Are you sure about Bill Kennedy? I know he broke into the NBA as a scab official and stuck. He did work in the CBA. He used to work at a skating rink on Sundays while he was in the CBA. [/B][/QUOTE]According to the NBRA site, Kennedy did 2 games in the 1998 WNBA finals.

They have pretty complete bios on all of their members under "roster"-
http://www.probasketballrefs.com/

According to the NBRA site, Kennedy did 2 games in the 1998 WNBA finals.

They have pretty complete bios on all of their members under "roster"-
http://www.probasketballrefs.com/ [/B][/QUOTE]

I thought his name was Broderick Kennedy....

I thought his name was Broderick Kennedy.... [/B][/QUOTE]

I stand corrected and that site does have a lot of information. :)

Do you have something against Bill Kennedy being a scab or was that a jokey joke? :D

I stand corrected and that site does have a lot of information. :)

Do you have something against Bill Kennedy being a scab or was that a jokey joke? :D [/B][/QUOTE]

Jokey joke? I thought his name was Bastien Kennedy...

It is somewhat frustrating to see women moving up way faster than they would if they were men on the men's side. Around here, a lot of them are set up to fail because they get picked up to do college games far before they are ready.
I've seen officials who have lots of potential but don't have their foundation in place before they're thrown into the fire. There seems to be a perception that everyone wants to see women officials in the women's game. However, I've talked with plenty of coaches and players who are immensely frustrated by this philosophy --- specifically, having officials on their games that are not ready to be there. Most of them say they prefer men on their games because the men they get are usually more experienced and better prepared by the time they get to the college ranks than the women. There are obviously many exceptions and I am no way saying that men are better officials than women. I've reffed with many many outstanding women officials. I just wonder if any official is ready for Div. 1 in their 2nd or 3rd year of officiating. I've seen it around here with women but never with men.

If you ask me everyone is advancing too fast on the Women's side. There are many officials getting an opportunity very fast on the Women's side. This is not about just women whom officiate. There are a lot of officials that have no business working D1 Women's basketball. That is just one man's opinion though.

Peace

here are some thought on the matter:

http://womenshoops.blogspot.com/2005...ng-heated.html

http://womenshoops.blogspot.com/2005...-say-this.html

would be interested to here what y'all think about this.

I read both articles and thought the points that where made were very good. I think that the articles took an objective point of view towards the issues that Women's basketball faces at the pro level (and some college as well) without all the rhetoric that we hear sometimes on this site about the issue.

Peace

thanks much. I've appreciated the thoughts you've all shared on this, helping me to understand how things work out there.

There have been many good points made on this topic and I personally believe that it all comes down to supply and demand. People have had a chance to move up more quickly on the women's side because the supply hasn't kept up with demand. That is one reason I chose to go the women's route. I started officiating later in life and did not have time to wait 10 years before getting picked up to do games on the men's side. There are many more people who want to work on the men's side, hence the demand for new officials is much less that the available supply. One's choice on which route to pursue has a lot to do with both patience AND preference.