Cooling off
 

Sorry about this post but I need to vent. I am 25 yrs old, have been officiating for 7 yrs. I now do only varsity boys and girls, some small college and I will help out with junior high when needed. I have been doing everything in my power to get better as an official, camps, taping games, ect. Last year I got my first playoff game. This year I got another along with a letter from the state saying I am able to work state playoff games (not just district) I was pumped, it doesn't mean I will get one but still I was excited. Soon guys found out, most were excited and happy for me. However, one official who I thought to be a decent friend has been bad mouthing me about this deal, He is ticked because he has reffed longer, and I am young. He has talked to other people in our chapter (who told me) and even the playoff assignor. I truely feel that I have earned this honor but I am really getting upset about all this BS going on.
My question is should I just have the who cares attitude or should I confront him about this.

I believe in making people accountable for the things they say. Ask him as a friend, be pleasant and not confrontational. Then if he owns up Blast the crap outta him....LOL j/k about the last part.

Congrats on your success.

My opinion - If this were me and it was someone I considered a friend, I would approach them privately, tell them what I heard, and ask if it is true. I would then have an appropriate conversation with them - depending on their response - about how I felt about it and our "friendship."

If this was someone I did not consider a friend - just a fellow official. I wouldn't bother with it at all.

I have been blessed to get some great advice as I started officiatng. Much of it is just general life type of stuff too. Top of the list was "Don't speak badly about other officials!" This is something I try to incorporate in my life in and out of reffing. I don't want to gossip about others...I don't want to listen to gossip about others...I don't want people to gossip about me. But I can only control what I talk about and what I listen to. There will always be people who put you down. Hopefully you're part of a chapter with some great people who lift you up as well.

Continued success in the post season.

Let it go. The people who count--i.e. your fellow officials and the playoff assignor-- knows what's going on. Don't sink to your ex-friend's level. You're there because you deserve to be there. Handle it with the class that your ex-friend lacks.

Congratulations. Hopefully, you will get a chance at the state level to validate your selection.

]

Very well said, it is his problem not yours.

I do not understand why people get so frustrated about working HS playoff games. The majority of the ball simply is not that good for the amount of bull you have to go thru to get a chance to do it. You are lucky, you are among the chosen few. However, you are too young to understand the problem. In all businesses, not just this one, there are people that will feel like this when you move up, especially when they think they are just as deserving. I'm going to give you some excellent advice for your young career. Do not look back, nothing can be of benefit to you by going in that direction. Keep your eyes and career moving forward in the positive direction that you are now going. You have just as much work to do now, then you had to get here. Don't screw it up by focusing on the wrong thing. Hell no, do you say anything to him about it.

Now, to the problem. More often than not, selection to HS playoffs is more political then it is how good you are. If you think you got there on your merits, you are fooling yourself. You're 25 years old and you're working state playoffs over someone who has been wanting to do it for 15 years or longer. That's BS in my opinion. That's age discrimination. Of course you are younger, faster, more energetic, bah, bah, bah. However, as good as you think you are, you do not have the experience of a 15 year veteran. This is a dog eat dog business. Enjoy it, you are truly lucky and you don't even know it.

OS, how can you make this statement? It is absurd. You know nothing about his state or association or his abilities. You throw generalizations around like they are fact. I call "BULL". You sound like one of those bitter old officials that think they are owed a state assignment just for showing up.

PIAA, be proud of what you have accomplished. Keep working hard. I have been officiating about the same amount of time as you have and I have begun to get state assignments too. I have found there are always naysayers and fossils in any association that think they are owed a prime schedule just because they have managed to hang around a long time. These are the same guys that complain about having to go to camps "because they have seen it all". Forget them and keep working hard and do what you are doing. You have one advantage over me...youth. Use it to your advantage and leave those other small minds behind. Your success has nothing to do with age. It's all about your attitude and desire to excel at what you do.

Congrats and best of luck!

I would not go out of my way to say something to him...chances are, his attitude and mouth have joined his officiating abilities and most people recognize that.
That said however, I would have a hard time not saying something if a private opportunity ever offered itself...that you've heard from others what he has said and it bother you. You considered him a friend and the comments don't reflect well on him or your perceived friendship.
--just two cents and good luck.

Congrats!. I got my first playoff game this year and have heard through the grapevine some negative comments. Big deal. If what I hear is correct, the comments came from people bemoaning the fact that they did not get a playoff assignment. The people complaining have bigger egos than I. I have been called a "rulebook" ref because of my knowledge of the rules (obtained mostly from this site). Actually, I view this as a compliment. To improve as a ref, not only are game management skills and basketball knowledge essential, but a solid foundation in the rules is also necessary. The first two come with experience, the latter with effort.

It is also my opinion that these negative comments/feelings from the others will last only a year or two. Once you are established as a "playoff" ref, they have nothing to gripe about. The ones that complain will be known and labeled as complainers - your fellow refs know that, the assignors know that. Let it go.

Success by one person is seen as a threat to another. There will always be someone not happy with someone else's success. Are there people who have earned it and deserved it? YES. Are there those who don't? YES. Success is what you have defined it.

There is politics in everything. But don't prostitute yourself. Playing the political game and be cordial is apart of life. Love your enemies and do good to them, it will put heaping coals on their head. Be cordial. So respect. But don't lower yourself to his level or prostitute yourself to get ahead. Selling yourself out and your integrity to get ahead is prostiution.

Count your blessings that you do have. It apears you have been blessed. Let him own his problems. For they are his.

Just because you have been doing a job for 15 years doesn't meen that you are better than the guy who has only been working for 7 years.

Ignore it. Not worth it. Good friends would be happy for you. Those who whine about it are just insecure about their own abilities. I received some playoffs early in my career and there was a little of that. In a few years, that jealousy will be gone and it will seem funny looking back.

More often than not, I see many officials with 15+ years of "experience" who are simply not good officials.

15 years of doing what? That doesn't equate with being a good official.
Now if there is 15 years of being a good official that's different, but that is simply not always the case.

I know many veteran officials that I haved worked with who have the years, but are not qualified (or rather should not be qualified) for playoffs.

But here it is state tournament time and I run into them every year ...

Thanks
David

Just because you want to work states means you get to and then at the same time bi&ch at those who get the games?? I want to work states to, never have, maybe never will, but I will not only support my fellow referees in my association who get the games, I'll go watch them. And my fellow younger officials...good for them. I hope they go as far as possible!

I'm just wondering if you ever have anything good to say at all. Or are you just plainly an a$$hole?? I'm 23 and just got assigned a district semi-final, despite you thinking I don't even deserve a first round game from a different thread...go ahead and blast me too....I'll go work my a$$ off tomorrow night and out-referee you in my sleep.

It's the guys like you, the guys who have worked 15 years and thus think that they deserve the playoff games over the ones who get it on merit that screw up the same games. And, an FYI, in my district, every playoff game is evaluated by an observer, reviewed by the district, and then the assignments go out the night before the next round starts. No one knows who, what, or when they are working unless they get a phone call from the district the night before.

So, again I ask, do you ever have anything good to say?

Never. He has never posted one thing of value, as far as I have seen. His account should've been pulled months ago.

Have your attorney send this clown a "lawyer's letter" telling him that if his comments cost you the opportunity to earn money, you will sue him for slander and ask for treble damages in court.

If you think that's too intense, then just ambush the guy one night and stuff him in a wood chipper. :cool:

It is not just Old School there are a lot of officials out there like him. A friend of mine just got selected to work the NCAA Women's Div III Final Four this season and an "older" official told me that she is good enough to work but she hasn't paid her dues yet. There are a lot of guys that have been working for 15-18 years that deserve a shot. If that was the case then the supervisor would have nominated the older official instead of her, he was right with his first comments, "she is good enough to work it."

No, not at all. I am not beating myself up trying to get a HS playoff assignment. I know what I can do and I let my ability speak for itself. I have not been trying to get a HS playoff assignment for 15 years, so I am not in that boat. However, I do think I played both sides of the track here. I complimented the OP on his success. Go back and reread my post. I know that you only focused on the negative remarks I made, but there was some congrats and advice.

Getting to the 2nd part of the story. I am in the camp that believes there are a lot of qualified officials that can work both DI and state playoffs where the same DI official shouldn't have to work 7 to 28 days in a row. With state HS assignments, I have been told that there are way more officials applying then there are assignments. This causes the selection process to come under scrutiny and knowing this country's poor track record of discrimination in hiring, especially in sports, an eyebrow raises when someone who's being doing it for such a short period of time is chosen over a person who's been doing it much longer. I wanted to try and paint the picture to the OP how the other person may feel. But please don't give me the BS that this cat earned his way. He probably earned 20% of his way. It's all about who you know in this business and you have to put as much effort into the politics as you have to do your game. That be the way it is.

Rec ref alert!

I do rec leagues, because I don't want to play the politics of that other ball, it's beneath me.

Yeah, right!

Let's think logically about this for a second...I know that is tough for you...but the assigner has to live with the official he/she picks, no?

So this assigner is going to throw a completely unqualified official out there in a high profile game/level knowing that when they screw it up, the assigner will be the one taking the heat...and phone calls...for choosing that official? Don't think so.

It's typical...it's called sour grapes.

Last year my partner and I were fortunate enough to work a state semi-final, on that same day friends of ours worked semis also. One worked a semi at a higher level this year. My partner and I worked a final. My other friend didn't work anything past the first round.

He was upset, said some things about how we obviously kissed the right butts and played the "game" better than he did. The funny thing is, that he was the one calling the assigner about his schedule, begging to do the high profile holiday tournament, while we did neither. We worked the big holiday tournament again, because we were asked to based on how we performed in it last year and in our state semis. We in turn worked our semi and final this year based on how we performed last year and this year in the big holiday tournament. In other words WE EARNED IT.

So keep in mind, the cream will rise to the top. Sour cream usually sinks.;)

Thanks guys
 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the support...

To Old School, first of all I am not a cat. I am a 25 yr old white male. I also feel that even though I will agree politics play a small part is playoff assignment your judgement that I only earned the assignment 20% is way off base. Like someone else stated you do not know my state and/or how things are done here. I don't know why you even come on this sight. You have nothing to offer us true officials. Yes you may be an official but you will never be a true official. Your negative comments have proved that. You try to stir the pot but it doesn't work on here. Most of us have been posting on here for years and we know not to listen to you. You really need to evaluate yourself if you are an official because a true official would not post like you. There are many other officials on here that I may not agree with but I respect them to no end. You have lost the respect of every person on this board. Do us a favor and never post again.

I agree to let it go. I have just finished my 5th year. I got a playoff game last year and also one this year. Our commissioner has allowed almost every JV official to work a V game with 2 veterans.He believes in promoting officials and giving them chances. It is at least 5-10 officials with less then 5 years in our assossiation that is doing D3. We had an invite to go to a D1 camp in Florida last year by our commissioner in which 5 of us went. I know there is a lot of talk from the veteran officials. I was with 2 veterans on a Big game in Jan. We did the pre-game, everything was going great. We were standing beside the court just about ready to go on the court,the older ref turns to me, gets in my face and said "I dont think you should be on this game." Turns and walks on the court. Needless to say I was shocked. I got on the floor worked my butt off, I had no problems. I agree the cream will rise to the top.When the coaches see the new young officials more and more they will get more comfortable. I will admitt I get more heat from the coaches and the fans than the vets do.I had a vet tell me , no matter where I go, middle school, JV, V, boys ,girls or AAU to work as if my commississioner is in the stands watching me and believe me, it has paid off

First, congratulations on your district semi-final. Good luck in the future too, bearing in mind that hard work combined with ability and experience hopefully should make "luck" irrelevant.

Second, there's no use getting upset at RecLeague Ronnie. He's never officiated at the high school level in his life. He simply knows not what he speaks.

You could know God and it still wouldn't get you a regular season high school game, let alone a playoff game. You actually have to work at a certain level before being considered for playoffs at that level.

Good vent and congratulations - come playoff time the assignors no doubt want the third team to be as good/better than the other two, so you have no doubt earned your reward.

My adivce is to weigh the emotional cost of whatever you decide to do. If you are able to walk away, treating it as a "who cares" situation and the memory does not continue to gnaw at you, then do that. However you handle this, remember that no vocation or avocation is worth the price of emotional baggage... it will take a toll, so find a way to let it go, whether you confront or let it slide.

This is a direct personal attack without provokation. It ought to be struck from the record.

This is laughable.

Sure there are officials in every state complaining about how the playoffs get assigned...they are the ones who aren't working. Big freaking shocker there. I think you should inform CNN, that's a huge news story.:rolleyes:

Here's the real scoop.

The ones talking, saying others shouldn't be there, are the same ones who:

Never go to camps.

Don't follow the policies of rule meetings, scrimmages, mentoring, etc.

Are usually out of shape.

Think that their "experience" means that they know what they need so a rule book doesn't really need to be read.

Think the "young guys" who keep up and are in position in the boys games don't deserve it, while they get beat back all the time in the girls game.

Say it's all who you know...well, they must be pretty dumb if they've been around 15 years and don't meet the right people, when someone who's been around a few years seems to always find them.

JR,

Thank you. I'll let you know how it goes!

Only
 

To my knowledge I am the only ref that is under 30 that is able to ref at the state level. There are a few others that are in their early 30's. I may be not thinking about one or 2 but I believe I might be the only one.

congrats. that is a major accomplishment.

Show him the code of ethics that is written in the NFHS book and explain to him what you have done to make yourself better and see if he has put in as much work as you have to improve.

I rest my case. However, I still will congratulate you (hopefully this time you Will hear it) because this is still an accomplish. Just remember, in order for you to step forward, someone was held back. I know you probably don't care about that but in the industry you seek to move up in. There are many disappointed officials and not all of them fall into the category of not good enough.

I support the strategy that assigners, just like our presidents, should have term limits.

@OS

Not necessarily true. By working hard, PIAA REF took the initiative to get better and he stepped forward. Maybe, just maybe, those that got left behind didn't do anything to step forward.

Os
 

Old School I won't hear anything coming from you. You are like a said not a real ref, No one likes you on here so why don't you do us all a favor and stop visiting this sight.

I'll tell you what young man, you keep talking and thinking like that, and your stay at state playoff's will be short lived.

Hahaha, This just about made me Pee my Pants......

Like you can do anything about it, take care of getting your own back yard in order first OS.

PIAA Ref, you'd better apologize, or you'll never get a rec league game again.

I'm not a ref but I like to think I'm a fairly astute observer; I've gone to many 100s of games over the years, at all levels, in the capacity of coach, parent of players, friend of refs, school rep., photographer, etc. I know I'm stating the obvious, but sometimes I can't help but throw in my 2 cents: I've seen plenty of young refs that are fortunate to have a mix of common sense, proper philosophy, rules knowledge and toughness. They're not born that way, but for some reason the learning curve is not so steep for them. I've seen several of them move up rapidly, and deservedly so. For others, the curve seems much steeper,their rise to better assignments is proportioanlly slower, but many also "get there". Others are stuck, regardless of age and for a variety of reasons, right where they are. Admittedly, there are politics and favoritism in every job on this planet, but I'm telling you that I've been pretty successful at predicting the advancement, or lack of advancement, of many officials based solely of my observation of their on-court performance...I don't know jack about their "connections" (and don't care to). Bottom line (pardon the lame metaphor): cream rises to the top.

D3 Women's
 

I am wondering if you know the process behind being selected for the NCAA Women's Div III Final Four?
I think it goes both ways regarding who gets certain assignments. I've seen inexperienced officials get post-season assignments over more experienced officials before they were ready and completely tank and hurt their careers for a while. I've also seen them do quite well and back up the assignor's decision.
I've also seen tons of assignments go to very veteran officials who might not be as skilled as their younger counterparts because assignors are reluctant to give them a chance. Both situations have frustrated me at times. As you move up and do higher levels, you represent both scenarios depending on the level. You could be the experienced HS official who gets looked over for the young hotshot and at the same time be the young hotshot at the college level.
I just try to work as hard as I can in every game so that if someone with power is watching they will always see my best...... Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
Sometimes it's extremely difficult to do (preaching to the choir here), but I try to remind myself when things don't work out: Control what I can control, and if I'm not, then get better at it.

Hahaha, maybe you have a bladder problem if that made you just about wee-wee your pants. No, I can't do anything about it but I can offer him some real advice. You know, if he's working games at that level, his head is swollen and if he goes and cocks off to the wrong person, that could be his demise.

"The majority of the ball simply is not that good..." Games rarely live up to their hype; that doesn't reflect the officials' selection process though.

"More often than not, selection to HS playoffs is more political [than] it is how good you are." I presume you have the statistics to support this statement? I didn't think so.
"He probably earned 20% of his way." Do I even need to ask if you can corroborate this statement with statistics, or even clarify the criteria you have used to develop this estimate?

"...knowing this country's poor track record of discrimination in hiring, especially in sports, an eyebrow raises when someone who's being doing it for such a short period of time is chosen over a person who's been doing it much longer." America's poor track record of discrimination reflects those in positions of influence sharing their power with their own ilk, not throwing favours to impertinent young hucksters. However, eyebrows are often raised when a young person advances -- those who feel entitled by birth, ethnicity, age, or whatever, raise their eyebrows and wonder why some young schmuck has gone and made himself qualified for the position they have coveted in all the wrong ways.

"...in order for you to step forward, someone was held back..." Ah, more sour grapes. Apparently, individual progress is only possible if someone else is unfairly punished. Being rewarded for one's hard work and overall improvement must be foreign to you. This doesn't mean others are held back; it means they still have room to improve.

"I'll tell you what young man, you keep talking and thinking like that, and your stay at state playoff's will be short lived." Beautiful! Your argument falls apart under scrutiny and you resort to baseless and empty threats. Ooooh!:eek:

"You know, if he's working games at that level, his head is swollen and if he goes and cocks off to the wrong person, that could be his demise." After your threats fail, you accuse him of youthful hubris and disrespect. Clearly, anyone so young and accomplished is a ticking time bomb who should not be trusted, despite his previous behaviours.

Old School -- you strike me as petty, vengeful, bitter, ill-informed, poorly vitriolic, and sad...really sad.

If anyone thinks seriously that anyone is hired only on the basis of merit that would be a very uninformed and unrealistic point of view. People in all aspects of life are picked or hired to do things because of outside factors. Sometimes it is who you know and sometimes it is what you know. We could apply this to just about any profession in this country and you will see someone get a job someone could question the merits of that decision. Merit after all is subjective.

I also think people use "politics" as an excuse for why they do not get opportunities too much as well. Are some people held back because who they are? Of course. Some of what holds people back are their own doing. Like not attending the right camps or meetings as other successful officials do. Being unprofessional and throwing fellow officials under the bus. Always complaining about what you did not get. There are so many things I see officials do and say that put them out of the loop.

Quick story. I was supposed to work a varsity game and I was in the locker room during the prelim with two officials talking. One of the officials was an official that moved from another area and had worked in the post-season in our state. Well he was running his mouth in the locker room about a bunch of assignor that he claimed would not hire him and how they were terrible and a bunch of jerks and horrible officials. Well his partner happened to be related to a very prominent official. I was standing in the room and not once did he ask me who I was or why I was there. He went on and on for several minutes as if no one was in the locker room. Well after the prelim game the partner made a comment to me about what this guy was saying. A few weeks later I run into the relative of this official that was just listening to this rant at a college game. The first thing this relative official said to me was about this incident several weeks before. The word had gotten around. It was also clear that many officials over the area either knew about this incident or know something about how this guy’s behavior is displayed on a more regular basis. The irony for the last two years he was paired up with the assignor of the conference of the prelim game I witnessed this little rant. The first year both this official and the assignor had words. The next year they apparently got over the incident and acted professionally. But this one moment in time hurt this official with many in the area and he likely did not work a lot of conferences as a result. So when I hear people complain about how politics held them back, I wonder if there are many similar incidents out there that have held guys back.

You might be the best official in the world, but your behavior on and off the court can hurt you big time.

Peace

JR, you make a very good point, that people tend to work with people they like, especially since your experience has not been posted on this forum as 80% of the criteria for advancement or with the hypothesis that it applies more than it does not in every case.

It does not suprise me OS would say this, he is they guy who claims anyone can work D1 games.

That's because it was a backhanded congratulations. "Nice job, but...."

Oh, this is too much fun...

"And some of these people are simply bad officials. Some are getting too old." I guess the inherent hypocrisy shouldn't surprise me. Too many aged officials assigned and too many youngsters replacing them.

"I do hear a lot of officials complaining, maybe it's because there are just way more who don't get selected than there are people who do." You're serious, right? Being selective about who officiates the most important (not necessarily the most entertaining) games is a bad thing to do? Your logic escapes me, aside from the suggestion that selecting more officials would make more people happy.

"One more thing, their voices are all saying the same thing. That's where you're going to run into problems. If they where to all get together and file a class action lawsuit against the state HS school organizations selection process." Yes, they're all saying they got screwed and doing very little about it. A class action lawsuit may indeed lead to change, but it may also verify the selection process. This lawsuit would, however, produce a lot of testimony. All of it, I'm sure, from officials who feel they were screwed and none from officials who learned from being "snubbed" and worked hard to improve their game.


"The funny little thing about our government, they don't like to see companies come up with criteria for hiring that only a young man can pass, or that unfairly punishes one group (older Americans) over another." Oh, that's rich. I suspect there are a few people in America who would disagree with you. However, this is not a government policy discussion, nor should it become political. Fabulous non-sequitor by the way.

"Only the most qualified guy be the president. Our president would never change, and some committee would be in control of who gets to run this country, and every year, it would be the same guy over and over and over." Playoff officials are responsible for playoff games (many games, many officials) in their part of the world. Their decisions do not have global ramifications and they do not need term limits to prevent them from becoming dictators for life. Do you discuss anything but non-sequitors and moot points?

Okay, you don't waste your time on HS playoffs, yet you insist on comparing the officiating of said games to the office of the president or corporate hiring practices. To badly paraphrase Hamlet-- the hypocrite doth protest too much, methinks.

That's because this young man coming out here gloating about his success is a backhanded slap in the face to the many officials who have been doing this much much longer.

I totally agree with this, except... Why is it always the same people every year? It's like once you get to the big dance, and you do a good job (which really has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the players) you now have big dance experienced. Here's where I think the problem starts and your logic needs adjustment. Once you work the big game, you now have big game experienced and this automatically makes you more qualified to work the big game next year and the year after, and the year after that. You want to talk methodical or paraphrase Hamlet. Have you ever heard of the self-fulfilling philosophy?

How do you know that? The assumption here, which I don't think is right or fair, is that all the people who didn't get selected, are undeserving. I don't think that the selection process will verify as good as you think it will if you really start to dig into it.

To bring this discussion full circle for me. I'm going to give you 2 examples and hopefully this will rest my case.
#1.) The tape don't lie. I've been to the camps and I know 3-person mechanics and I'm sitting here watching the start of a playoff game and the U1 is standing in front of the table on the jump ball. His position is like it's a 2-person game. You know this guy doesn't know 3-person.
#2.) Things that I have heard from some pregame discussions. NCAA official says, has there been any changes to HS rules this year? I haven't work any HS games at all this year. Now, how does a college official who hasn't work any HS games this year, get a HS playoff assignment?

Now, you throw in a young guy in his twenties and you expect me to believe that there is no problems in the selection process! You expect me to believe that all is well and this guy earned his way in! You also want me to believe that this is not political. Maybe it doesn't rise to any global ramifications like what we are facing in our society today, but it is certainly political. If you want to argue that it's not, then maybe we need to make it political in order to get a satisfactorily resolution. I have told you that this is not that big of deal for me but you must understand that there are a lot of officials out here, over time, that has witness this type of hypocrisy. Their attitudes maybe permanently soured from all the negative things they have seen happen.

I have the solution though I doubt if anybody going to listen to me. Complete overhaul of the selection committee and term limits.
Agreed...

Then don't bother with the backhanded compliment. You're making assumptions and imputing motives where you have no right to do so. He wasn't gloating so much as venting. If someone mentioning that they had a playoff game offends you....
It might help if you actually read the quotes you're using in your posts. He didn't say "all" such people are undeserving.
This tells me you live in a state that is just recently going to three person mechanics. And again, you're making an assumption that isn't warranted. Just because a guy goes to the wrong position once doesn't mean he doesn't know 3 person mechanics. At most, it shows he has recently worked a significant amount of 2-person and momentarily lost track of the opening mechanic.Are you saying you were involved with the pregame discussion for a playoff game? I don't know of a single state where an official who hasn't worked a single HS game can get a playoff game. In both states I've worked in, it's not possible. In every other state I've heard about with regard to this, it's not possible. I'm calling you out on this. In what state can an official get a playoff game without having done a single HS varsity game all season?
I'm confused about your problem. Are you upset that the old guys keep getting playoff assignments? Are you upset that young guys keep getting playoff assignments? Or are you upset that you haven't got a playoff assignment?
That's right. Call your congressman. :rolleyes:

Snaq took care of most of the logical inconsistencies, but...

"Now, you throw in a young guy in his twenties and you expect me to believe that there is no problems in the selection process!" What does this comment have to do with the college officials you spuriously use as examples? You are truly the king of non-sequitors!

"You expect me to believe that all is well and this guy earned his way in! You also want me to believe that this is not political." No, I want you to make a coherent argument, preferably one that incorporates logic and relevant examples.

"I have the solution though I doubt if anybody going to listen to me. Complete overhaul of the selection committee and term limits." The reason nobody here is listening to your solution is because you haven't provided a reasonable description of the problem -- innuendo, non-sequitors, sweeping generalizations, and biased half-truths do not convince the audience (except in politics). Furthermore, I was not aware that there was one selection committee for all HS playoffs in the USA. It should be easy to fix the problems if there's only one committee. If there are, as I suspect, at least 50 committees, then wholesale, national change will be difficult, though still none of my business.

This is not about what any one person said. I think the general consensus is that the people who didn't get selected are undeserving.

A quick off the cuff question for you Snagwells. Would you toss the ball on a jump to start a playoff game if your U1 was out of position? Gotcha!!! U1 wasn't the only one that didn't' know where he was supposed to be. You can't have it both ways man. You can't say you have to attend camps and then put somebody out there that's never been to a camp. This is where bad attitudes are born.

All I'm going to say on this is it happens.

I'm not upset about any playoff assignments but I did get a little irk when the young punk told me to not to post out here anymore after receiving a playoff assignment. A wise man once said; be very careful not to pi$$ off the man that doesn't care as you may not like his response.

Not exactly. I think the general consensus is the ones who do get selected are deserving. There's a difference.
A corrolary to that consensus is that, for the most part, the guys who whine the most are generally not as qualified. 17 years of experience doesn't, by itself, make an official qualified for a playoff assignment. I've seen plenty of times when a 3rd year ref is better than his 15th year partner.
I'd like to think I'd catch it; I've never had an U do that in a 3 man game. I've never seen it. Again, it doesn't mean they don't know 3 man mechanics. At least it doesn't mean that by itself. People make mistakes and sometimes get minor things confused. No, it just means U1 wasn't the only one who didn't catch his mistake. You're making assumptions and accusations you don't have enough information to make.Again with the unfounded accusations. You have no idea, based on the information you've presented here, that these guys hadn't been to a camp.
Not that you care, but I don't believe it and I don't think anyone else here does either.
That's not how it played out. You gave him a backhanded compliment, backed it up, and pissed the guy off. You're the one who provoked his response. His playoff assignment had nothing to do with telling you to take a hike. It was your abrasive response that did it.A bit of advice from someone you don't like; find a new wise man. This guy's ripping you off.

I totally agree with this statement. There is nothing to debate on the deserving as far as talent goes. The issue which I think you fail to realize or acknowledge is the ones that didn't get selected, that is the ones that where passed over. That is what I am talking about and the consensus amoung the officials that frequent this forum is that these people are the butt of officiating and I simply will not stand to hear that.

The tape don't lie!

We've have to wait and see on that one. The jury still out.

Show me one post where someone has said all officials who don't get assigned post season don't deserve it. One. It's not in this thread.
No, but it doesn't say whether the officials went to camp. You're making a leap of logic on this.
Which jury? On whether or not we believe that there are state playoff officials in any of our 50 states that did not work a single hs varsity game during the season in which they got the playoff assignment? I doubt that it's still out; tell me what state that was in and we can pretty quickly verify whether it's possible.