I attended a tournament in Devils Lake, ND with my daughters grade 8 team this past weekend. I have to say what ever version of rules were being used, were not only inconsistantly applied but wrong. I was told that they were something called North Dakota Tournament rules. Well it was some version of 3 man were 1 person would stand under each hoop and 1 across from the scorers bench the whole game.... thats right they never moved. Fouls called under the basket were relayed to the center official who would yell to the scorer who the foul was on. terrible display. I should say that I am from Canada were I officiate using NCAA rules and this was not anywere near how I have been accustomed to. Anyway, I have got an even greater respect for those officials who are doing this work well.

Thanks for listening to my rant. The grass is always greener, right.

I can understand that you may not agree with this system, but that doesn't mean it was a terrible display. They may have done a great job within their system as it's set up.

Just out of curiosity, how did your daughter's team do in the tournament?

Sheez, Bush, you and I on the same page!?!? Have you got a fever or something?

Well I would give credit if it were due... we actually had 1 official go into the hall to talk to someone and ended up making a call from out there.

We ended up losing the first game by 6 points and we brought home the consolation 5th place. I am not saying the reffing cost us the game it was rebounding. I am saying the display by the officials was terrible.

Final record was 1 loss and 2 wins

What ever Dude... No need to be rude. Grow Up.

My point was made that no matter how bad you think it is their may be something worse out there. And you have proved that point.

And then, all your Sunday games didn't get taped. Wow, what a weekend. I feel for you, kid. Mine was actually pretty good, since my son was home from the hospital for the first weekend in six (or seven?). So when things get better for me, they get worse for someone else. Isn't that just the way of the world?

I haven't been the one to defend Bush in the past, but I've gotta admit, that his position isn't a lonely one. Are you a referee? We have a pact around here not to use words like "horrible" and "terrible" about each other. Even when we're slingin insults at each other we say things that are more muted, such as "Feeling small today?" and "How dare you?" and "Now don't go all MTD on me!" and when it really gets bad, "Why, you Dexter!" If you can restrain yourselves to these kinds of critiques, we'll be glad to have you continue on this board. Otherwise, you'll have to find a good fan-board to vent on.

Thanks for the advice.. I am an Offical Level II NCAA. And well I only said the display was bad right go back and read it over again I was not the one slingin the rude comments. Guys you gotta get over yourselves, your not the only ones with an opinion.

w/e Im done with this.

SmokeEater,
This may very well have been the worst officiating in the history of paid officials. Or they may have been volunteers. I don't know. I would say that the system, as you described it, is flawed. But it seems like it is geared towards volunteers rather than people of actually officiate for money. It's easier to get people to ref for free if they don't have to get sweaty.

That said, you are free to rant here. Just don't expect much sympathy from officials here for your ranting. Most of us have done those tournaments where we work about 5 or 6 games in a row and are ready to snap at any given parent who even thinks the words "three seconds" by about the 4th game. We've had games where we know we didn't do the best job in the world. But we also know that 99.9% of the people telling us we suck can't find the oxygen necessary to blow in a whistle. Too bad they can't divert it from their a$$.

When fans rant here, we tend to bite back. Questions from fans are welcome with two caveats.
1) Accept our answers without bickering too much.
2) Don't try to whine in the form of a question. We can usually recognize that.

Adam

I think it's just a matter of introducing yourself a little more gently, and then sort of picking up the lingo. I couldn't tell from your previous posts whether you were a ref or not, and it sounded as though you might just be another whiny fan. As an official, you do have a different view, which we'd be interested to hear, but we bristle when we think you're just antoher fan-boy. When we complain about a game our off-spring play in, we usually recognize in that post that we may not be entirely objective in our point of view. That let's everyone know that we recognize the ambivalent position we are holding.

I agree that the sitch you describe sounds weird. I'd be interested in examining the advantages and disadvantages of that system.

In response to your point about one ref calling a foul from the hall, I worked with a guy once who would wander off during a game. I'd look up and see him at the concession stand, or talking to a parent with his back to the floor. The frustrating part was that he was a really nice guy, and everybody liked him. If anything went wrong, it was MY fault!!

So I can see some of the concerns you have about the tournament. I just wish you'd expressed them a little differently.

And don't worry about Bush. He gets nasty once in a while but he does back down in the end. I guess his bark might be worse than his bite.

I think it's terrible for someone to describe a ref as horrible! ;-)

Like it's a bad thing to back down?

If he can manage to stay alive long enough to get to the top of the list. :)

My reply removed by it's poster.

Happy?

I don't think the number of posts means anything, if I say something that shouldn't be said, I hear about it, if I make a mistake I hear about it. Quality matters more than quantity.