Disheartened

brokerrookie · #1 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 02:23pm

I called a 2 day AAU tournament this weekend in my town. This was supposed to be a 2 game on Friday night and 3 game on Sat. Turned out to be a 12 hour venture on Saturday with 3 officials just leaving and 1 scorekeeper walking out with 3 games left. This left me alone to call (had to pick up a coach not affiliated with the tournament) basically alone. There were 2 teams from the surrounding (New Orleans) area. These 2 teams were the most hostile I have ever seen. Of course the games got better as the tournament progressed but the officiating didn't. I had to make almost every call. The other official (coach) messed up time outs, in bound passes, etc. It got so bad, coaches and fans started coming on the court in protest. I am by no means a superb official but not horrible either. What do you do when things get this bad? Is this just a strange unbelievable experience or does it get this bad everywhere?

Todd

P.S. I quit 4 times that day but somehow stayed til the end. One team walked out with 2 seconds left in the championship game.

Raymond · #2 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 02:28pm

what you do is NOT work for that assignor anymore.

And make sure you get paid double (or triple) for all the games you worked by yourself.

Adam · #3 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 03:08pm

First thing is to lay down the law with the coaches. take no crap in these kinds of games, period. Don't be afraid to err on the side of calling a foul when it looks like contact.

Larks · #4 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 03:18pm

I would chaulk it up to a bad experience and move on. I would consider looking for another venue game wise too unless the assignor is a friend. Then I'd give the situation another shot. In my opin, some AAU can be a lot tougher to call than boys varsity high school because the gym is small, the parents are nuts and the accustics lend themselves to our ability to hear everything vs. just back ground noise.

They aint all peaches and creame (cream? kream? creme?)

They aint all nearly as bad as you had it.

Saddle back up Broker!

brokerrookie · #5 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 03:50pm

I am would say I am an acquaintance of the guy who set up the tournament. I call for a Parks and Recreation league here that he coaches for. They don't really have assignors. The good news is that a coach from a near by town liked the way we called the first few games when we actually had officials and invited us to call this weekend also. I think I will go ahead and do it since I am free now that I decided not to go the a clinic at LSU. I cancelled because I really gave up on the state of good sportsmanship after this ordeal. I think I should give coaches, fans, and players another shot though.

Raymond · #6 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 03:54pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by brokerrookie

I think I will go ahead and do it since I am free now that I decided not to go the a clinic at LSU. I cancelled because I really gave up on the state of good sportsmanship after this ordeal. I think I should give coaches, fans, and players another shot though.

A clinic at LSU sounds like it might be a lot better organized than what you had last weekend. And you'd probably gain a lot more from it.

Larks · #7 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 04:05pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

A clinic at LSU sounds like it might be a lot better organized than what you had last weekend. And you'd probably gain a lot more from it.

I totally agree.....go to the clinic!

BktBallRef · #8 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 06:26pm

You should have went home the instance that other last official left.

Lesson learned.

jdccpa · #9 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 07:02pm

Your first mistake was taking on a partner out of the crowd. You are usually better off working a game alone rather than with someone who is not qualified. When you are working alone you have the "sympathy" vote going for you. You lost that by taking on a partner.

Before the game tell both coaches that you are going to work the game from foul line to foul line opposite the table. Tell them that you need their help with OOB calls table side and if they disagree you are going to go with the arrow.

Warn the players before the jump ball that you may miss some fouls so you may be inclined to call the ones you do call as all intentional fouls.

Never go to what would normally be the lead position on the end lines; instead use long bounce passes to administer end line throw-ins.

Administer foul shots from the trail position.

Hustle.

brokerrookie · #10 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 07:29pm

The guy that stepped in to help was actually helping with the tournament. I assumed that he could call since as soon as the other officials left, he said he would help. Big assumption that didn't work out on my part. The guy running the tournament was insistent that he officiate also. I guess he didn't want me to be mad about having to do it myself. Hindsight being that, I would have liked to call the last games myself. I think it would have created less headache. Life lesson learned. Also thanks for the replies, this is a great forum.

Back In The Saddle · #11 (**permalink**) Wed Jun 21, 2006, 10:44pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by brokerrookie

The guy that stepped in to help was actually helping with the tournament. I assumed that he could call since as soon as the other officials left, he said he would help. Big assumption that didn't work out on my part. The guy running the tournament was insistent that he officiate also. I guess he didn't want me to be mad about having to do it myself. Hindsight being that, I would have liked to call the last games myself. I think it would have created less headache. Life lesson learned. Also thanks for the replies, this is a great forum.

There are lots of people who think they can referee. The stands are full of them. There are even some who have "refereed," sometimes quite a bit. But, as you learned, most of those people can't, and really haven't. Wearing a whistle does not make a person a referee any more than sleeping in the garage makes a person an automobile.

jeffpea · #12 (**permalink**) Thu Jun 22, 2006, 12:53pm

Here's the best advice that I can give you: BLOW THE WHISTLE.

The fewer the number of officials, the more whistles you should have.
You are absolutely going to miss calls in this game (fouls, violations, 2pt/3pt shots, etc). You and the game are much, much, much better served by blowing the whistle too much, rather than not enough.

You have to establish the "ground rules" for the game (what is a foul and what is not); you can only do that by blowing the whistle. The players and coaches will adjust. 99% of the block/charge plays should be called charges (keep guys from putting bulling their way to the basket and ruining your game).

So, whether alone or with a "guy from the crowd" - blow the whistle. Don't worry about primary/secondary - blow the whistle. At the first sign of problems between players or involving coaches - blow the whistle (T). Problems with fans - blow the whistle, stop the game, and have them removed.

As a friend of mine from "down south" says: "a short leash makes the dog walk straight!"

deecee · #13 (**permalink**) Thu Jun 22, 2006, 01:18pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdccpa

Your first mistake was taking on a partner out of the crowd. You are usually better off working a game alone rather than with someone who is not qualified. When you are working alone you have the "sympathy" vote going for you. You lost that by taking on a partner.

Before the game tell both coaches that you are going to work the game from foul line to foul line opposite the table. Tell them that you need their help with OOB calls table side and if they disagree you are going to go with the arrow.

Warn the players before the jump ball that you may miss some fouls so you may be inclined to call the ones you do call as all intentional fouls.

Never go to what would normally be the lead position on the end lines; instead use long bounce passes to administer end line throw-ins.

Administer foul shots from the trail position.

Hustle.

jdccpa -- what the heck are you talking about? dont listen to his advice.

#1 Never rely on coaches to help you out during their game -- sometimes you will miss close OOB calls because you are on the other side of the court -- make it clear to the teams that they play the whistle -- also if you are not sure who it went off go to the arrow.

#2 Dont listen to this advice on the intentional fouls -- call what you see and just make it clear to the teams that you have a lot to cover so you will miss more than usual but as long as you hustle you will not have anyone complain that at least you are doing the best you are.

Listening to the advice above will save you from having coaches argue over an OOB call and just because you miss more now you start calling intentional fouls is ludicrous.

Adam · #14 (**permalink**) Thu Jun 22, 2006, 02:03pm

Another pileon response to jdccpa's post. You lose the sympathy vote by refusing a volunteer. Don't worry about the sympathy vote. Just tell the coaches that due to the circumstances, you'll be taking a lot less "advice" from the benches, and that you expect them to accept the fact that you're going to miss some calls.
Most of the time, they'll appreciate your candor and give you the freedom you need. If not, it may be a short game. Either way, you come out ahead.

SMEngmann · #15 (**permalink**) Thu Jun 22, 2006, 02:06pm

My idea of effective "1 man" is to hustle. Change sides of the court, move aggressively for angles, etc, it will get you a lot more points than the guy who goes 28 ft line to 28 ft line on the same side of the court. Second thing is that you don't need more whistles, you just need to get the obvious stuff. You can't be expected to get off ball stuff, but you sure as heck can be expected to get the stuff that the guy in the nosebleeds sees. If there's something that looks really bad but you aren't sure because of your angle, get that too depending on your game. Call the obvious, OOB the players will referee themselves 90% of the time on obvious OOB plays, and for the other 10% if you have no clue, check the arrow, most of the time nobody will have a problem because the call could've gone either way anyhow.