Officially taking early retirement from Adult Men's Wreck League
 

This was my first year with a full varsity slate, and I earned a post season game from the state which tells me I can't be as terrible of an official as this league makes me feel. Last night was the nail in the coffin for adult men's wreck league. The following events made me send an email to the coordinator telling him I was done and he'd have to find someone to fill my remaining games:

-A guy argued that there is no 5 second closely guarded rule (we are NFHS). I explained that college and Fed are different, and he insisted that even in HS, there is no closely guarded.
-A guy didn't understand why after a false double foul (2 shots on a shooting foul, 2 for a T after the foul), they didn't get a chance to rebound the ball when we gave it to other team at half court for throw in. After explaining it, he said "you're trying to give them the game."
-Gave out 4 T's (2 f-bombs, 2 players shoving and almost fighting)
-Games 4 & 5, partner doesn't cross half court as T
-Partner signaling preliminary 3 on ball across the lane in other corner
-Partner calls hand check as L across the lane behind 3 point line
-Received email from coordinator telling me to take it easy on T's and to have thicker skin.

The extra money is nice, but it's not worth the headache. Kudos to those that lasted longer than the 1 1/2 seasons I lasted in men's wreck.

Your assignor wants fights then. You were just taking care of business. Had nothing for 15 months with men and LOVE it. No amount of money is worth doing mens wreck. Lax mens wreck at $60 an hour is still worth it. LOL

Funny, I would have also given a T for the "you're trying to give them the game" comment.

And yeah, his email would have been the final straw for me. "Apparently, I'm not compatible with your league."

Yep, sounds like it's time to GTFO.

Well, they should be thankful that you had of 1.5 yrs of tolerance. It's their loss---they just lost a great official--the quality of that league will go down and the chaos level will go up.
Like I have said before (in other posts on such leagues)--I convert all such wreck league games into a FT shooting contest; however, based on reading what you've had to put up with--not even my ruse would work. Just plain bad basketball from the intimidated league management to the idiot players.

Adult leagues -- everyone has a mouth and wants to use it.

I guess this stuff is for some people -- it's not for me. It would be for me at about $50/game, maybe. I have a price. I'd still call a lot of Ts.

Adult league's aren't for everyone. I've done plenty and also do HS.

It takes a different approach by the official -- for me its recognizing that we're dealing with men vs boys. I'm 34 -- almost all the men's league players are my age +- 10 years. The players are basically my peers. So I will engage with them, talk with them, joke with them -- Things that I don't do when I'm working a HS game.

Not saying this is true in your case, but in general, where I see officials get frustrated and have problems is when officials try to run these games like HS games. Playcalling, philosophy, etc. that generally makes the game better in HS often makes the game worse for Adult leagues and vice verse.

Every official should be required to work one year of "wreck" games just for educational purposes and then NEVER EVER have to work them again.

Response to Wreck League
 

This is not a post to convince you to continue to do something that you do not enjoy doing, but a friendly response to your troubles. I enjoy the men's rec league that I work--three games on Sunday nights. They are amongst the best games I work all year for the quality of athletes and competitiveness. There are many former DI, DII and Juco players and my usual partner is a good friend and we discuss plays during breaks/time-outs.



-A guy argued that there is no 5 second closely guarded rule (we are NFHS). I explained that college and Fed are different, and he insisted that even in HS, there is no closely guarded.
Politely, but firmly explain the rule and move on.
-A guy didn't understand why after a false double foul (2 shots on a shooting foul, 2 for a T after the foul), they didn't get a chance to rebound the ball when we gave it to other team at half court for throw in. After explaining it, he said "you're trying to give them the game."
Politely, but firmly explain the rule and move on.
-Gave out 4 T's (2 f-bombs, 2 players shoving and almost fighting)
Blow the whistle and give the offender or both teams a verbal warning about the language first, then T them the next time. This usually works. Last time I used this in a rec-league game the teammates of the player who received the T were upset with their own player saying "he just warned you". Players shoving each other is a regular rec-league occurence. Deal with the situation and move on.
-Games 4 & 5, partner doesn't cross half court as T
A tough one. One "trick" I use is to ask my sluggish partner for help on drives to the basket in transition. Hopefully they will get the message to hustle a little more
-Partner signaling preliminary 3 on ball across the lane in other corner
Don't sweat the small stuff.
-Partner calls hand check as L across the lane behind 3 point line
Two man crew?..... let it go. Maybe you missed it :)

-Received email from coordinator telling me to take it easy on T's and to have thicker skin.
Call what needs to be called.

The extra money is nice, but it's not worth the headache. Kudos to those that lasted longer than the 1 1/2 seasons I lasted in men's wreck.
The reasons I still put up with the "headache"
1. Skills stay sharp year-round.
2. Stay in shape....getting paid for cardio
3. Opportunity to see plenty of plays. I know this has helped me in my post-season games the last couple of weeks.
4. Continuing education. Talking with my partners about plays and situations coupled with checking the rule/case books for answers.
5. Trying to improve. A former top D1 official in our association recently commented on how many of our officials "hang up their shoes for eight months and wonder why they don't get any better".
6. I still think it is fun.

Respectfully,

WJC3

Every situation is different, and I'm not trying to say I know what yours is, but if you can manage to finish your season out, I would recommend you try to do that, and then resign from your position. By turning down accepted games, you might run the risk of losing respect from your peers who get stuck either without a partner, or with a much lower quality official, and some may hold grudges.

That's an easy opinion for someone like me to have, who doesn't work wreck league though, but just some advice for what its worth-

Appreciate the words of advice, guys. A couple things about those-

I would say maybe 5-10% of the guys in this league played past high school. In fact, it would surprise me if 75% even played varsity based on their skillsets today. The quality of basketball is very poor, which makes it less fun.

I'm not going to let F bombs go. I guess I should have specified that they were directed at me (you've got to be f'ing kidding me, and that's a f'ing joke of a call). Sorry, just not going to do it.

Not letting shoving go. I'm not big enough to stop a fight, so I'm going to put an end to it fast and let their teams deal with it.

I had every intention of finishing out the season, but without the support of the league coordinator, I have no reason to. The guys that ref it are mostly weekend 5th-8th AAU tourney guys. None that I've worked with work any varsity, so to be honest, that's the league coordinator's problem.

As far as staying in shape, I run 55-70 miles a week so I'm not worried about that part.

I don't mean to come off as a prick, I honestly appreciate the feedback. Just giving you my reasons for why I'm doing what I'm doing.

Congrats on your Adult Rec League Retirement!!! I got out 5 years ago....NEVER looked back! :D

Do you work 3-whistle?

If not, how does this make you any better.....unless you routinely work 2-whistle during the season?

Bravo, UNI. I ride the fence on this decision seemingly every year about this time ... but I haven't pulled the trigger just yet.

I hear a lot of myself in your comments (including the one about not being big enough to stop a fight!) and don't think you should give it a second thought.

Put it this way: Can you imagine a nanosecond between now and your funeral where you're saying, "Man, I wish I was still officiating adult basketball. I really regret giving it up"?

I have not worked any Men's Leagues on purpose since my 2nd year of officiating. I did a league on Super Bowl Sunday that year and said to myself, "No freakin way." I did not enjoy it and it was Super Bowl Sunday which is my favorite day sports single day. I have not looked back.

Peace