Three Cheers for One of Our Own!

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I have been assigned to work my 3rd IHSA State Final in 3A-4A Boys (6 overall) the weekend of March 15 and 16.

JRutledge would never tell us this himself, but for the new guys on the Forum, JRutledge has worked state finals in (at least) one other sport.

Maybe that's why, in an "and one" situation, he will often say, "First down" instead of, "One shot".

[Kansas Ref]

Congratulations JRutledge! This is awesome, looking fwd to your continued commentary and challenging posts on the forum---maybe there'll be some case plays from your state games to share with us.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

JRutledge would never tell us this himself, but for the new guys on the Forum, JRutledge has worked state finals in (at least) one other sport.

Maybe that's why, in an "and one" situation, he will often say, "First down" instead of, "One shot".

For clarification, I have worked 2 football state finals, one baseball state final and this will be my 3rd Basketball State Final.

I would only mention that because it is rare and got a lot of help and have been blessed to that it took place. I would rather say that I was fortunate to have a few people help me along that way. I do not take that for granted at all.

Peace

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

... JRutledge has worked state finals in (at least) one other sport. Maybe that's why, in an "and one" situation, he will often say, "First down" instead of, "One shot".

Or why, in another situation, he may say, "Ground rule double" instead of, "Two shots".

[bucky]

Many go out of their way to NOT work the state tournament. The pay is much lower than regular season games, travel distances are greater, more time is involved, and the prestige is non-existent for them. I have known many that were asked out of necessity and they turned them down/back.

[SD Referee]

Originally Posted by bucky

Many go out of their way to NOT work the state tournament. The pay is much lower than regular season games, travel distances are greater, more time is involved, and the prestige is non-existent for them. I have known many that were asked out of necessity and they turned them down/back.

Where I am from the state tourney is a very big deal and what everybody works for. The pay is not great, but the prestige and recognition is a big deal.

[jTheUmp]

Originally Posted by SD Referee

Where I am from the state tourney is a very big deal and what everybody works for. The pay is not great, but the prestige and recognition is a big deal.

The pay for my state tournament games this year is actually slightly higher than a regular season varsity game. We also get paid mileage and officials from outside a certain distance get reimbursed for a hotel room. Of course, the later two don't really matter to me, since all three state tournament sites are within 5 miles of my house.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by SD Referee

I understand both sides of capping guys. I'm not sure I could continue to work as many games knowing that you have no chance of being rewarded with the big games at the end of the season.

I think all of us put up with some really bad basketball at times during the season. You hope for post season rewards to make the season worth it.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by SD Referee

Where I am from the state tourney is a very big deal and what everybody works for. The pay is not great, but the prestige and recognition is a big deal.

The Regional level here is the lowest pay. Some regular season games are higher and some are not. Depends on where you are and the conferences you work that are involved. But at the Sectional level, the pay goes higher than anyone else I know pays and there is a lot of prestige to work those games. I had a partner that did not get a Sectional after multiple Regional Finals, and he was so upset he said that the Regional Final would be his last game. I think he backed off of that claim, but it means a lot to officials. It was even a big deal to me when I did not get my first Sectional Final last year and I had to do some reevaluation myself of what that meant.

BTW, everyone plays in the Regional level no matter what your record is. The Regional Final winners play in the Sectional. We get assigned either a Sectional Final which means two games (semifinal and final) or the Semifinal which means one game. Getting the Sectional Final means you can advance further. The Super-Sectional is one game at a neutral site, usually at a college campus (e.g. Northern Illinois University) across the state for the most part. The winner of the Super Sectional goes to State and plays two games in either Bloomington (girls) or Peoria (boys). To work the State Tournament, you have to work all those levels.

Peace

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by SD Referee

I wouldn't want to earn an opportunity because other guys are capped.

Last year our local board made a major change, officials that were voted into the state tournament by both boys coaches and girls coaches had to choose either boys or girls but not both (as was allowed in the past).

One side argued that if officials worked hard doing both boys and girls games all season long that they deserved to do both genders in the tournament if voted in by both sets of coaches.

The other side argued that this new system allowed more officials to work state tournament games.

This year we started another new local procedure, allowing officials to indicate if they wanted to work only boys regular season games, or only girls regular season games, or both genders.

All these recent changes have led to some officials becoming "girls officials", and others becoming "boys officials".

[SD Referee]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Last year our local board made a major change, officials that were voted into the state tournament by both boys coaches and girls coaches had to choose either boys or girls but not both (as was allowed in the past).

One side argued that if officials worked hard doing both boys and girls games all season long that they deserved to do both genders in the tournament if voted in by both sets of coaches.

The other side argued that this new system allowed more officials to work state tournament games.

This year we started another new local procedure, allowing officials to indicate if they wanted to work only boys regular season games, or only girls regular season games, or both genders.

All these recent changes have led to some officials becoming "girls officials", and others becoming "boys officials".

I 100% agree with NOT letting officials do both a boys and a girls state tourney. This isn't splitting the atom. This is officiating high school basketball. I think we all know A LOT of qualified and deserving officials that could handle big postseason games.

I also believe every state has a small group of officials that think they are gods and are better than everybody else, thus they think they deserve to do both boys and girls tourneys and get every big game in between. Kudos to your area for giving more officials the opportunity.

I also do NOT believe in becoming a "girls official" or a "boys official". I think we all agree that there are a lot of bad girls games out there. Boys too. We have such a big ego that you are only going to do boys games? That has always baffled me as we have guys in our area that will only do boys games. They only want to do boys state tourneys and they usually get their way. It's annoying and I just don't understand the ego involved.