not understand the mentality behind some mechanics being put aside I hope you can understand that something must seperate us as officials so we can't all have the same exact mechanics.
If your were to "make it" and worked for more than one supervisor what would you do if they wanted different things? If you did a HS game one day and a college game the next day what would you do? Maybe adjust?
Game interrupters are something we should all work on. The worst game interrupters are a whole bunch of "and one" plays that could be held. On the flip side, we don't award free-throws enough when a player is beginning the shooting motion. We are quick to yell "on the floor" while the player is shooting the ball. The rule is the same for HS, college and the NBA. We don't do a good job of this. Notice I'm saying "we" which includes myself
I would like to know what you mean by "I got my 3-man stuff down." If this is as written then that could be why someone with 7 years has enough experience to be D-1. This official could already have his "3-man stuff down" and is on the fast track moving up.
Just some thoughts.