[JRutledge]

If those of you that do not remember, I have been going to the Big Ten Tournament for the past 2 years. The last two years were in Chicago at the United Center which is only and that was very close to home. This year it was in Indianapolis, Indiana at Conseco Fieldhouse.

I noticed a few things about the games and wanted to share. You definitely get a totally different perspective because of what you see as compared to what you do not see on TV.

Officials:

Officials made several mistakes. Not bad mistakes and I am not critical of those mistakes. But the mistakes were human error, or communication issues that all of us had to deal with.

For example: One official did not get any help on and OBB play and the helping official gave him one of those "sneaky" signal and the calling official did not see it very well. Well the calling official called signaled one way, then the other way, then the other way. It was only funny because we usually do not see that happen very often at that level.

I did also notice that the mechanics or table mechanics were much more discriptive than HS. I do college so I do not see these mechanics in the CCA Manual, but they were using them. I personally do not feel confrontable using them myself, but I do understand the usage of them.

I picked on some technics that I might use to help me run the game and deal with coaches. The officials took several opportunities to talk to players and coaches during the dead ball sitautions. During FTs especially. Ed Hightower for example talked to coaches several times and directly confronted the coach if he felt they were getting out of line. He even T'd Gene Keady from Purdue after trying to warn him in some capacity.

I even noticed that every time there was an end of game sitaution, the officials would huddle like the teams and talk about the possible problems that can occur. At least I can say that is what it looked like. You get to see the expressions, see what they do during those long TV timeouts. Basically you never see on TV.

Basicically confirms what I do and what several of us do on the court. You see them communicate with each other and discuss things at times when the TV is cutting away and showing the players reactions. I always learn something about my game or learn new things I can try by watching these good officials. The knowledge can be priceless.

I also noticed that my mechanics and personality is a lot like Ed Hightower. I am not at all comparing myself with the man as to how good an official he is, I am just saying from the way I report to the table is very similar. It is by accident, but that is what my partner and I think that went to the tournament and has watched them together for the past 3 years. And I also see many other styles that mirror those of my collegues back at home.

And yes, the "court presence" was definitely there with all the officials. All of them handled themselves on the court as professionals and did not get caught up or appear to get caught up. There was even a "fight" or actions that appeared to be a fight between Minnesota and Illinois. The way they handled the sitation was rather interesting and I got to see things that I would not have a chance to if I was watching the game on the tube. I learned a lot of my own ability and the way I can handle things.

Fan:

These individuals are just as stupid and crazy as the HS ones. Enough said there. I even had a women from Indiana (I was wearing a Michigan hat, so I was a target for some fun ribbing all tournament) that tried to suggest to me that the Big 10 Officials were so bad that it affected the performance of the teams when they got into the tournament. When I told her that the officials in the Big 10 did several other conferences and gave the names of the officials that did those other conferences, she had no good answer to that. I even told her the history of the Big 10 and the success that the Big 10 teams have had in the Tournament and going to the Final Four, she still held on to this belief. I did not expect any more, but that is what happen.

Overall:

I think that if anyone can go to any of these tournamens and watch them, they should. You see plays and see how the officials handle themselves. How they deal with unusual situations and end of game situations.