[dan74]

How do you handle the constant criticism? I'm a rookie who is getting tired of the comments from coaches and fans. I worked boys' B and JV games this week and they were all close games, but all but one of the coaches was decent, the rest were jerks.

For my double-header on Tues, my partner held a pre-game with the coaches and introduced himself as a varsity official who sometimes helps the assignor by working a couple less than varsity contests each season. He then introduced me and added that I was "pretty inexperienced." Both of the games that night were buzzer beaters, so things were tense. All but one of the coaches griped about almost everything. One coached yelled at me, "THAT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU." Hate to say it, but a kid moved right in my line of sight before I could adjust to see the supposed violation.

I'm getting better at seeing violations and fouls and immediately responding, but I acknowledge missing a bit more than my share or just plain hesitating on blowing my whistle. I issued my first "T" to a coach two weeks ago, but I'm still not sure when to draw the line and how to draw the line.

I want to do a good job, I study, I work at it, but I'm having trouble tolerating the comments. Does it get better? Any advise? Or is retiring at the ripe old age of 41 my best option?