Cathartic Release

[xyrph]

Look I get it. Officiating is hard. It's difficult to make split second decisions and to be right on each throughout a whole game.

My players practice all year long. We do travel ball. We prepare. It's frustrating when the officials of a given game let so many clear violations by opponents slide and then make calls against us.

It happens every game. I start off the games giving the benefit of the doubt and by the 2nd quarter, I'm often steaming.

What I've chosen to do this year is just compile a video of some of these and it's certainly been cathartic.

I'd like to share it with you in the hopes that you can see the frustration these calls cause the teams, coaches, parents, fans.

[Welpe]

Ah I see the other shoe has dropped. What are you using to record? The sound quality of your incessant complaining is really quite good.

[UNIgiantslayers]

This is idiotic.

[MD Longhorn]

OK ... I got through the first 5 and saw one actual violation ...

I find it amazing that this vast, cross-country mass of referees have somehow consistently only made mistakes against you, but none for you, and only neglect to call fouls on the other team, never letting anything go for your team.

What do we think is more likely ... that hundreds of different referees have all made bad calls only in one direction, across hundreds of games? Or that the perception of the person who is making that claim might be somehow biased?

I know where I lean.

Especially given the 9 or 10 posts so far complaining about a call that ended up being universally deemed to have been correct by all of the unbiased officials on this board.

[Rich]

Nice flop on that screen.

"She threw her to the ground!"

LO-freaking-L.

Is that the ever present "assistant with a big mouth" we all know and love saying that? She'd get whacked quickly if I was working.

I also love the spin move your player tries where she obviously travels. Is that your point there, too? They missed her travel?

And there's the screen your player set where she was run into and she went to the ground. You do know that contact on a legal screen can be severe and not a foul, right?\

I can't watch any more of this. Maybe if the basketball was better.

You're in the wrong place, dude. And you need to buy yourself a clue, too.

[SD Referee]

Originally Posted by Rich

Nice flop on that screen.

"She threw her to the ground!"

LO-freaking-L.

Is that the ever present "assistant with a big mouth" we all know and love saying that? She'd get whacked quickly if I was working.

I also love the spin move your player tries where she obviously travels. Is that your point there, too? They missed her travel?

And there's the screen your player set where she was run into and she went to the ground. You do know that contact on a legal screen can be severe and not a foul, right?\

I can't watch any more of this. Maybe if the basketball was better.

You're in the wrong place, dude. And you need to buy yourself a clue, too.

Not very good basketball at all. After all, it's a girls game and that's what you get on a nightly basis.

I guess maybe the "carry" while crossing half court or in the frontcourt with token defensive pressure needs to be called every time so that the length of a girls game can approach 2 hours?

When is the video of calls that benefitted your team coming?

[Adam]

I might watch all of these later, but I just saw the first few.

First, you're getting a T pretty quickly if I'm working. That's why I don't work much travel ball anymore.

On the first play, you're really starting this off by complaining about that free throw? Yes, that's technically a violation, but the reason it's not called is because no one wants us watching that closely for a violation there when we have rebounding action to watch. Don't get hung up on that. And if you're whining about us not calling this, we're tuning you out very very early. You'll be lucky if we hear you request timeout. We're not ignoring you on purpose, but allowing you to do your thing without it affecting us.

Those carries are marginal at best. Most of us aren't watching them that closely, especially on the plays where there's no immediate defender. You're majoring in the minors.

On the spin move, there's no way for us to tell, or for you to tell, when she actually gathered (held) that ball. Was it a missed travel? Maybe, but this camera angle doesn't make it clear.

I quit watching after that. Feel free to post individual plays and ask questions, you've been getting a lot of feedback from very experienced officials.

Moderator note: I think we'll let this run for a while.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Adam

Moderator note: I think we'll let this run for a while.

Damned right we will. I haven't been this entertained in a while. I'm willing to bet the percentage of incorrect calls in this video is under 50.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Rich

Damned right we will. I haven't been this entertained in a while. I'm willing to bet the percentage of incorrect calls in this video is under 50.

My random sampling ... closer to 20%

[Hawkeyes]

A few missed calls - but not as many as you may think! Why are you acting like you were on top of each of these calls in real time...? These seem like voice-overs.
But I'll play along: If you're this good and caught all these "missed calls" in real time? Why don't you show some bravery and put on the stripes? Come help us make the game safe, fair and an educational experience with sportsmanship for young people?
There are tons of basketball fans, lots of basketball parents, a great number of basketball players and several basketball coaches; but only a few have the courage to get out there, adjudicate the game and take the heat from the bias of the gym on any given night...
Go ahead and get frustrate during pregame, don't wait till the 2nd quarter - we don't really care!

[BigCat]

I watched many of your plays and there's plenty there that i dont like as a fellow referee. Having said that, you are not going to get APG, Badnewsref, and JRut at that level as your referees. It's just a fact that they are not going to be as good. You say you "understand" refereeing is hard. I will tell you that unless you have done it, you dont understand.

I've done it 30 years, played high level, coached high level, coached low level, referee high level. Fan will say "didnt you see that?" I'll say "yep." Why didnt you call it? I say you will never understand until you do it. Sometimes the whistle just doesnt blow. I tell people id be the best referee on the planet if i could sit in the 10th row and call the game.

I think most fans go wrong because they think we really care about who wins there travel league or high school basketball game. 99% of officials could give a rats ass who wins. We just want a smooth game. The officials at your level just may not be that good. Why is that? Pay is low. They are asked to do multiple games. They try hard but make mistakes and idiot parents scream and yell. (Idiot parents are ruining youth sports by the way...that is another thread)

What i tell people and coaches is that i am part of your game. I AM GOING to SCREW UP. I hope i dont but i know i will. You know i will. You just have to be better to win.

Finally, somebody is doing something right because I see mistakes being made and i dont see players retaliating bitching and moaning. I only hear parents...which goes back to my point that parents are ruining youth sports. The doors should be locked with kids, coaches and referees only at some levels. Be much better game.

[BlueDevilRef]

I watched the whole thing. I saw several refs who need to hustle more and call a better game. But to say your team is getting screwed by refs is ludicrous. Why didn't you show any plays of refs missing calls that went against other team? From your assessment of the refs, there should be some. The only play I thought was egregiously missed was the taunt. Gotta see that. Other than that, it's mostly just a coach who doesn't know the rules, proven by your precious posts, bitching about refs. What else is new?

Here's your advice on how to solve this:
www.nfhs.com, buy a rule book, actually read it and the case book.
Stop looking at plays through jaded eyes of a coach and be an unbiased arbiter and you would realize most of what you think these guys are missing is just not there.

[Coach Bill]

Originally Posted by xyrph

Look I get it. Officiating is hard. It's difficult to make split second decisions and to be right on each throughout a whole game.

My players practice all year long. We do travel ball. We prepare. It's frustrating when the officials of a given game let so many clear violations by opponents slide and then make calls against us.

It happens every game. I start off the games giving the benefit of the doubt and by the 2nd quarter, I'm often steaming.

What I've chosen to do this year is just compile a video of some of these and it's certainly been cathartic.

I'd like to share it with you in the hopes that you can see the frustration these calls cause the teams, coaches, parents, fans.

Looks like you grabbed a handful of "bad" calls that went against you from a handful of games. Actually, i think only about 1/2 are wrong, maybe less. The stands are often not the best angle. Go through your videos and find some "bad" calls that went in your favor and post that. It will give you more credibility.

[Nakht]

I agree with many of the members. About 20 percent of these you may have a point. 2 things-

1) As has already been stated, you need to know the level of officials you are going to get in your games. Not much you can do about that except teach your players that the only thing they can control in the game, heck in life even, is their attitude and their effort. I coach and officiate (different sports) and this is the one thing I have to constantly remind high school students.

2) I heard this concept when I first started doing higher level ball and thus getting into video review. If you have to look at a video more than once or slow it down to see a violation or foul, consider the ruling on the court correct. Granted we can always break things down further and get better for the future but in a game most of us don't have the luxury of seeing something more than once or to ask the replay operator to slow down the video. If you see a mistake in real time the first time, then I would ask the calling (or non-calling) official what they saw and why they had that opinion on the play. You aren't going to change their mind.

[zm1283]

This is asinine. The level of basketball is bad to begin with which just makes everyone look bad. I've been part of games like these and no matter what you do you can't come out of it smelling like anything but sh*t. You aren't going to get D1 officials at this level, it is what it is. They missed some, they got some right, and some were really inconclusive on video. One thing is for sure. The people in the stands are morons. Get over it.