It is that time of year....I have a question for everyone

[Kansas Ref]

Originally Posted by Dad

I disagree and don't think taking this line of thinking has much success. If someone bitches to me about it I tell them to get better. If they think they are already great and can't get better then I found the problem!

Good ole boy networks make a lot of sense. Getting playoff games isn't as simple as, "I make good calls, blah blah blah!" Lots of officials are good at calling a game.

*The issue at hand here (viz. in this thread) is not a disgruntled ref saying "he can't get any better as a ref". That is a whole nother issue when we start talking about whether or not ref feels as though s/he has reached the epitome of their reffing skills. However, the critical question pertaining to this post / thread is: a disgruntled ref holding the opinion that: "I know that my reffing skills are at least equivalent to Ref B (who got a tourney assignment) because I have reffed with Ref B before or observed Ref B in games". And, all things being equal--save for Ref B being a good ole boy--, Ref B got the assignment, so why did I not get selected?

And, we all here know and understand that lots of refs are excellent at calling games, never turning back games, doing a fine job etc. Another factor could be gender. I had a ref tell me that his assignor said he had to select a female ref for certain tournament assignment just to check off the 'gender equality' box. And this particular ref was good and the other selected ref was a two year experienced person.