Quote:
Originally Posted by mick
You have read posts where some legitimately honest questions were asked by a younger/newer official and you have graciously sent them down the path of truth. These were possibly questions that, after achieving all your success, you would never think of asking (again).
The point of this thread is to attempt to keep an original subject [e.g., Changing basketball jerseys] open and welcoming, unmarred by such topics as the Notre Dame green jerseys or the biography of the author of the Notre Dame Fight Song.
This forum is top heavy with experienced and clever officials ready to offer advice and direction. All want to write something here or they would be elsewhere. But, because of the cleverness, we sometimes, inadvertently, type a knee-jerk response which deflects an original thread.
That makes it harder to jump in and for that "honest question" to be asked by new folks.
What the forum needs, as does officiating in general, is some newer/younger folks to ask and be answered. Let's make it easier for them.
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On the flip side, keep in mind that the reason so many accomplished and knowledgeable officials continue to hang out here is not to continue to ask a steady stream of questions. Nor is it an eager desire to answer new people's questions (I'm not suggesting those questions aren't welcome, nor even the lifeblood of a discussion forum, just that nobody logs on each day thinking to him or herself, "Gee, I'll bet I can answer four or five questions before heading out to work.").
It's the community that draws these people here. It is, to a lesser or greater extent, the chance to "hang out" with other really good officials that we don't get in the "real world". We're all still learning, 'tis true. And we're all still learning from each other, and that's a great benefit of being here. But honestly, does any of us sign on with a single-minded determination to engage in another "study session" on the forum? Or do you come at least as much to see "what's happening" as well as talk basketball?
I wasn't being flip when I said earlier, "It is what it is." Any community is more or less the sum of it's members, but is not any one of them. It draws people because it is better to be a member than to not. But it is not and never will be exactly what any one of us wishes it were. It's always a compromise.
This entire discussion has been about what one member wants this place to be, and why can't we all just conform to his view of the world? With all due respect to Tony, and I do respect him a ton, why is he here complaining about why this board isn't conducted and moderated to his view of the world. He's got a board that he moderates to his standard. Why does he need another? There's a reason I spend 99% of my time here, and 1% there. I like this place 99% better. Apparently I'm not alone.