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Originally Posted by JoeT
I hate to say this, but the fact that you lost your cool should indicate why he picked on you - it was clear to him (even if it not consciously) that you could be manipulated. Of the two of you, you were the weaker official. That's not to say you're not as good as your partner, but you were perceived as weaker than your partner.
Here's the problem (and I know many of the officials on this board will dispute this, but I've seen it to be true): Officials can often be manipulated. Sometimes this isn't a bad thing - maybe you forgot to start your five-second counts and were reminded. But often it's just simple manipulation - sometimes even intimidation. You're in the Chicago area, I gather. Go work a conference game coached by Mike Bailey or Gene Pingatore (or god forbid - both.) You will be working with two coaches who are very good at "helping" officials make calls a certain way. Sometimes they do this with honey, sometimes with vinegar; but that's the nature of manipulation.
Many coaches also see that they start getting the benefit of the doubt after an official loses his cool. If an official makes a big show of warning (or T'ing) a coach and getting visibly angry, it's likely that he's a little embarrassed afterward and tries to "make sure it's a good one" before calling anything against that coach right away.
In my experience, here's what most officials DON'T do (even though we coaches will sometimes complain that they do): Very few officials will make a call against a team just because they are mad at a coach (in my estimation.) Yet many officials will be extra careful about making the right call if a coach has caused them to lose their cool over a similar call. It's human nature. Add to that, most officials are in this because they are pretty good guys (and girls). They tend to WANT to be nice and to become inwardly embarrassed if they lose their cool.
Basketball officiating is uniquely difficult in that it is highly subjective, in ridiculously close proximity to fans and coaches, and very personal. Added to that, it's acquired one of the most difficult-to-understand and litigious rule sets in all of sports. There is plenty of room for coaches to try to impose their personalities on your work.
Sorry you had a rough game.
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Thanks for all the replies guys...I didn't handle this one the way I have in the past nor how I will in the future...it was really an isolated incident where I think I took his lip personally...
As for him perceiving me to be the "weaker" official...perhaps, and perhaps it had to do with me being probably 20 years younger? Could be other factors such as race? My partner is a good guy and he's been working games at our facility longer than I....maybe this particular coach knew him and I'd never had this coach before.... I don't tend to have any issues like this with the coaches I do know there and have seen my work multiple times the past 6-7 months.