SOAPBOX!!!

[Smitty]

This is the beauty of a forum like this. You get to choose which rules interpretations or advice to put into your game to make it better. This forum is exactly like an association of officials. You'll get some strong advice from veterans that may be good advice and may be bad advice. You'll get contradictory advice. You'll run into some arrogance. You'll sometimes not get a good answer to a question at all. And you'll maybe find one or two people that you trust completely. I was just like some of these new guys when I was new. I thought I knew more than I did. I didn't listen to some of the common sense advice I was getting. Then one day it all sort of made sense. That was when I was ready to move up. Thank goodness I didn't get any opportunities to move up before I understood the common sense part. I would have made a mess of the games I got to work. No matter how successful you may be in your every day life, you have to still go through the motions and gain the experience necessary to do a good job at basketball officiating before you earn the respect of your peers.