Post Game Review the Next Day
 

A few years ago, I would e-mail my partners the next day if we had a post game discussion that never got resolved, based on what I found in a mechanics manual or rule book. I started to feel like I was holding on to these things too much and that it kind of made me look like an ass if I was sending out the rule book even though I was trying to learn and help my partners continue to evolve. I should also note that I almost always work with different partners and rarely work more than 1 or twice in a season with the same officials.

So this got me to thinking.....

Do you appreciate getting a follow up e-mail to clarify the discussion/ruling/mechanic/etc. or does this just make me look like an overzealous partner?

Monday Morning, It Was All I Hoped It Would Be (Mamas & the Papas, 1966) ...
 

If, during a post game discussion, a question is left unanswered, I would eventually like to get it resolved.

I am in your boat...I want to learn, so I research and share what I find. I have found that not everyone shares my desire to learn and improve. But I'll continue to be the ass that learns and shares rather than the ass who is apathetically ignores opportunities to improve.

Why are things not resolved in post-game? Don't you have the rules, mechanics and case book with you?

If you find the proper ruling during the post-game and your partners don't believe you / don't allow the issue to be resolved, I'm probably dropping it and getting out.

Why would I expect them to suddenly agree the next day after getting an email from me?

There's likely a play or two I want to discuss in a post-game, but by the next day I've moved on to that night's game.

Unless we walked away from the post-game with what turned out to be wrong, I wouldn't want a follow up email. I can't recall leaving a post game with anything unresolved, tbh.

Post-Game . . . and the Days Following
 

Post-game review is great, and we sure do it and do it comprehensively as possible. Kinda like the Eagles and their famous "Circle of Fear", as we each take turns expressing a play or two we'd individually like to take another look at, and then offer the same critique about partners and plays we think they might want to take a reflective look at.
The next day and the day or so after is also important because that's the soonest the game video can be downloaded and play clips cut and sent and reviewed and discussed.

I see a few guys quite a bit. The guys who I enjoy working with are the guys who bring up plays to discuss, whether they happened in our game or not.

Not that I don't enjoy working with officials who don't bring up plays, just that it's awesome to talk about and break down strange plays.

I think that if you want to get better at this, you have to continually learn. Learning doesn't always happen in your own games. Every night, there's a chance you're going to see something you've never seen before. If you run into a situation that you're not sure you handled correctly and have to do extra research on or ask an interpreter or whatever, it's only going to help you and those you work with to get the correct answer and share it.

Next-day emails can be ignored if the recipient so chooses, so I wouldn't think twice about sending one, as long as you don't already know a partner wouldn't be receptive to getting it.

Even then, he/she can "change the channel" and move on. If that happens, take the cue and move on to a mentor type or another official you respect if you have a burning issue you don't feel is resolved.

We always drive together so the ride home is our post game.

I work four sports at the high school and/or the college level, and I always have thought the post game is as important, if not more so, than the pre game. Since I always work with the same partners in basketball, some of the pre game stuff has already been covered.

It is the ride home we become better officials.

Cant see the need for something to be resolved the next day unless you need consultation from your assignor or association on something thats more "in rome" than in the books.

I've emailed the day after for rules clarifications when none of us for some reason had our rule books. I'm in the camp of I'd rather get better and help others than just let it go. I can see why others would want to just let it go, but as a younger guy in our state trying to move up, I'll take anything I can get that makes me better-- even if it's someone pointing out a mistake. I have found that's the best way I learn because as Gus from Breaking Bad says, don't make the same mistake twice.

A lot of partners you will work with don't want to get better, don't want to discuss plays, and are unwilling to accept criticism, even if the giver means well.

I called an illegal screen the other night and in the locker room at halftime my partner asked me why I called it. I said that a screener has to give time and distance when screening a moving opponent. He said I was wrong and that only applies to a blind screen, but he agreed with my call because this was a blind screen. :confused::confused: I wanted to tell him he was wrong back but I bit my tongue.

I suggest cultivating a small group of people you trust and respect to talk about plays/situations. I find it much more rewarding to call those people on the way home from a game and be able to admit when I screwed something up and the person I tell won't look to rip me to other refs.

I like to ask if my partner(s) mind if I send a follow up email and research something. If they seem cold I drop it and talk to friends. If they are open I send it out.

I usually just email our supervisor if I can't get a good answer from the books.

He'll bring it up at our monthly meetings.

Most of the time I'll just put my research in my personal post game review in the appropriate area(s)

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