[LarryS]

CYOButch,
You made one of my points for me! "I might be inclined to downrate officials who are pretty lenient in what they called under the basket because I coach girls and because I don't value the rough stuff inside highly. Conversely, my evaluation of an official who called a lot of contact would probably be pretty high." So, if the official is not calling the game the way YOU want him to call it, he gets a bad evaluation? Remember, not all contact is a foul. That is the point I was trying to make with the personal preferences of a coach.

I would have no problem being evaluated by a coach. In fact, since my chapter allows a coach to scratch an official I am being evaluated by coachs every game. Am I convinced all the coaches can be fair and competent...No. Am I convinced they are all unfair and incompetent...No. But how can a coach effectively do his job and evaluate the officials at the same time? I know I cannot fairly assess a coaches skills while calling a game. I have too much to do.

Also, I mentioned a situation where both coaches yelled for a foul to be called on the same play. By definition, one of them clearly did not see the play or misapplied their knowledge of the rule. They cannot both be right when the want opposite results. It is also probable that neither had the proper angle to evaluate the play since it was on the baseline and they were near midcourt.

A prime example of built in bias on coaches. My daughter has competed for 2 national championships this year in cheerleading (different governing bodies). In the first competition, their coach was telling the parents the team won after the routine...they finished third. In the second competition...the coach was telling the girls they probably didn't place well so prepare yourself for the announcement...the national championship ring will arrive in a few weeks. In both cases, the coach saw something totally different than the judges when watching the action.

Who was wrong? Maybe neither...they had different perspectives of the routine. The coach thought the first set of judges were jerks because he felt they were dead on...if you feel like your team is playing great defense but a lot of fouls are going against you, will you be able to fairly assess the officials judgement. My daughter's coaches could not. You may be better.

You obviously care about the sport and the level of skill shown by EVERYONE on the court. But I think you will have to admit that not all coaches can be fair. There are bad coaches and bad officials. Let me ask you a simple question, and this in not intended to be critical. How many coaches could pass a test on the rules of basketball? I know the rules, but could not effectively coach a team. There are many excellent coaches who do not know the rules.


[Edited by LarryS on Feb 7th, 2003 at 03:04 PM]