College foul and violation mechanics

[Junker]

Getting ready for work this morning I was pondering (or more to the point, a thought actaully jumped into my head) college foul and violation mechanics. Is there a reason they are lax on these areas at that level? Is it to make the officials become a little less in the spotlight? Is there some other reason? Anyway, I was just thinking of that and thought I'd see if anyone else had any actual knowledge of this or thoughts on the matter.

[zebraman]

I think it's just that once they reach that level, the assignors mainly care about how the game is called and couldn't give a rats patootie about how the official's mechanics look. They probably had good mechanics at one time which were part of the package which got them to that level. Once they achieved that level, they most likely spend most of their time working on what will keep them there which is calling the game the way their assignor likes.

Z

[ChuckElias]

Lax in what way? You mean like not giving the "stop clock" signal? Or using fists for a "block" signal? Stuff like that?

If that's what you mean, then I can think of a couple things. First, the NCAA really wants its officials to use proper mechanics. We get told this a lot. And the "stop clock" signal which used to be listed as optional, is now back to being mandatory.

Having said that, I think that there are assignors at the D1 level who don't put the same priority on mechanics as the NCAA directives do. They probably care more about good calls than good mechanics. And I also think that's very understandable.

Lastly, realistically, who's going to tell Burr, Higgins, Clougherty, et. al, that they need to change? They're the best officials and nobody is going to take games away from them b/c they fail to give the "stop clock" signal.

JMO.

[JRutledge]

Chuck said basically what I wanted to say. Mechanics are not going to supersede the good judgment and good game management.

Life is not fair. When you have proven how good you are, people tend to not sweat the little details that have little or nothing to do with our jobs as officials.

Peace

[Junker]

Yes, I was talking about block mechanics and such. What you both said makes sense. Like I said, I was just wondering if there was an acutal reason they didn't use mechanics like HS officials are supposed to. I would agree that making sure the game is called correctly is more important.

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by Junker
I was just wondering if there was an acutal reason they didn't use mechanics like HS officials are supposed to.

I don't think there's a specific reason. I think it's just that they let them slide and nobody bothers to correct them.

[refTN]

Junker, I was told that your mechanics for college are what get you found. It's not that these guys are laxed in their signals, it is that they don't have to act like robots. I went to an NBA referee's camp and he doesn't want you to give a pushing foul when you can give some type of body bump signal that farther clarifies things for the players, coaches, and last and least, the fans. That is also what my future assignor,god willing i make it there, wants us to do. He is a true believer in the NBA philosophies, as am I(there 3 man rotation is awesome).

You also asked if you thought they were more lax because you thought it took them out of the spotlight. I personally think it is the other way around. I think high school officials are out of the spotlight because they all have to give the same signals and everything. In the college ranks you can give whatever signals you want, in other words you can have your own style. I was told when you blow that whistle, that you need to act like all the lights went out and there is just a spotlight on you, and once you have reported the lights come back up and you are back to work.

[walter]

At every camp I've gone to and with the two supervisor's I work for, they all said the same thing. They expect you to know and practice the proper mechanics but what they are really looking for is, "Can you be a referee or are you an umpire?" I had one supervisor tell me that he could care less if my arm is straight or whether I use two fingers to signal direction instead of the full hand, etc. He looks for what he calls his "Big Five". (1) Could an official make the calls that needed to be made and pass on the calls that should be passed on? (2) How does an official interact with coaches, players, partners, and table personnel? (3) Does an official's manage dead ball situations efficiently and effectively? (4) Does the official hustle at all times (including game, free throw, and dead ball situations)? (5) Does an official have court presence? With number five he always states, "If you have to ask what court presence is, that means you don't have it." Not saying that everyone should agree with this, but it has helped me tremendously so far.