Has anyone ever worked with a partner that grandstands?
This weekend at a Varsity Boys game, I’m going over pre-game with my partner. He was a more experienced Official then I and he made it clear he was in charge. He was going down the list about how we where going to officiate this game. I thinking to myself “wow this guy is a real professional, I can’t wait to see him work”. Once the ball was tipped and the game was started it became clear he wanted to be part of the show. He would double blow his whistle for every call, He would blow his whistle on every inbounds. He was holding long conversation with the coaches while play is going on. Waving to fans, running out to hard to sell simple out of bounds calls. At one point he was the lead in the A position having a conversation with the AD while play is going on under the basket. This guy was a something else.

You can actually take something from this. A great person who you should not emulate.

There's a coach who comes on this board once in a while who has a signature line that says,

"If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning."

I had a partner this weekend that was almost the opposite. He is a nice enough guy and truely loves the game. He came up to me during a time out in the first half and said "I just can't get into these games anymore, don't make so many calls and don't hurry the subs on and off the court. That way I wont have to run so much and the time will keep ticking."

My reply after I picked my jaw off the floor was something like These kids are pouring their hearts out to play ball, the job I want to put on the floor is my very best and not form any habits I will regret later.

He didn't like that but didn't say anymore to me either.

My worst experience (this year partner wise) was the lazy bum that sold the coach's (without my knowledge) before the start of the second half to agree to a Mercy Rule - and our area doesn't have one.

After I fussed at the table a few times about them NOT stopping the clock I was finally informed what was up. Yes it was a 20+ plus game but the kids, fans and this official were giving it their best.

I don’t think the guy I was working with was a bad official. If you talk to him he knew his stuff, and I did not have an issue with his calls. I just did not like his act. I thought he was auditioning for the NBA or something.

Make sure your area interpreter knows about this "lazy bum." Did he have a rec ball patch?

Everything you described sounds like this official might officiate some college ball or Pro-Am ball as well. I am not sure I would worry about it or even get upset. Not all officials you work with are going to have perfect HS mechanics or want to have perfect HS mechanic. Some guy’s dreams are bigger than HS. I used to get upset or be bothered by those kinds of things and I quickly got over it. I want an official that is going to get calls right, not have perfect mechanics. I have learned that is not a battle worth fighting. I would not report anything to the assignor because the assignor probably already knows what he/she is getting with him on their games.

Peace

If you watch NBA refs, you'll notice that they have very little "act". Their mechanics are very uniform and they don't go thru a lot hystrionics for 99% of their calls. You may see a big "wave-off" on an offensive foul, but that's about it. You don't see guys emphatically bang home the bucket or get excited by a block/charge call. And NBA refs almost NEVER interact with the fans. I've only seen it once (the Jimmy Buffet incident), although it was much more common in the "old days" (read Earl Strom's book for details).

I'm embaressed for asking :P but what happened?`I've never heard of this (or I've heard it but under another name)
Could somebody please fill me in, or just post down a link (yeah I made a quick google search but didn't find anything relevant)

I believe it was a Knicks/Heat game and Jimmy Buffet (the singer) was seated courtside and got into it with a ref. The ref had him removed from his seat. I believe he got to stay at the game but was several sections away from courtside.

Come to think of it you are right. I have not seen NBA officials showboating. I always looked at a well officiated game as a game where no one notices the officials. But there was no question this guy wanted to be noticed. And he was.

amen!

On the contrae - NBA officials interact alot with the fans, you just never see it on TV. Go to a game live in person and they talk with people on the sidelines all the time. Heck - I watched Ron Garretson take a picture with 3 kids during a TV timeout.

Could you tell me the difference in mechanics for a blocking foul between FED and NCAA? :confused:

Whereintheheck did you get that idea? :confused:

The block signal on the NCAA chart- #20- is <b>exactly</b> the same as the block signal- #31- on the NFHS chart. They are completely identical.