[dumbref]

Originally posted by dumbref


Turn the situation around - what if you had told a DE on your side he was "OK" and the LJ had thrown his flag for encroachment. Would you think the LJ was over officiating?

My question was not an accusation. And you did not answer it. What would you think of the other official?

You were given 4 or 5 excellent points by BulldogMcC and a couple of ideas from me. I would also add – See the whole foul. You seem more determined to justify your calls than listening to those suggestions.

But the answer to your ultimate question is experience and learning from those experiences (notice I did not say mistakes). Experience will help you filter Bulldog’s suggestions quickly and react appropriately.

I have a theory about the different phases that an official has to go through to become a “good official” .
Phase I They wouldn’t know a foul if they saw it and probably are too intimidated to throw it even then.

Phase II They see everything and throw everything because that is the rule and someone has to enforce it.

Phase III They see everything and use their experiences to filter out the fouls that matter

And every official has to go through that process to so extent. Some progress quicker than others. Some never make it out of phase II. You can ask all the questions, even listen to some – but you have to experience a situation to really learn from it.

When I was in my fourth or fifth year of officiating, I observed an obvious pass interference on the LJ’s side of the field just outside the hash marks. It was so obvious; I thought I was throwing a support flag for his call. And of course you guessed it, no flag from the LJ. Now we walked it off the penalty – but it took many games working with that official before I earned his trust again. It broke me from throwing supporting flags. If I throw a flag it is because I thought it was a foul. It also taught me to officiate my area. I needed to trust an official to work his area even if I think he missed a call. And if I see too many of his mistakes, I'm not doing my job.