Cathartic Release

[Rich]

I would like to say I never work games like this, but I did recently and I'd hate to have a video done of our game, although I can tell you that I hustled from T to L and L to T and C to C a lot more than these guys did. That's just called professionalism.

But in the game I'm thinking of, I probably called 7-10 travels myself and eventually I edited my filter on those so I wouldn't call one on every last trip. I didn't favor one team over the other. If you pull one of those out of the game film and show it in isolation, it probably shows that I am a horrible official. Oh, well.

Do I think that some hustle and attentiveness would make these crews better? Yes, I do. But it's not going to make the level of play better. I'm not from the area of the OP and in our area we have far better teams and some teams that are worse and some at the same caliber as this. And let me tell you -- I've had some games where the quality of play has me feeling that I'm the best official in the world and some where NBA officials would look terrible. This kind of basketball leans towards the latter.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Rich

I would like to say I never work games like this, but I did recently and I'd hate to have a video done of our game, although I can tell you that I hustled from T to L and L to T and C to C a lot more than these guys did. That's just called professionalism.

But in the game I'm thinking of, I probably called 7-10 travels myself and eventually I edited my filter on those so I wouldn't call one on every last trip. I didn't favor one team over the other. If you pull one of those out of the game film and show it in isolation, it probably shows that I am a horrible official. Oh, well.

Do I think that some hustle and attentiveness would make these crews better? Yes, I do. But it's not going to make the level of play better. I'm not from the area of the OP and in our area we have far better teams and some teams that are worse and some at the same caliber as this. And let me tell you -- I've had some games where the quality of play has me feeling that I'm the best official in the world and some where NBA officials would look terrible. This kind of basketball leans towards the latter.

Agreed. I went ahead to look at the missed shooting foul at the 2:02 mark (or so), and that was clearly missed because the lead got beat, badly, down the court. He got beat by about 8 girls, so there were at least 4 players between him and the contact on the opposite side of the lane. T wasn't in a position to help on that contact, either. Is that because he didn't hustle? I don't know for sure, to be honest, but it sure looks like it.

[Adam]

Another thought on the quality of officials in these games. You're going to get a mix of new officials, veterans looking to shake some rust off (or make some extra cash) in the off season, and perpetual travel league refs.

For the most part, you're going to get what you pay for. What you pay also includes the grief you're giving them. I quit working this sort of basketball for two reasons.

1. The pay for those games around here is atrocious. When they start paying a reasonable fee that actually compensates me for my time and not just my travel expenses, I'll consider it.

2. Parents and coaches are horrible. Let's just say their expectations of the officials far exceeds the quality of coaching and play. Many of those games wouldn't be worth the headache at 4 times the pay.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Adam

Another thought on the quality of officials in these games. You're going to get a mix of new officials, veterans looking to shake some rust off (or make some extra cash) in the off season, and perpetual travel league refs.

For the most part, you're going to get what you pay for. What you pay also includes the grief you're giving them. I quit working this sort of basketball for two reasons.

1. The pay for those games around here is atrocious. When they start paying a reasonable fee that actually compensates me for my time and not just my travel expenses, I'll consider it.

2. Parents and coaches are horrible. Let's just say their expectations of the officials far exceeds the quality of coaching and play. Many of those games wouldn't be worth the headache at 4 times the pay.

I believe these are actually HS varsity games, BTW. I know it may not seem like it, but...who else hires 3-official crews?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Adam

Agreed. I went ahead to look at the missed shooting foul at the 2:02 mark (or so), and that was clearly missed because the lead got beat, badly, down the court. He got beat by about 8 girls, so there were at least 4 players between him and the contact on the opposite side of the lane. T wasn't in a position to help on that contact, either. Is that because he didn't hustle? I don't know for sure, to be honest, but it sure looks like it.

2:02 is sad. L doesn't hustle and the C isn't even in the picture. That's a great transition foul for C to get if he's hustling down the floor.

So, see, coach, we're willing to call out our own when we see something that warrants it.

[packersowner]

Lesson learned in all of this, don't come to an officials forum, complaining about all of the missed calls you have compiled.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by packersowner

Lesson learned in all of this, don't come to an officials forum, complaining about all of the missed calls you have compiled.

Pretty much.

The response is a lot milder than I expected to be honest. I miss Jurassic, he would have known just what to say in this thread.

[Da Official]

Pretty entertaining replies!

The bottom line for this dad and others is: If the officiating sucks (in your opinion) then understand the teams playing are probably not that good and the better officials in the area are out calling the better games. On the flip side parents and coaches still complain about the better officials.....so welcome to this thankless profession. It is what it is.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Da Official

Pretty entertaining replies!

The bottom line for this dad and others is: If the officiating sucks (in your opinion) then understand the teams playing are probably not that good and the better officials in the area are out calling the better games. On the flip side parents and coaches still complain about the better officials.....so welcome to this thankless profession. It is what it is.

In some places (like many of my conferences I work) the officials are hired 18 months to 2 years in advance with dates and locations. Means I get some great games and some horrible games.

Truthfully, I need the great games to get through games like these. If I worked games like this every night, I'd retire.

[deecee]

Originally Posted by Rich

In some places (like many of my conferences I work) the officials are hired 18 months to 2 years in advance with dates and locations. Means I get some great games and some horrible games.

Truthfully, I need the great games to get through games like these. If I worked games like this every night, I'd retire.

100% I agree completely and that's my sentiment too.

[deecee]

You don't want "better" officials. They would have most of the players fouled out for the crappy defense and you would most likely have received 2 T's because they aren't going to deal with your childish behavior.

You should be happy they find enough officials to work the games.

[JeffM]

Originally Posted by packersowner

Lesson learned in all of this, don't come to an officials forum, complaining about all of the missed calls you have compiled.

As it turns out, this thread is cathartic to officials.

[Wildcatwilly]

There certainly things here though that should be looked at just mechanic wise and we can do better. I work with a veteran official that is near the end and we get in trouble on these types of games where his mechanics go away. Don't think its hard to stop the clock on every whistle and body language thats poor makes us an easy target.