|
Okay, all you hard-heads that really, truly don't care who wins, stop reading. This question is for the tender-hearted as well as biased or involved refs, who do care (at least a little) who wins.
This year, I am in the best physical shape I've ever been in, and my mechanics may need some polish, but they are more correct and automatic than not. And, I'm starting to be in position most of the time. But I am noticing more and more that my judgment is affected by my biases.
I'm not talking about conscious decisions to run a game a certain way, such as calling fewer travels on one team because they commit so many of them, or cracking down on touch fouls by a team that is pressing with a 40-point lead. This is more of a sub-conscious filter, such as not seeing certain violations, because of favoring or pitying someone. Calling more fouls on one team becuase the coach is yelling too much. That kind of thing.
It doesn't happen all the time, but I've noticed enough to detect a pattern. A) if I know someone who is playing, I tend to be harder on them than the other players. B) if one team is the odds-on favorite to win, or is clearly more skilled than the other team, I am much harder on them. C) if I get very annoyed with someone, either coach or player, I tend to be much harder on them or their team.
Obviously, this needs to change. But I'm not sure how to do it. If I ever want to work at the State Tournament, (and I do!) I can't be biased against Oregon City, any more. But how do I get rid of this?
|