Thoughts on pressure officials are under.

[stripes]

Originally Posted by dahoopref

A single judgement call in a game should NOT be a determining factor if a crew advances to the next round.

This is probably how it SHOULD be. The reality is something else. Not speaking from personal experience, but from good friends who have been there (elite 8, FF, NC). It happens.

[bucky]

Generally speaking and just of my opinion.....

For HS sports, there is a demand for officials. So if official A makes a crucial mistake on Tuesday night, it won't matter and official A will be working Friday night. Local politics can definitely play a role but climbing the latter can be somewhat objective.

For college (basketball), it is the opposite where there is no demand but rather a large pool of officials. I'd say it is 80% who you know, 10% appearance/athleticism, 5% personality, and 5% rules knowledge. Avoid mistakes because there is a long line of officials behind you ready to work.

[Rufus]

That can really apply to anything else I guess:

Q - How many referees does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A - Five. One to do it and four others to stand around saying "I could've done that better."

[Matt S.]

I officiate high school & D-3 women's bball. I was just honored to work a HS state tournament, and I've been assigned college conference tournament games in the past.

In my experience, the two sports are entirely different with respect to expectations and opportunities for advancement. Are there politics at all levels, you bet. But the things that college evaluators are looking for are quite different that high school. It also depends on the state that you're in...some states support officials better than others (I've worked in 7 different states, so I have a little experience in this regard).

If there are 1,000 NCAA D-1 men's officials, and only 10% work the tournament, and all of those games are nationally televised, than yes, there's gonna be pressure to be perfect. But Mr. Collins isn't going to expect perfection, and neither is any other decision-maker that has a true understanding of our craft.

If the NCAA directive is to 'survive and advance,' then that's what these officials are going to strive to do. But in reality, the best officials, and those advancing the furthest, are the best game managers. If you can handle coaches and manage difficult situations, you will advance in both level and depth of the season/postseason.

As one of my first mentors told me, "95% of all officials can handle 95% of all situations. It's the 5% that makes the difference."

[Adam]

At this point in the season, they have to pair down the officials each round: there just aren't enough slots. Now you're differentiating between 30-40 officials who could all, in reality, handle a FF matchup.

A single missed call might seem like a harsh way to differentiate, but many of these teams are getting bounced due to a single missed free throw or bad pass.

[JRutledge]

I do not think a single call alone has that much power, but I do believe if you mess up a rule, that will highlight what happens when they are considering other officials that did not make those mistakes. I am sure there are other things because used as an evaluation as well, but that is just the thing that might highlight what another crew did right.

I know that the official that made the call in the Regional Final in the Syracuse-Gonzaga game where the Trail called the out of bounds violation on end line (in front of the lead) did not advance last year. That was a pretty high profile situation. Maybe there were other issues in that game (and their were) but it probably made them look at the game in other ways and determine that official should not have advanced.

Peace

[crosscountry55]

Originally Posted by Adam

A single missed call might seem like a harsh way to differentiate, but many of these teams are getting bounced due to a single missed free throw or bad pass.

One of the best Navy ship captains I ever worked for, during his second tour in Command, happened to have a bad day where his ship dragged anchor and he ran softly aground. Relatively minor damage, but a week later he was shown the door and his career effectively ended. Would have probably been a 3- or 4-star Admiral. Instead, he got 0.

A minute of complacency ruined 24 years of excellence.

If you're asking me, the tournament officials have it easy in comparison. At least they can try again next year.

Accountability....is a powerful and humbling thing.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by crosscountry55

One of the best Navy ship captains I ever worked for, during his second tour in Command, happened to have a bad day where his ship dragged anchor and he ran softly aground. Relatively minor damage, but a week later he was shown the door and his career effectively ended. Would have probably been a 3- or 4-star Admiral. Instead, he got 0.

A minute of complacency ruined 24 years of excellence.

If you're asking me, the tournament officials have it easy in comparison. At least they can try again next year.

Accountability....is a powerful and humbling thing.

I have to agree. I noticed that a couple of officials who screwed up rules situations in last year's tourney were back for games this year.

Example, during last year's tourney at the start of an OT an official whistled a violation for a jumper grabbing the ball after it bounced on the floor. My opinion is that is not a tourney level official.