[Nate1224hoops]

Originally posted by Ref Daddy
Coach's:
I love what you do and respect it greatly. Thank you for working with our kids. Thank you for teaching them the game of basketball, sportsmanship, competition and other valuable life lessons.

As an official I know NONE of us are perfect. I miss calls, I miss rules interpretations, I make mistakes.

I am not alone with the others that share the basketball floor during a contest with me. They miss shots, they travel, they make turnovers.

What I bring to every game is a comittment to fairness, unbiased and hard work. I hope beyond all things that the players - with the strategy and direction of their coach's - determine the game's outcome. I don't want attention, I want to help produce a fair game within the rules and let talent (on that night) dictate victory.

I want to hear your comments, note your concerns and improve because of them.

What we do is difficult, in a fast environment and subject to tremendous scrutiny. I accept that. I will be better because of it.

You are expected to advocate for your team - and that is a skill of all coach's. I do encourage you to expect and demand the best from every offical crew you are exposed to in yor career - but understand the limits of human error.

What would basketball be like if every player... every coach ... and every official ... were absolutly perfect?

We would all then miss the good old days when the contest was a contest of people, kids, fan's, players, coach's, cheerleaders and parents rooting for their team to persevere in an imperfect contest.

IMO.

I agree 100%. I feel like my team and I come out and play hard everynight. I expect them to be as near perfect as can be. I also hold the same reguards for myself. Do we as coaches or players always do this?? No way. There have been several games that I wish that I had done things differently. I also expect the officials to do a good job. Myself formerly being an official I know what the job is like. It's very tough. I know when an official makes a bad call, I have been there many times making the wrong call. What I dont understand is how officials who dont know the rules make it onto the court. I never will. Maybe there is a flaw in the system somewhere. It's understandable in lower level games buy JV/V officials should be educated in the game.