This discussion has taken on a life of his own. You have completely missed the original point. You have missrepresented my argument time and time again. You keep talking about things that I did not say and do not seem to understand or want to understand the point.
Tony, you need it all. You cannot pass a stupid test and go out on the court and think you will be the perfect ref. Most coaches, players, fans or evaluators and officials will not have a clue about your test score unless you tell them. I have never had a coach ever ask me what my score on the Part 1 or Part 2 and then treat me differently because of that fact. But I have come to the basketball game early, looking like a professional, I might be treated differently than the officials that shows up in their uniform. But to me that is really only a very small part of it. That is does not really have nothing to do with your presense on the court. That has more to do with your professionalism, which most of us would agree we are very much judged by.
Look, I have quoted rules to coaches only to have them think I was crazy and I got no where with them. But when I handle myself with confidence and act as the calm surrounded by the storm, coaches and players respect that much more. And that confidence does not just come from knowing the rules, it comes from knowing my mechanics, understanding the game, knowing myself and many times my partners. Just knowing what my partners are going to do or what their characteristics are like can be an extremely calming influence on how you present yourself. The less you have to worry about the better.
Here this and quote it if you need to. THE MORE YOU KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE RULES, THE MORE YOU WILL HAVE PRESENSE ON THE COURT. In the game of basketball you are not judged as often by rules. Their are usually many more myths in the game of basketball then the games of football and baseball. So because of that fact, just simply being able to quote a rule is not going to be something that you will be judged on in as big a way as many officials think. Yeah when you mess up you will, but if you have no rules mess ups and you call a perfect game, it will be the "other" things that will affect how you are precieved. Just something as wearing glasses can affect how coaches treat you. Seen any D1 officials with glasses lately? I am sure they wear them, but you will not see them on the court that is for sure.
Tony, rules are the foundation for what we all do. You cannot be an official without knowledge and knowing how to apply rules. But I know several officials that know the rules but do not know the game or understand the game. You know what many of us call common sense. That is why I do not officiate and probably never will officiate volleyball or soccer. I might understand the rules of both games, but I did not play either and do not understand the "common sense" of the game. As I said the rules are the foundation, but not the end all be all of the game or officating. You have to build on that. Why do you think Ed Rush asked me all those questions about my competitive background? The NBA game is surely much different in the rules as compared to NF or even college to a great extent. Not by much, but the things you do and do not do at the NBA as an official is totally different than what most of us do. And if that is not the case, why do many of officials that are below those levels not understand or cannot agree on what the rules are for or what is being called on a regular basis?
Let us agree on this Tony, if I have a chance to work with a guy or gal that is an official, I will want different things from them then you will. Not much different than the discussion that I had with Stripes about camps. He has no problem spending $1000 on going to a single camp and travelling to do so. I would rather stay local and learn from people that I will have to deal with. But also because of where I live I am exposed to officials that work in the NBA, other pro leagues and D1 College for both Men's and Women's ball. So my area has that wealth of great officials surrounding me, and Stripes might have to travel to get that. I do not know that but it might explain some of the arugments that both of us had on camps.
This discussion between you and I Tony or anyone else that disagrees with me might just be a product of our environment.
Peace