Oh, you CAN ignore them!

[Hartsy]

Maybe it just now sunk in. One of the things that has bothered me is letting the coaches and fans comments get to me. Not that I ever got upset about it, never have issued a T, just that I kept wondering if maybe I really was missing something.

Something was different last night, though. I heard all the complaints, but I just smiled and kept on working. Made for a much more enjoyable game. Wasn't sure if I would ever shake the second guessing.

The turning point may have been a block/charge no call. Felt sure I did the right thing. I had a good angle on the play and saw it all the way. There was some contact, and the defender went down more from a flop than from the contact. Basket was good. No whistle. As I go up court, coach says "call the charge!!" My reply "I didn't see it." and thats the last I thought of the play. (Hmm. Maybe now he thinks I missed the whole play. Ah, no way. It was right in front of me and he knew I nailed it.)

Now, to take this to the next game........

[Redhouse]

Just remember, at least half(in most cases) of the gym will be on you for every call.

If you know the rules then you are ahead of everyone else in the gym.

I would be careful saying that you didn't see it. I think you realized this also after you thought about it. You may want to consider saying something like,"I didn't see a charge or there was no charge there."

Good job

[Junker]

I agree with Redhouse (is that a Hendrix reference? Always wanted to check, I'm a huge fan). You don't want to tell a coach that you didn't see it. Explain to him exactly what you told us. I didn't see it might open up a lot of criticism later.

[blindzebra]

Did a good GV game last night and as we are lining up for free throws a Dad in the stands starts yelling, "Watch #44, she is...with a list of about 10 things...ending with watch her ref she's dirty."

The captain, and by far and away the best player on the floor, was about to shoot the FT and she looked toward the Dad, rolled her eyes, made eye contact with me and saw I was smiling and she started laughing.

Sometimes you get those little moments, and this game was full of them, where we get to be human and not just a striped shirt.

We had great rapport with the coaches and players.

We had a baby brother, about 3 years old, dancing during every timeout, giving us a chance to connect with some fans about something outside the game.

[chayce]

"a block is a block and a charge is a charge. Anything else is a charge." We often here that quote from a couple of assignors here in Ky, IN, and OH. I think it works well most of the time and have over the last couple of years started calling something everytime I have bodies on the floor. Even if there is no contact, I will call a block early and it eliminates the flopping the rest of the game. It has worked for me. A couple of years ago, I made it a habit to pass on any non-contact flops and had a game where the "floppee" was laying on the floor and a player other than the one he was guarding tripped over him and they ended up throwing punches before it was all over. If I had called a block or a technical, none of the extracurricular stuff would have happened. Early in the game I prefer to call a block instead of the technical. Even though flopping is a POE this year, I don't see many officials calling the prescribed technical.

[blindzebra]

Originally posted by chayce
"a block is a block and a charge is a charge. Anything else is a charge." We often here that quote from a couple of assignors here in Ky, IN, and OH. I think it works well most of the time and have over the last couple of years started calling something everytime I have bodies on the floor. Even if there is no contact, I will call a block early and it eliminates the flopping the rest of the game. It has worked for me. A couple of years ago, I made it a habit to pass on any non-contact flops and had a game where the "floppee" was laying on the floor and a player other than the one he was guarding tripped over him and they ended up throwing punches before it was all over. If I had called a block or a technical, none of the extracurricular stuff would have happened. Early in the game I prefer to call a block instead of the technical. Even though flopping is a POE this year, I don't see many officials calling the prescribed technical.

In that situation, remember a player is entitled to their spot on the floor...even literally on the floor...provided that they got there first legally.

Is the "flopper" legally on the floor? If I have ANY opposing player tripping over the flopper, I have a foul on the flopper.

[Daryl H. Long]

Hartsy,

Sounds like you are on your way to being able to withstand the comments from fans, coaches, etc. Still you talk about second guessing.

Second guessing is not altogether bad. If it causes you to do something like study the rule books more or anything else you can think of to improve your officiating then it can be beneficial.

My suggestion is to ask the school to dub you a tape of the game. I take a tape with me in a self-addressed envelope so they can send it back to me. In 23 years of officiating I have yet to have a school not send me a tape. In fact, with the tapes I often receive letters from the coaches or AD commending me on my efforts to evaluate my performance and wishing more officials would do so. It raises your credibility level to some extent.

When viewing the tape be hard on yourself. Look at things in slow motion...not to be overly critical of the call itself but many times you can see how soon you picked up coverage and where/what you were really looking at at the time of the foul/violation. Then share the tape with others in your association to let them give constructive criticism also.

Sharing is important because if you cannot take the constructive criticism from "friends in the know" then you will always be second guessing in the way it becomes detrimental to your officiating abilities.

[Hartsy]

Originally posted by Daryl H. Long

My suggestion is to ask the school to dub you a tape of the game. I take a tape with me in a self-addressed envelope so they can send it back to me.

When viewing the tape be hard on yourself. Look at things in slow motion...not to be overly critical of the call itself but many times you can see how soon you picked up coverage and where/what you were really looking at at the time of the foul/violation. Then share the tape with others in your association to let them give constructive criticism also.

I've heard from many that say watching a game tape is very much worth the time. I think I could do this. What do I yell at myself when I miss a call?

Oh, yeah. I should have said "I didn't see a charge, coach", rather than "I didn't see it", but the coach had to know I saw the play, based on where the play, the coach, and I were where it occurred. All in one corner basically.

[Redhouse]

Yes Junker, I am also a big Hendrix fan.

[stick]

I never have paid any attention to fans in all the games I've officiated except one and this wasn't my choice. One time, in a boys hs varsity game, a spectator, likely a parent, got right in my face after a 2 shot foul I called. This fan was nose to nose with me for about 5-10 seconds before security grabbed him and tossed him out. I had a lot of thoughts go thru my head during those 5-10 seconds!! Ultimately I put my hands up to protect myself and side-shuffled away. He followed, cursing at me while the whole gym watched in stunned silence before he was taken away. I know if I would have smacked the guy (I really would have liked to) I would have got sued & chaos would have ensued. However I don't know if I did the right thing or not. It happened so fast my partner couldn't get there quick enough and I was definitely a bit shook up but finished the game out with no problem. Both coaches and the a.d. came over to make sure I was ok & they escorted me out of the gym after the game was over (the incident happened in the 3rd qtr). Did I do the right thing? Any feedback is appreciated, thanks.

[Adam]

Stick, you did the right thing. He looked like the a$$ he was, and you removed any chance he had of suing you. Sounds like game management was quick to deal with it, also.
Although, my only thought is to ask whether he'd been a problem before, and whether game management should have seen it coming.

[thumpferee]

Originally posted by blindzebra

In that situation, remember a player is entitled to their spot on the floor...even literally on the floor...provided that they got there first legally.

Is the "flopper" legally on the floor? If I have ANY opposing player tripping over the flopper, I have a foul on the flopper.

GREAT point BZ! I considered that call tonight. Then thought I may get boooood out of gym, so let them play on, figured incidental contact.

This may be good post, whatdayathink?

[JRutledge]

Coaches do not pay the bills, so I do not pay attention to their attitude or complaints much. It does not matter if that coach feels you do not know how to do your job, the coach is not the final judge one when and where you work.

Peace

[blindzebra]

Originally posted by thumpferee

GREAT point BZ! I considered that call tonight. Then thought I may get boooood out of gym, so let them play on, figured incidental contact.

This may be good post, whatdayathink?

I think no call should be made, or NOT made, based on how a coach or the crowd will react to the call.

[stick]

Originally posted by Snaqwells
Stick, you did the right thing. He looked like the a$$ he was, and you removed any chance he had of suing you. Sounds like game management was quick to deal with it, also.
Although, my only thought is to ask whether he'd been a problem before, and whether game management should have seen it coming.

I understand your question & I suppose he may have been chirping a lot during the game. Since I don't have rabbit ears I couldn't determine if it was anything out of the norm or not. Thanks for the reply