Comfort
 

This is probably going to be somewhat of a strange topic because I have no idea where it's going.

I have been refereeing for 17 years now. I absolutely love it. But regardless the level of the game, I feel more comfortable working with certain people then I do with others.

I have a group of about 10 people that I completely enjoy working with. I think it's a matter of trust in them and them in me. Whereas other people that I work with we don't know one another as well and I feel like they are judging me on my calls.

Is this common amongst other officials? What I mean, is this group of people that I work with and feel comfortable with, I pretty much know how they are going to call the games and I know what they're going to call.

I work about maybe 70 games a year from middle school to varsity high school. Both 2 & 3 person games. I would say I get about maybe 20 games a year with my closest friends in the Association.

I think it's very common among officials. I too have group of a few that I know we call a lot better game because I know I can trust them that much more and don't feel obligated to "stretch" my PCA to be sure we don't miss critical plays. I work pretty well with most people, but there are those few that I could literally not pregame a single word, and the game would go as smooth as any.

Why would this be any different than any other aspect of life?

You work with a bunch of people, and get along better with some than with others.

You go to church with a bunch of people, and get along better with some than with others.

You go to the gym and see a bunch of people -- and get along better with some than with others.

Even with your "friends" -- there are some who are there because they are your friends, and some who are there because they are friends with your friends. You probably wouldn't be friends with them without that middleman.

If that is in your head, then you are not committing your concentration to the game and play-calling. What makes any of them qualified to judge your calls? Do you do the same, judge the calls of officials you don't know?

I work for 2 HS associations and multiple colleges conferences. The most I work with any single partner during the course of a season is 4-5 times. I put my efforts into being the best partner I can be so that anybody who doesn't really know me feels comfortable when I am on the court with them.

I wouldn't worry about this. They might be thinking the same thing about you.

We have semi-regular partners here in WI.

I probably work 30-35 games with the same person -- my partner from the bad old 2-person days. We have 3-4 people who come in as our third.

I've started taking more games outside my area. I have enjoyed working with new people -- matter of fact, working with 2 people I've never worked with before tonight in a pretty big game. Looking forward to it.

I don't always think it's a positive to "be comfortable." At times I equate that with "lacking proper focus."

You've given us no information. Just that you didn't like 3 calls. Great analysis. :rolleyes:

When I think about it, this is a little bit odd:

I'm in the same officials association for both football and basketball.

In football, we stick to the same crews as much as possible... My 5-person high school crew was the same all year, except for two games where we had a replacement due to our L being out of town for his day job. My 7-person college crew was the same all year except for a couple of instances where a) our R missed a game due to a family wedding, b) our S got a D-1 assignment, and c) our crew got split up to cover 2 games at once... and, on that last one, I definitely could tell the difference in the smoothness of the officiating.

In basketball, I've worked with different people on almost every game, with relatively few repeats... and I haven't worked with anyone more than 3 times this season. I think some officials have regular partners; but I'm not one of them... so maybe I've just spent the season being the 3rd wheel.

Strange as it sounds, I actually like it that way... football officiating and basketball officiating differ so much that I think the crew philosophical differences make sense.

My growth as a basketball official would be stunted if I worked all or most of the season with the same 1-3 partners. I learn things, good and bad, from all the different partners I work with. Plus it sparks better pre-games in the locker room since we need to make sure we are on the same page.

I am lucky if I work with 10 people more than once during the entire season until maybe the playoffs. I can work and will work with anyone. Yes are there some officials that you have a better rapport with? Of course and that is very normal that you have probably worked with or talked with over the years. But I pride myself on working with any partner in any situation. I let them do their thing and I do my thing. I have enough respect for my partners, even the ones I am not in love with. But for that night, they are my best friend. I like how my state basically as a similar way of training officials that most of us know the basics and procedures that working with anyone is much easier.

Peace

The more I think about it, the more the "same crew" differences between football and basketball makes sense.

In football, I have my defined position with my defined mechanics and responsibilities, and the other officials have different responsibilities. Barring injury/illness, none of my crewmates are ever going to have to move to the Umpire position, and I'm never going to have to step into the Referee or Line Judge's position, and I don't really need to know the Field Judge's pass coverage mechanics.

In basketball, on the other hand, at some point during the game I'm going to be in every possible position: L/C/T, tableside/opposite, dealing/not dealing with the coach, etc. We all have to be ready/able to cover the same things at different times; which means we all have to know what to do in every possible position, and we need to pregame some of the little mechanical things.

I moved the coach's posts to another thread to keep this one on track.

This gets its own thread

A great pre-game would take care of all those insecurities about working with new partners.

This made me smile quietly.

In our HS association we aren't allowed to work with the same person more than 2-3 times a month. It happens. So maybe allowed isn't the right word, but it's extremely rare.

While I do have the officials I enjoy working with more, this method, in my opinion, has made me a better official. I've found I can meld into just about any crew.

In mine, there might be one partner I see 3 times a season.

The question I have is this; is "comfort" a matter of personalities or of competence? ... Occasionally I work with someone I don't trust to get the job done when the pressure is on...which makes me uncomfortable. I couldn't care less about your personality.

For most, perception is going to prevent these from being completely isolated from one another.

This sounds about right. I'm just saying the max amount possible in HS for us. There's something on Arbiter that flags the assigner if you've worked with someone within 14 days.

I may have a different approach. I am in the twilight of my career (age) and I still really love to officiate. At this time in my life, this about fun and not worrying about moving up etc...In 2-man, I work with the same guy almost every night. We have worked together now for 7 years. My previous partner and I were together 9 years before he retired.

I love knowing where my partner is and he always knows where I am. I do work a few games a year with someone else and it is OK. But you can't replace the conversations that go on in the vehicle on the way to the game.

We use different people for 3-person and that is good too. Met a really great young official a month ago that we would work with any time.

Ah. Not sure if that's the case here. There have been times I've seen one partner three times before Christmas, then not at all the rest of the season.

Competence is more important. I'm definitely nowhere near on boat with not caring about personalities.

There is the occasional night, maybe once a month, where I'm thinking: oh dang how'd I get put with these two old grumps.

two man games? :)

Hah, I was slightly grumpy having to do my first 2-man game of the year. Had to do my second one of the year last night but it was a deaf&blind school. They're always the nicest people you'll ever meet and make it fun.

Round these parts, I work with the same level experience guys and mostly about the same 10 people. I would love to be the new guy and be uncomfortable around more experienced guys. I want to learn and get better and it sucks when you are generally the stronger whistle on the court. Not that I can't learn by working with a new guy but it's not the same as with a veteran

Positives and negatives working with new people, on the plus side for me:

1. As Rich pointed out, I tend to be more focused and work hard to earn my stripes with the crew that night.

2. Enjoy meeting and learning from new people.

On the downside:

1. I find out crews are out of synch a lot more, it can be tougher to find a rhythm with the game.

2. It seems like partners reach more.

For me the biggest part of working with new people each night is that it required me to have more patience. The first year I experienced it, I would come home frustrated every night because "this guy I have never worked with" made a bad call and the crew suffered. Now I can brush those things off and enjoy the "down time" on the court.

I have an occasional partner about whom I feel the same way, and he is a friend of mine. He has been officiating longer than me and has helped me along the way (once gave me a great piece of advice concerning officiating adult rec leagues), so I do not feel it is my place to critique him. I just make sure that when I work with him in tight games I communicate as much as possible to keep him focused.

"Don't do it" ?

Don't do it if I can't be professional and rise above the comments the players were making. I had just started officiating (1st or 2nd year) and many of those players were guys I had played against in pick-up ball and open tournaments sponsored by my military base. So instead of calling T's or telling them I had enough, I was escalating the situations by talking smack or making sarcastic comments.

I stopped taking those games for the rest of that season.

Ok, Rich, I know I'm moving to WI next season so I admit I'm probably a bit biased in this comment. But I'll try to keep it objective.

Would you agree that the long-lead contracting process you use in Wisconsin encourages assignment of crews vice individuals? If so, would you also agree that said process stymies the value of working with a wide variety of officials throughout the season?

Do other assignors see it this way? If so, what is the impediment to moving away from the long-lead contracting system? It seems from what I've gathered on the forum that only about 5% of basketball assignors in America operate under this system.

Disclaimer: I promise that when in Rome, I will do as the Romans do. :D

For me, it's actually personalities. I would say the vast majority of our officials are very competent. I am the Secretary of the Board and we take 4 test per year we take National Federation part 1 for the state of Maryland and for the state of West Virginia we take Part 1 & 2, we also take the IAABO test.

I see everyone's scores. So I know as a board we know the rules and generally speaking we apply them well. But I also hear in the executive meeting how officials are critiqued. I got into this when I was 44 years old. I am now 60. So it's not like I am 35 or 40 years old with 15 years of experience.

I believe that most officials do everything they can do to groom and help younger officials. But there are a few who don't want younger officials getting better than they are so they don't help and they do cut down younger officials.

These are the guys that I'm not as comfortable working with. My first Varsity game I worked with a couple of these guys and they said to me, if you blow a call it's on you we're not going to bail you out. we're not going to make a call in your area if you miss it. You're on your own.

I have never said that to another official, I have said that if you see something in my area that I definitely missed, come in late and get it. I'd rather have the call right than for us to miss it in front of everybody. Maybe this explains my feelings a little bit better.