"Cannot wait until......."
 

This has been a very rough year. I have noticed that all the officials I have talked to at this time of year have said almost the very same thing when you ask them, "How is your season going?"

Almost to a man or a woman, most have said, "I cannot wait until it is over."

It seems like that is a common thing this year. So I ask, is this your feeling about the season? Is this probably the feeling because of the Covid stress that has been added, or is this normal to most of you how the season has gone?

I know for me this has been a rough year and everyone seems a little on edge.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Peace

That is definitely my feeling towards high school basketball this season. Players constantly pushing the limits, coaches ranting and raving, and fans just being ignorant with their statements and being right on top of you. Makes it not fun.

I've enjoyed my college season. There was a string of games early in the season where I had to call a bunch of technical fouls for taunting. But as a season went along it seems like they "got it". Coaches are always so much easier to deal with at the college level than they are at the high school level.

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Why do you say that? Is it because college coaches are more informed than high school coaches?

They are more professional, more prepared, more concerned about their teams instead of officials, more cognizant of when they're crossing the line, more intentional with their communication, more willing to move on, more in control of their players, etc., etc.

I Cannot Wait Until It Is Over ...
 

Twenty percent of our 270 (down from a high a 320 three years ago) local members were inactive due to COVID this season, yet we had a full schedule to cover for over seventy-five high schools and many middle schools. So the eighty percent of us that were active had to cover for the the twenty percent that were inactive. This meant many doubleheaders, tripleheaders, and few off days for us. I just completed a streak beginning the day after Martin Luther King Day of 22 game dates (with many doubleheaders) in 30 days, something that I haven't done in many many years since I gave up recreation and travel games.

And I've had it with the masks (and I'm a mask proponent). I hate wearing the mask in my games, using a stupid electronic whistle, and I hate politely telling snot-nosed kids to, "Mask up", to be ignored because we don't have any mask penalties (sit a tick) this season (like we did last season).

The extra games and lack of rest this season have aggravated the severe arthritis in my right foot, making my officiating both physically and mentally challenging (as well as making my daily cardio gym workouts (I'm a heart attack survivor) very challenging).

It's gotten to the point where I'm looking at game clocks and saying to myself, "Please run down", even in exciting games.

And many of my games were assigned with little lead time, last minute changes (game assigned overnight for the next afternoon) due to COVID limiting the ability of schools to field a healthy team, or COVID limiting the availability of healthy bus drivers. Makes it hard to plan one's week.

I've been looking at middle school schedules online wondering, "When will this end?" (my local board had to politely refuse to assign middle school officials in two major city school systems due to our lack of available afternoon officials, so these two cites postponed their middle school games until later in the season, just starting last week and scheduling through March 10, 2022, about month later than normal).

Over forty-plus years I've occasionally gotten mentally "fatigued" in mid-February during a few seasons, but nothing even close to like this season.

Happy Days Are Here Again ...
 

The only good news. I'm flush with cash to supplement my pension and Social Security fixed income.

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP._...=0&w=122&h=168

Can't wait until....playoffs!
 

Last year was rough. Covid pushed the season back a month, many games were moved/PPD/cancelled, pre-game conferences were different, and the on-court interactions just felt awkward or non-existent. All of those things combined just made the season feel wrong. Additionally, I was on call during playoffs so I had to close nearly all my dates, and ended up only having 1 game....that didn't go well, so it left a bad taste in my mouth during the off-season.

This year however has been good. I was looking to improve on that feeling from last year, hoping that everything would start to trend back to normal. Personally, I was able to work a few big local games, as well as some showcase Academy games. A good partner (who took last year off) is now back and being able to work with him is fantastic. I decided to take a break from NCAA to spend more time with my kids and their activities, as well as getting a new job, so my stress levels are definitely lower.

I "roller-coaster" emotions prior to and during the season. Assignments get released and you can see your games and crew mates and you're excited to discuss rules and cases and just bball in general. But then one or two bad games or 30 pt spinners and you're asking yourself "is this worth it?" But then better games or awesome partners can change that back to that exciting feeling. I find that discussing bball here or Friday nights at the bar or even during ABO Greg's FPF live feed on Fridays helps to keep the spirits up deep into the cold/disgusting/icy winter months of January and February.

This year however, we've seen an uptick in poor fan behavior. I personally have been apart of 3 fan ejections, have discussed at least 8 others, and 2 more than included coaches in our district alone, and I'm sure there are plenty others that I just haven't heard about. Additionally, there was another game that had to be called due to fans and coaches exchanging words and then punches/pushes. It is however that time of year, where bad teams know that they are bad and players may not have anything left to play for OR certain teams are fighting for that specific playoff spot.

So for me, as I ramble on and most of you have stopped reading already, I cannot wait until...playoffs. For this year, I have no closed dates and am expecting a full slate of games and hopefully be able to work with guys/gals that I haven't seen in 2 years.

This is actually why I like working college basketball to just about any high school. Maybe the exception of JUCO which is its own culture unto itself. JUCO coaches can be very immature and silly.

But all the other levels, coaches do not have the energy to worry about personal beefs the same way. Not to say that college coaches cannot be petty or silly sometimes, but that does not work well in the long run for them. They have to focus on the job at hand and losing that job can mean bit things are lost to them in the long run. They tend to be more focused and deliberate in what they communicate with you and even their players.

That being said, I have noticed a little edge this year with the coaches and players at the college level. Not nearly as bad, but just a little more stress from my perspective.

Peace

Unsporting ...
 

Regarding unsporting behavior.

For most part, the subvarsity coaches that I've been dealing with for the past two COVID seasons seem to really appreciate officials for being there (as opposed to being inactive due to COVID).

Also, despite the fact that I'm hobbled due to arthritis, these subvarsity coaches, especially the middle school coaches, seem to appreciate having an experienced veteran official work their games rather than an inexperienced youthful "gazelle" who doesn't know if the basketball is stuffed or inflated.

This season, only one minor problem with a coach for whom I paused the game and I asked to, "Tone it down a little", didn't even warrant a written warning from me.

Two players (middle school girl, freshman boy), in two different games, with two different partners, orally criticized the partners and in doing so included the word "f**k", and were charged with non-flagrant technical fouls by my partners. I heard neither, but if it had been spoken to me, depending on the tone and volume, I might have considered flagrant technical fouls.

Otherwise, a very quiet season.

As with anything, this very much depends on the specific league. The JuCo league I work in, the coaches by and large behave themselves (the commissioner does not tolerate nonsense and is vocally supportive of officials handling business), and the ones who don't move on once they get whacked. I would work a JuCo game in that league over a high school game 101 times out of 100.

I do agree with you though. College coaches usually don't take getting whacked personally, and the ones who get whacked every game know they are turds and have no credibility with the assigner.

Totally agree with this. Every time I have whacked a college coach, he shuts up and focuses on his team the rest of the game. Whereas in high school, coaches intentionally act ignorant and want a dissertation on why they got a technical foul.

Ignorant ...
 

... maybe because many (not all) of them are ignorant.

Ding, Ding! We have a winner.

This must be very frustrating. It's refreshing to hear that college coaches tend to be more professional and more focused on coaching their teams.

The roughest part with this year is that the middle school and CYO games that didn't take place last year are being played again but the number of officials didn't return to pre-COVID levels. Long story short, there's more games and fewer officials, so those of us who officiate subvarsity games are being asked to work double or tripleheaders. I've also been a last-second varsity fill-in due to illness and the overall lack of officials to cover games on the busiest of days. Recently, my CYO assignor was so shorthanded one weekend that he had me work three games at one site and, after a break for lunch and travel, had me go elsewhere to do two more games. I'm glad my season is nearly over because I've felt physically and mentally drained. (And I know this will likely happen again this spring because we're even more shorthanded with baseball and softball umpires).

Players haven't been too much of an issue, but coaches are definitely chirping more. I had a MS girls coach respond with a loud "Seriously?" when I called an obvious foul on her player. I've also had to whack a JV team's assistant coach one game only to officiate there a week later and whack the head coach after he made unsporting comments similar to those that got his assistant in trouble. :(

On the plus side, it seems like more ADs than usual are doing what they can to show their appreciation for officials throughout all of this. YMMV.