Jim Burr

[Rich]

Originally Posted by tomegun

Can you name those 9-10 assignors? Dale Kelly will only count once! I have heard he is a great guy and fun to be around. But that doesn't make a great official and I thought that is what we are talking about. I also know for a fact he makes his own schedule, literally.

I know you like his officiating style, but I have a question for you. Do you think Welmer is a great basketball official? If so, do you think part of being a great official includes avoiding or not recognizing tough calls and putting air in the whistle? Does being a great official, at any level, include doing what is right for the game regardless of who it pisses off? Can officiating be about doing right by the game AND an official's primary source of income without sacrificing one or the other?

But now that you force me to think about it a bit more, I've never been one to shy away from making an unpopular/difficult call and it's cost me a conference in the past 2 years. Before you cry for me, losing this conference was the best thing to happen to me as the closest school was about 80 miles away and I had to deal with crap every other game I worked in the conference.

My criteria on TV is different. I like seeing familiar faces. I can learn how to run a game from guys like this. I don't really care about how great they are technically. Although I'll never be able to do a jump ball like Welmer -- holding it up with one hand and essentially dropping it. Course I'm not 6'10", either

I'm not really a Welmer fanboy, although I enjoy watching him work. Don Rutledge? Now I was a fanboy of him, but mainly cause he said hi to me before a few Tennessee games when I went to school there. And cause he took absolutely no crap from anyone.