I'm thankful for this forum. It's nice to have a centralized place for people who are serious about getting better bounce ideas off each other and learn. To those of you who add comments and walk through scenarios you've seen over the years, thanks.
The apathy part comes from a recent series of games I officiated with a guy in our association. Usually, I'll tell my partner to be as open as possible about things I can improve upon. Humility is a goal of mine. I try to take notes at the end of each game. It's hard when you are super arrogant like I am
But, as I'm seeing, some guys are horrid examples to follow. For example:
About half way through our first game together I realized my partner was taking short cuts and would have been called "lazy" by anyone familiar with the amount of work, or effort, that should go into a game. Simple things like not husseling back on a fast break when he was are clearly responsible or blaming me for not getting the call on a line when he should have been in place to make the call. Also, he started to alter who should be taking the ball out by looking at how much work it was going to be to get to a spot, and then telling me it was my ball to pass in. I guess that was the final straw. Later, my wife, who is clueless about basketball said, "he didn't seem like he wanted to run much, was everything ok?"
In light of all the things that can go wrong in a game - one that shouldn't be a problem is the amount of effort each one of us puts in. Working with numerous partners who've been professional and committed to working as a team, it was a real put off. My standards aren't that high. Just try.
This leads to a theory I have (which may be totally wrong, but your thoughts are appreciated). Each association at the high school/junior high level can be broken up into 3 basic, but vague, categories:
1. Guys who are on their way up, either newer guys climbing the ladder, or guys who are doing college ball already.
2. Guys who have plateaued. Attitudes get a little bitter, and they don't have a good connection with the assigner or many partners. A guy like this may be a fine Jr High official, but will never work Varsity consistently.
3. Guys who are just starting and the verdict is still out. Could go either way, and time will tell.