Referee Shortage Discussion-- 127 unfilled varsity games

[jTheUmp]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Good to know. I was under the impression that R's and U1's are usually the senior guys, with U2's being the junior officials.

That's certainly not the way it works around here... a lot of times, we designate who the R's going to be when we're in the locker room prior to the game. And it's sometimes as simple as "you sent the email to the AD? You're the R."

The R runs the pregame meeting in the locker room, the pregame coaches/captains meeting, signs the book, and tosses the opening jump ball. Once the ball's tossed, R, U1, U2 doesn't matter.

In fact, last year I worked a handful of games with two VERY experienced officials, who have probably 65 years of experience and probably a dozen state semi-final and final games between them.... and I was the R each time, despite only 7 years experience and zero state tournament assignments to my name.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

That's certainly not the way it works around here... a lot of times, we designate who the R's going to be when we're in the locker room prior to the game. And it's sometimes as simple as "you sent the email to the AD? You're the R."



The R runs the pregame meeting in the locker room, the pregame coaches/captains meeting, signs the book, and tosses the opening jump ball. Once the ball's tossed, R, U1, U2 doesn't matter.



In fact, last year I worked a handful of games with two VERY experienced officials, who have probably 65 years of experience and probably a dozen state semi-final and final games between them.... and I was the R each time, despite only 7 years experience and zero state tournament assignments to my name.

On my usual crew, we wait till all 3 are in the locker room and then call out the desired position. Loser is the R.


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[jTheUmp]

Originally Posted by Rich

We wait till all 3 are in the locker room and then call oit the desired position. Loser is the R.

Sounds about right... and some officials will do anything to not have to run a captains meeting. Personally, I don't mind doing it (mainly because it eliminates a lot of "that guy" moments), so I end up as the R on probably 75% of my games.

[SC Official]

I've always thought giving coaches say in who works the postseason is stupid. You can't pay lip service about how important sportsmanship is then disincentivize penalizing poor behavior by letting the inmates run the asylum. There are too many high school coaches that take technical fouls personally and don't move on. However in South Carolina we have peer ratings which are equally as stupid IMO.

As for the good ol' boys club, well that happens everywhere to an extent. And the reality is that assigners are almost always going to use guys they trust and that they know will keep them out of hot water with the schools. Sometimes it's the coaches more than the assigners dictating who works their games because there are too many coaches that will bitch and moan when they get an official that they've never seen before. All of a sudden there is one call that the new guy may or may not have missed, and the assigner is getting a phone call after the game.

[UNIgiantslayers]

I’d rather run the captains meeting so I know it’s going to be quick. They’re not listening anyway.

After the first couple weeks of the season it usually ends up something like
“Fellas, help us keep it clean here tonight. IAHSAA requires us to emphasize sportsmanship so as captains you guys should be great examples. You know who your hot heads are. Get to them before we do or it will cost your team 2 free throws. Coaches, everybody legally and properly equipped? First horn let’s try to break the huddles, have em ready to play on the second horn so we can keep it moving tonight. Have a good game guys.”

[SC Official]

"We expect you to play cleanly and show good sportsmanship. Any questions? Good luck."

None of the nonsense about "speaking captains." None of the "white talk to white, blue talk to blue." None of the "blue line all the way around."

And if I notice there are team members with illegal equipment on during warm-ups, I will request that the captains take care of it before we throw the ball up.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

Personally, I don't mind doing it (mainly because it eliminates a lot of "that guy" moments)

Originally Posted by UNIgiantslayers

I’d rather run the captains meeting so I know it’s going to be quick. “Fellas, help us keep it clean here tonight ... emphasize sportsmanship so as captains you guys should be great examples. You know who your hot heads are. Get to them before we do or it will cost your team 2 free throws. Coaches, everybody legally and properly equipped? First horn let’s try to break the huddles, have em ready to play on the second horn so we can keep it moving tonight. Have a good game guys.”

Originally Posted by SC Official

"We expect you to play cleanly and show good sportsmanship. Any questions? Good luck." None of the nonsense about "speaking captains." None of the "white talk to white, blue talk to blue." None of the "blue line all the way around."

Mine: After the hand shaking/fist bumping ritual (I've worked with a guy who has a bottle of hand sanitizer in his jacket pocket and uses it after the meeting), "Are players legally equipped and do they know how to wear their uniforms properly? Everybody practice good sportsmanship. Have fun".

Now that IAABO mechanics state that the tossing official on the jump ball no longer checks for readiness with the captains, I'm hoping that we no longer get, "Who's the speaking captain? What's your number? Are you starting?".

Well, I can hope.

[Stat-Man]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

In fact, last year I worked a handful of games with two VERY experienced officials, who have probably 65 years of experience and probably a dozen state semi-final and final games between them.... and I was the R each time, despite only 7 years experience and zero state tournament assignments to my name.

In what was the second varsity game of my career (a game where I was called late in the afternoon to be a sub), I noticed in Arbiter that I was slotted as the R. Naturally, the most veteran official in the crew had some fun with this, but I took the ribbing in stride. It also helped that I had time to do some quick research on both teams in the game to offer meaningful talking points to start the discussion.

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

That's certainly not the way it works around here... a lot of times, we designate who the R's going to be when we're in the locker room prior to the game. And it's sometimes as simple as "you sent the email to the AD? You're the R."

In my varsity debut, one of my partners told the other, "You arrived last, so you're the R tonight."