I guess some people haven't figured out that you can hate women's basketball without hating women. They are not one and the same.
Perhaps it's all just too subtle, and I don't get it, but here are the basic facts of basketball officiating life as I have learned them.
Fact: New officials are not to be trusted. Until proven otherwise it's best to assume they know too little, are too slow, don't have the skills, can't handle the pressure, and will fail if simply thrown into any group/association's biggest games.
Fact: In order to prove one's ability to anybody that assigns games, you must be able and prepared to demonstrate proficiency at working "lower level" games.
Fact: Slower, less intense, more sparsely attended games are lower level games. And any competent assigner at any level will use those games to develop and prove newer officials.
Fact: Freshman games are slower, less intense, and more sparsely attended than junior varsity games which are, in turn, slower, less intense, and more sparsely attended than varsity games. Therefore freshman games are lower level than junior varsity games, which are, in turn, lower level than varsity games.
Fact: At every level, freshman, sophmore, junior varisity, and varsity, the girls' games are slower, less intense, and more sparsely attended than the boys'.
Fact: Most officials, certainly the officials that frequent this board, want to work faster, more intense, and more well-attended games. We don't officiate for the money. We officiate for the personal challenge of getting our game on, taking the floor, nailing the calls, managing the personalities, solving the crises, performing under pressure, and just generally excelling at every aspect of what we do. And then we want to go out the next night and tackle an even bigger challenge.
Fact: That means officials must "move up" from where they are currently to the games they want to be working.
Now I don't hear any moral outrage being unloaded on officials who say they're working hard to "move up" from junior varsity to varsity. So why should any of us feel ill disposed toward an official who wants to move up from working girls' games to boys' games?
Most women officials I know are frequently overheard complaining about how they're not getting more boys varsity games. Why? Because they want to move up as much as the men do. Is anyone here willing to unload their moral outrage on these officials too? Or is it okay to think in those terms if your a woman?
