[Rich]

Originally Posted by zebraman

What pushes my buttons is when officials, at halftime or after the game, try to justify their weak calls and you can tell that they are just making excuses.

"Boy, those 3 and-ones I called were hard fouls. Those are some talented players to have finished those off." TRANSLATION: "I have had some really weak whistles tonight and I want to justify them before they get brought up for discussion."

"Boy, the white team was sure fouling a lot at the beginning of the game. That was stupid that they put the other team in bonus so fast." TRANSLATION: "My whistle tempo is way too quick so I anticipate calls and I put fouls on players that don't deserve them. But if I blame the team, maybe it will take the spotlight off me."

"Hey guys, I hope you don't mind that I called those 4 fouls in your areas. I just thought they were too hard to let go." TRANSLATION: "I have no discipline and I want to blame you for the fact that I call all over the floor."

Usually if a partner starts out like that, I have a reason to use the toilet for about 7 minutes (until game management gets us for the second half).