Most Difficult Level to Officiate

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by M&M Guy

...As soon as I finish wiping up the spilled beer and chips...

Ohhh...that's where she left them.

Need salt?

No thanks, too much salt's no good for ya.

[blindzebra]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

Thin-skkinned?? Me?? Well, yea, sometimes, but not here. Sheez if my self-identity depended on what people like you think of me, I would be in trouble.

I don't understand why the philosophy of the mantra is that difficult for you to accept. Self-talk is a very valuable tool in making mental adjustments, whether temporary or permanent. I would have thought that would be just a basic psychological principle that wouldn't need much discussion. I agree that no one should adopt anything I say (or that anyone else here on the baord says) without thinking it through first. So if the OP thinks through the mantra thing, and decides it works for him, will it be okay for him to adopt it, even though you don't agree? rolleyes yourself, fella...

Guess you missed this part, huh?

Mantras to focus are good and all, but I disagree with the quick on the held ball.

So like I said, mantras are fine...well thought out mantras are better.

[rainmaker]

Originally Posted by blindzebra

Guess you missed this part, huh?

Mantras to focus are good and all, but I disagree with the quick on the held ball.

So like I said, mantras are fine...well thought out mantras are better.

Missed it? No, just feeling like baiting you a little. You rose to the bait pretty well. Although an insulting picture of some sort would have given me more to be huffy about.

I think the quick on the whistle thing is one of those interp/agree to disagree things that people go on and on for 10 pages about. But of course you and I are far too mature for that. And besides I don't know how to post really insulting gifs.

do know that in my experience, letting kids keep yanking on the held balls and not being quick on the whistle doesn't stop them. It just makes the coaches mad. SO I'm sticking to my quick on the whistle, but if a reader wants, he or she can certainly compare my 7000+ posts to your scant 2000, and my 7 zillion JH games to your D2 schedule, and decide which has more authority, for the games he or she is doing.

I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not to take offense at this post.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

Self-talk is a very valuable tool in making mental adjustments, whether temporary or permanent.

Geeze, I tried that and the next thing I knew.....

[Junker]

I like talking to myself on the court. I'm usually the only one out that that will agree with what I say.

[budjones05]

no questions ask...jh girls

[SMEngmann]

I think one thing that has been missing in the conversation is that the question was what level is harder to officiate, and not just what level is harder to call. These are two very different things and it takes far more skill, and it's much harder to officiate a higher level game than any lower level game. Largely, this is because the amount that's expected of you at a higher level game is much higher than a JV or junior high game. Game awareness, situational awareness, foul selection and the like all play higher roles in more high profile games, where they are often overlooked in lower level games. If you don't know a kid's fouled out in JH, it really is no big deal, same thing with not knowing the TO situation, etc, but in higher level games, not being aware of the impact of your calls and losing focus is a major problem. If you kick a call in a lower level game and call something that's not there, everyone looks past that mistake, in a higher level game, it can have real implications on the game. So in terms of calling the game, I agree that games when the ball isn't going in and with less skilled players are harder to call, but because of the other factors, the higher up the ladder, the harder the game is to officiate.

[blindzebra]

Originally Posted by SMEngmann

I think one thing that has been missing in the conversation is that the question was what level is harder to officiate, and not just what level is harder to call. These are two very different things and it takes far more skill, and it's much harder to officiate a higher level game than any lower level game. Largely, this is because the amount that's expected of you at a higher level game is much higher than a JV or junior high game. Game awareness, situational awareness, foul selection and the like all play higher roles in more high profile games, where they are often overlooked in lower level games. If you don't know a kid's fouled out in JH, it really is no big deal, same thing with not knowing the TO situation, etc, but in higher level games, not being aware of the impact of your calls and losing focus is a major problem. If you kick a call in a lower level game and call something that's not there, everyone looks past that mistake, in a higher level game, it can have real implications on the game. So in terms of calling the game, I agree that games when the ball isn't going in and with less skilled players are harder to call, but because of the other factors, the higher up the ladder, the harder the game is to officiate.

By the same token, your focus is automatically better while working that high profile game...the energy, tempo, pressure to do well all make maintaining focus easier. That's been my experience at least. If you are ready to work that level of game, the talent level and flow make it easier.

You can't say that about a lower level game...the play is ugly, there is more contact to weed through, the pace is slower and leads to distraction, there is rarely any flow to the game, getting a good look becomes harder because you can't anticipate the play when the teams can't run an offense.

I agree the pressure to get everything right isn't there, but the likelihood of something goofy happening during these lower level games is also very high, so I think it offsets.

[Bad Zebra]

Another vote for JH Girls. Tons of traveling, contact, insane parents, clueless coaching... I know I'm in for a long game when a team comes out wearing kneepads. I've only seen that at the Junior High level. It's like they've been trained to be human floor mops.