I'm only gonna say this once so, LISTEN UP!! As long as you blame the refs, your players aren't going to get better. It's very simple really. When the players think they don't need to work on their skills, their plays, their teamwork, their attitudes, they don't work on their skills, etc. So when you're yelling at me, you're letting them off the hook. See? Get it? Besides, I've got plenty of others coaching me. I DON"T NEED YOU TO HELP!!

Thanks for listening. I feel better now that I"ve got that off my chest...

This moment of catharsis brought to you by: All of us at Officials Anonymous.

plop, plop, fizz, fizz.... (even if no one else gets this, dinosaurs such as Clark, Jurassic, and Tim will!)

Do you have to relieve yourself in front of everyone? :D

Boy do I remember those commercials......

You must have had a "fun" game tonight. I had a PIL boys double-header. There were a couple interesting moments, but overall both games were great. This must be my "PIL" week - Grant tonight, Benson tomorrow & Jeff on Thurs.

Oh, what a relief it is.

Yes, I've seen the "remember this" shows on A&E. :)

It drives me bonkers when you call a foul and the coach is telling his player "good job, that was good defense". How does that kid learn to move his feet if the coach is encouraging him for bad defense?

He won't learn. :(

I had a coach tell me once...
 

Sometimes when you call a block on a kid, he may know that the ref is correct, but wants to encourage the kid to keep trying, so he will say, "good job, that was good defense" or something like that. He told me, that is not a slight at the refs at all. But, doesn't want his kids to stop trying by yelling at them that they didn't do it right.

Re: I had a coach tell me once...
 

It's easy to tell by the tone of voice which way they mean it!

Alka your noggin
 

I can't believe you ate the whole thing!:D

Re: Alka your noggin
 

Oh, wow, you're a dinosaur, too! Welcome to the club.

It's possible we hear too much. Coaching a kid for "good defense" when he's just been whistled for a foul is not automatically a dig at the refs. As mentioned, coaches use the "encouragement" to motivate a kid to continue to keep trying and also at times to keep a kid from "blaming the refs". Regardless, trust the coach to "coach" and trust you and your partner to "call the game".

Absolutely there are "bad" coaches and there are "good" coaches, but there are also misunderstood coaches as well. Try not to get too involved in figuring out which coach is which - time will tell, just as it does with officiating. Good coaches (and officials) are not made or broken in a single night or by a single call.

I've told kids (after the good defense comment) that they can play good defense like that 4 more times tonight and then they have to sit on the bench. They usually get the picture.

What rainmaker said!!!