OK....Here I come to aid Brian in defending volleyball officials.
The main difference that I find between
VB and BB is that volleyball has no physical aspect to it. In BB you need to move yourself physically to get the best postition to see each play and rule on it. In
VB, there is no physical movement involved, but the mental aspect is huge.
Here is something else to consider, Chuck. Depending on the level of competition that you are watching in
VB, officiating can vary greatly. I have done Jr. Hi level and some HS games where about all I did was signal for the start of play and call in and out. When the teams are doing little more than bumping the ball back and forth across the net,
VB is a very easy game to officiate. When the teams are running an offense and trying to attack the ball aggressively, the difficulty in officiating goes up dramatically. When the game is being played at it's highest levels and with skilled players, it is very exciting to watch. Check out
VB in the next Olympics or if you happen to see a college match on a sports channel as you are surfing and see if you think that would be any more difficult to officiate than the match you saw.
I will also say that determining if a ball was contacted illegally, or lifted, is more difficult than it seems. I have been trying to think of an analogy to a play in BB, but can't really come up with one.
Because there is no physical aspect to
VB, I plan on doing that sport until I fall over and die. I personally think that it is easier than BB, but only because of the lack of physical movement.