Interesting poll on ESPN

[David B]

Just happened to see that 43% said that officiating baseball was the most difficult. (compared to other sports) Thought that was interesting. I know baseball is difficult but since I also call basketball, it is much more difficult to me since its so fast and so many decisions on the fly.

Just wondering what some of you officials thought of that if you call more than one sport ..

Thanks
David

[mbyron]

I officiate 4 sports:

Volleyball requires a little judgment.
Football requires a little judgment and a little exercise.
Baseball requires a lot of judgment and a little exercise.
Basketball requires a lot of judgment and a lot of exercise.

For me, basketball is the most challenging of the sports I officiate.

[TwoBits]

Agree basketball is definitely the most difficult. In baseball, a large majority of the time you know a play in which a decision that needs to be made is coming, and you can prepare yourself for it. In basketball, you rarely have that luxury.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by mbyron

I officiate 4 sports:

Volleyball requires a little judgment.
Football requires a little judgment and a little exercise.
Baseball requires a lot of judgment and a little exercise.
Basketball requires a lot of judgment and a lot of exercise.

For me, basketball is the most challenging of the sports I officiate.

+1

I'll agree with this line of thinking.

[jicecone]

I officiated Ice Hockey for over 20 years, (not anymore) and it is probably somewhat like basketball, but a lot faster. I have to go with that over baseball though.

Almost all the time in baseball you can anticipate where the play is going to be and get into position to observe it and make the call.

In ice hockey you always work to be in the best position to observe the maximum amount of playing surface and individuals. Many times one official just wasn't enough, thus the 4-man system presently being used became the one to go with. With every stride you have a different angle, which is probably like basketball.

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by jicecone

I officiated Ice Hockey for over 20 years, (not anymore) and it is probably somewhat like basketball, but a lot faster.

And on ice. Until last March, I'd never been ice skating before. Hockey's always been my second-favorite sport, and I always respected the players for how tough I'd heard ice skating was. But, after I stepped on the ice and did it for about 90 minutes, my respect grew even more.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by yawetag

And on ice. Until last March, I'd never been ice skating before. Hockey's always been my second-favorite sport, and I always respected the players for how tough I'd heard ice skating was. But, after I stepped on the ice and did it for about 90 minutes, my respect grew even more.

I was asked to officiate hockey this past winter. But I skate like a ... well, let's just say I'm not fast enough.

[MrUmpire]

I have officiated football at the high school level, basketball at the high school and lower college levels and baseball at the high school, college and lower professional levels.

When comparing the three sports from an officiating stand point, I consider the width and breadth of the rule knowledge required, mechanics, variety of situations possible, the number of rulings that need to be made in a game, and the critical level of judgement.

Baseball comes out as the most demanding.

[Tim C]

I have worked both basketball and baseball @ the "major college" level.

I think being a very, very good base umpire (in 2 and 3 umpire crews) is the single hardest thing to in officiating.

Being an average base umpire may be the easiest thing in officiating.

For basketball I always felt the uptempo speed of the game lowered stress as some times many things happen between something controversial and the next dead ball.

I also am a rules official in golf. Pretty large playing field and golfers seem to have the least knowledge of the rules they play under.

I think, strongest of all, it is VERY hard to be a REAL GOOD official in any sport.


T

[JRutledge]

I just got through working as a clinician at a Basketball Camp where AAU was being played with mostly 16 year olds that can play above the rim and are the "next" thing in the game all weekend long including this morning. There is no comparison to working a basketball game to any other sport I work. So many decisions to make and there is no mechanism to really make the calls for you. You have to tell everyone most of the time that you have a call to make unlike baseball for example. And to make calls consistently you have to get in position and not have the position fixed for you. I also think Football is harder than baseball as well when most of what we have to do is make calls while moving and even when the ball is completely dead, we still have a lot of work to do. I know some want to say that calling a pitch in baseball is the hardest thing in sports, but with all due respect anyone can be trained to stand there and make a call. I have a really hard time telling a newer or inexperienced basketball and football officials to get in position and then tell them how to make a call.

Peace

[zm1283]

I agree with Tim C in this one. Being very good on the bases is tougher than officiating basketball. There are so many plays in a basketball game that if you "pass" on a foul or violation, most people forget about it and the game goes on without anyone saying anything in a relatively short time. You screw something up on the bases and all hell breaks loose. I feel like their is an attitude in basketball that things tend to even out over the course of games and seasons, where in baseball every call is magnified because there are so few truly close calls.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I apologize in advance for the long and winding post.

My first opinion is a very biased opinion. I think basketball is the easiest to officiate and here is why: I am 59 years old, I know I don't look a day over 69, and I started playing basketball when I was 9 years old. My school district's boys' basketball coach was my next door neighbor and his 2 sons and 2 daughters and my sister and I were all in the same age group and we grew like brothers and sisters. He and his wife were like second parents to my sister and I and my parents were like parents to his children. He was a great coach winning 378 games against 122 losses, and 16 league championships in 21 years (I played on 2 of them.). Of all of his players, many thought that I would be the one that would go into coaching (two of his players did go into coaching and were very successful girls' H.S. coaches in the Youngstown, Ohio, area), but I went to engineering college and went into officiating instead, because very few people outside of his players knew that from his college days right after WW2 until he retired from coaching in 1970-71, he was an OhioHSAA registered basketball official. He was a founding member (1948) of the Trumbull Co. Bkb. Off. Assn. in Warren, Ohio; I joined in 1971-72 and have been a member ever since. When asked why he was a basketball official he always said that if you do not know the rules of the game you can not teach the game. If one were to have observed our practice sessions for guarding and screening, one would have thought that they were watching a basketball officials camp instead of a basketball team's practice. Basketball officiating came as easy to me as drinking water (now I prefer Rolling Rock, ). I think it is because of my basketball background.

My second opinion is not biased but based on logic. I agree with Jeff, and his reasoning for why basketball is probably the most difficult to officiate. I do not officiate football but there is no way one would find me on a football field; I think that it is the most difficult sport to officiate.

I umpire baseball and softball and I found the most difficult thing for me was calling balls and strikes. I did not play baseball; when I was in H.S. boys' golf was a Spring sport in Ohio and my basketball coach was the boys' golf coach (he was the girls' golf coach in the Fall and therefore coached all of his children as well as my sister in me in golf and the boys in basketball). Calling balls and strikes did not come naturally to me, where as, Mark, Jr., played baseball, he had no trouble acquring the skill to calling balls and strikes in either sport.

Rules wise, I think that basketball is the easiest to make interpretations but that is a biased opinion becasue of my background (But it is my opinion that the rules have become more obtuse in certain situation because of some of the goofing rules that have been adopted, such as AP, but that is thread all to itself. I think that football is probably the most difficult with baseball and softball a close second.

Now lets talk about soccer, . I have officiated H.S. futbol. It is my position that if one is a competent H.S. basketball official, then one can be a competent H.S. soccer official too. The rules are even easier than basektball and the actual officiating is not different that basketball. Sorry soccer guys, just my two cents.

MTD, Sr.

[Publius]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I know some want to say that calling a pitch in baseball is the hardest thing in sports, but with all due respect anyone can be trained to stand there and make a call.
Peace

That's true.

Getting them to make the right call, and do it on all 200-300 pitches (depending on game length) within the confines of a proper strike zone, is something different.

It's irritating to hear players praise some of my co-workers with, "He's big, but's he's consistent." Well, hell yes, and why not? Consistency within 25 inches is easy, but within 19 inches a lot tougher.

Baseball umpires have their own space for which by rule they and they alone are responsible to a greater degree than other sports. Nobody on the other side of the field is blowing a whistle or throwing a flag to bail you out of something you missed.

IMO, baseball has more weird stuff happen routinely that calls for solid judgment. I'm with Tim C on one thing: the base umpire in 2-man with multiple runners and the PU staying home, who gets it right 98% over the course of a 100-game schedule has my respect and envy. When nothing unusual happens, baseball is a cake walk; when lots unusual happens, baseball is insanely difficult, because the rules are often counterintuitive.

An official who can control a basketball game at the level Rut describes and above, and keep the players and coaches in check throughout has challenges most baseball-only officials don't even imagine.

For exhibiting physical skills following the play that changes direction constantly at 75+ mph and brass balls in keeping up with and controlling players, NHL officials impress me the most. Maybe that's because I know I can't even do a close imitation of what they do.

Most reasonably fit adults can do a passable job in most sports keeping up with the players, because everyone can run. Not everyone can lace up skates, and if you didn't start in early elementary school or before, you have almost zero chance of acquiring the skill on skates needed to officiate collegiate/junior A levels and above.

Football and futbol? Relatively easy. That's relatively.

[JJ]

Originally Posted by mbyron

I officiate 4 sports:

Baseball requires a lot of judgment and a little exercise.

It only requires a LITTLE exercise if you're not doing it correctly.

JJ

[SanDiegoSteve]

I have done football, baseball, and basketball. Baseball was always my favorite of the three to play growing up, coming in second only to golf.

The main reason I find baseball to be the most challenging is probably the fact that other than the silly NFHS restriction to the bench rule, a baseball umpire has only the ejection as his disposal for handing out justice. I never had any problem banging a coach with a technical followed by another,, or throwing back-to-back flags for unsportsmanlike conduct. The fact that in most baseball games, the only option is ejection, and it makes game management more challenging, to me at least. Besides, all that running on the flanks was for the birds, so I worked umpire whenever possible, and I didn't last long enough to ever be a white hat.