How do tell your partner???
 

Without making for an uncomfortable situation how do you tell or ask your partner why he keeps blowing deep in your zone??? Example...I am the laed ..he is at halfcourt, calls a travel RIGHT in front of me..I had it and was gonna blow, but before I get a chance, he is already on it...Clearly WAY out of his zone...Don't want to be an a**hole about it, he has more experience than me, but I know where to be and where not to be..

I would say, hey partner, your long distance calling card is now revoked. Or you could just ask him if you missed something that he saw. It really depends on the relationship you have with that person.

Did you pregame coverage areas? I'd talk to them about having a patient whistle. If it's a vet, I'd ask, "What did you have on that play that caused you to come over in my area?" If it continues after you talk about it, then I'd be a little more blunt about telling them to stay in their area, then try not to work with them again.

How about: "Hey partner, I have a pretty slow whistle...you seem to have a quick one. I'll try to speed mine up if you'll try to be a little more patient when calling things in my area, ok?"

If they still don't get it, say something blunt at the next time-out...like "Look, let me call things in my area, ok? If I miss something that is blood and guts on the floor, fine - but there had better be blood and guts."

If they still don't get it, then finish the game and get out of there...

I have asked a partner like that, "don't you trust me?" He says "what?" I say, "don't you trust me?" He says, "what do you mean?" I say, "well, you keep calling things in my primary coverage area so you must not trust me as an official."

He apologized and didn't do it anymore.

Like others have said, if the subtle remarks don't work then you can go to something more direct.

When I had just started officiating, I was watching two guys work the varsity game. The trail made a few calls in the lead's area during the second quarter. I had already asked if I could join their pregame, halftime and postgame sessions to listen, ask questions and learn.

At half, the lead walked into the locker room they were using, grabbed a dry board marker and drew a quick diagram with the coverage areas then sat down without saying a word about it to his partner. During the second half, his partner stayed out of his area. :)

That is too funny! I would have loved to have seen that.

When I first started out, I worked a couple little kid games with the same partner. In the middle of the first game, he came to me and said "Stop blowing my lines". I was so new, i didn't even know what he meant. But that's all he said. So in the middle of the second game, he came to me and said, "You're still blowing my lines." Again, that was all. Since I was so much less experienced than him, I wish he'd been a little more constructive instead of just being "blunt".

But if the person is more experienced than you, I like the "trust" approach. "Do you think you can't trust me?" Seems to get the point across without being a total jerk about it.

During an off-season tournament I had a partner who called everything. After a clear foul along the baseline less than 2 meters, i.e. 6 ft, from me (I was lead, on the left to the basket), he whistled and turned around to report the foul. Still with my fist up I said loudly: "Will you leave something also to me?" and reported the foul.

Our colleagues were already laughing very visibly. Well, maybe that's not good mechanics in a regular game.;)

I trust my partners, and to me that means that I trust them to come get plays when they see something blatant or a guideline play that I miss that will uphold our consistency of guideline rules and consistency within the game itself. I don't fully believe that concept to mean "trust me to call in my area". I dont know who it was talking about the walk right in front of you at lead, but you said you were going to blow it as well he was just quicker. So be it. It sounds like you both saw the same thing. overall the crew got the play right. Almost all the guys that I work with at the levels I work, know that I for one throw my ego out the door when I come to work. If you blow in my area just be sure. If i think he got the play wrong in my area then I will ask him what he saw, and then that I don't think that he got the play right, but that its ok, cause i rarely like to leave the conversation on a sour note. That has the possibility of ruining crew dynamics.

Probably everybody agrees with that, but that's not what we're talking about in the original situation. You shouldn't be calling your partner's area just because he has a slightly slower whistle. That's dumb. Why have 2 people out there, then? Just let the one guy have the whole floor.

This how I would approach it. I had it happen to me, I was fairly new, but I knew my coverage. I asked him nicely," PArtner did I miss something that you are calling in my area?" Please trust me! Let me call my area. He did the rest of the two games we had..

Well I was referring to 3-man as that is all I work. You're right though someone shouldn't blow because of a quicker whistle.

When folks start calling the entire floor I have seen guys let them have the entire floor until they get the point!
I like the board marking and I like the "trust" thing subtle is better and causes less crew problems.

If your partners are watching in your area of responsibility to come get those plays, then who's covering their area? Wait, I get it. That must be you.

Heckuva system you're using......:)

Every good official knows how to use their peripheal's (sp?). They also know when to take a peek or a look at the oncoming play. They don't want to be suprised. but I am talking more along the lines of a play coming from T to L's area, or calling across the lane at L or a play that is outside the arc but a little bit closer to the L than the T, or the C calling across the lane on a post play that has curled. These are all instances of plays being in the others primary, but depending on the angle, the others have just as good of a look and if not better to referee the developing play.

IMO, there are many things wrong with your post. You end by saying you don't want to ruin crew dynamics, but you have no problem with someone blowing in your area. Research has been done and blowing out of your area lowers your chance of getting a play right. Doesn't that ruin your crew dynamics? A lot can be said about getting calls right, but it seems to be simple to me. If the two or three of us are doing what we are paid to do, we do not often have to blow in each other's area. If we aren't, then we have to constantly do whatever to get plays right. Why do we have primaries and manuals if people just look all over the court during the game? Ironically, all this normally happens where the ball is. Why don't people blow in others' area off-ball? There is a name for that, it is called ball watching. Do I think this is a rigid philosophy? No, during gametime and yes during pregame, training, etc.

This is not what the OP was talking about. Picture this. You're lead, shot goes up on the baseline right in front of you. Trail is where he should be, but he calls the foul on the shot. He has no business looking there; sometimes we do. I think ballwatching is something that has to be trained out of us. But the first step in training it out of yourself is to stop blowing the whistle on that play unless it's just too blatant to miss. Even then, be prepared to explain why you were looking there when there's screeners and rebounders on your side of the lane pushing each other around.

I would ask my partner, "What did you see on the play........?" Then I would say, well since this was in my area, I had a great look at the play and I did not see it that way. Maybe then they will get the hint. If that does not work do as Mick says a lot. "Get in, get done and get out."

Peace

I completely agree (Should I have mentioned how many times I agree or disagree with your posts over several years? :D)

Peace

:D <b> </b>

as Mick says a lot. "Expecting another foot or 2 of snow over the weekend."


Man, I would rather have that than what we're having...rain, rain, rain. Friday night's football game - the lockerroom we used had a weather station right outside. I emptied the rain guage when we got there at 5:30 (hope I didn't ruin any projects)...when we left at 9:45, it read 1.2 inches. And it's been raining ever since...pouring rain all day today. Flood warnings all around...I'd rather have snow.

OK - back to the original post...err, what was the question again?

Officiating a football game in the snow is fun. Officiating a football game in a heavy rain isn't.

Worse - I was coaching! Kid runs a sweep toward our sideline, our middle backer chases him down and crushes him next to our sideline...the ensuing wave of water hit the linejudge right square in the face. Would have been funny if it wasn't 45 degrees at the time...handed him a towel and told him to duck next time.

Looks good on the LJ.

In those heavy-rain games, the middle of the field always turns into a mudhole. Those snussy's that work as the HL or FJ just hate like hell to git in there and get dirty. Part of the WhiteHat and the Umpire's job is to lure 'em into the center of the field so we can kick mud all over their clean, white knickers.

I had a partner do this to me as a JV ref.

He would call fouls from the division line as trail, in front of me on the baseline as lead. At half time I asked him politely to stop calling in front of me. He stated, "I call what I see no matter where it is on the court". I again politely asked him to stop, but he pulled the, I'm the veteran on me. So I told him calmly but firmly that if he called another one in front of me that I would make him look bad because he's making me look like I can't call the game.

2 minutes into the third I'm lead, literally 2 feet from the play. A1 has the ball driving on the baseline to the hole. A2 handchecks B1 into A1 which goes out of bounds. I hear from half court his whistle going off. He calls the foul on B1. B's coach yells at me that's my call why didn't call it. I yelled back from the base line, because A2 caused the foul and should have been called for it instead.

Needless to say the coach and my partner had a discussion after that.

In the locker room my partner asked me why I did that, I told him, "I asked you nicely twice to not call in my area, and you rudely pushed my request aside".

He picked up his bag and walked out without another word.

You shouldn't have done that! It is something I would do, but you shouldn't have done it. :D

It is bad, but I would have liked to be there during that game.

I've been known to go get one right in front of him/her...equally bad, equally wrong, against the other team he/she didn't rob with a call out of his/her area...make eye contact after the whistle to make sure they are aware that I intended it.

Of course this type of tactic is best used in rec ball, when pre-game never occurs.

Now for those that think seeing something means it's okay to call it, even outside your primary, well if it isn't something non-basketball...that means a cheap shot...leave it alone.

The backside in the lane, the gray areas where primaries meet need to be pre-gamed and are the only areas where a "reach" can occur.