Volleyball anyone?

[jmaellis]

07/08 will be my third season officiating VB, my second officiating BB. I really like them both and can't really say which I would choose over the other if I had to drop one.

Obviously, there is no comparison with regard to the physical aspect of the games; BB you run, VB you don't.

Mentally, my personal experience is that VB has been more challenging than BB, more so as the referee than as the umpire. I've struggled with recognizing proper alignment/overlaps at serve and making sure that I know who is who in the back row during play.

I have a great deal of respect for those officials who can somehow memorize the entire line up and recognize an alignment error with just a glance. Some of the teams will line up is such a bizarre alignment that you would swear that they are overlapped, yet they are not; others will purposely assemble illegally and then just before serve they adjust to make their alignment legal .. sheesh!

Illegal back row attacks .... I've missed more of them than I care to mention.

And now in CA the Libero can serve .. for crying out loud!

[TimTaylor]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

OK - Juulie, that's starting to sound better. However, my feeling at this time is that I'll pass (pun intended). I asked Lee (my co-worker) to say hi to you at the meeting.

BTW - does the volleyball association have a "Howard equivalent"?

Along the lines of what Juulie said, I like to refer to volleyball as a kinder, gentler sport. We probably have more ejections in basketball in one week than volleyball has had in this state in the last 5 years.

While it is not as physically demanding as basketball (although spending 2+ hours on top of a 2'x2' stand can be pretty tiring), it is much more mentally demanding if you're doing the job right. The up official has to judge every contact of the ball for legality based on several criteria, keep track of the number of hits, front row/back row status of the players, height of the ball when contacted under certain circumstances, etc. In a game/match between reasonably good teams it can be a real challenge.

Yes we have a "Howard" equivalent - very sharp lady & is also the SRI for volleyball. I think we had almost 30 new folks show up last night. When I started 5 years ago we had a shortage of officials in this area, but from what the commish said that's no longer a problem - to the point where most of the new officials may only see MS matches their first year.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Actually, it is Forrest [Gump].

Just like you'd rather have two desserts and only ever visit one desert, you'd watch Forrest Gump twice, and only visit a forest once.

Edit: as for volleyball, have you seen the tall leggy women that play at the higher levels?

I wasn't aDDreSSing FoRRest Gump.

I was aDDreSSing Forest Refnrev.

BuTT thanks for your interest.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

I wasn't aDDreSSing FoRRest Gump.

I was aDDreSSing Forest Refnrev.

BuTT thanks for your interest.

k00l.

[bob jenkins]

SuBBOOKKEEper

[stmaryrams]

I am also a Basketball/Volleyball official and enjoy both sports. There is no question that basketball involves much more physical activity but I do enjoy the varsity volleyball games. Lower level volleyball is similar to lower level basketball in that the skill level does not allow for a well played game. I would have to agree with those who say that they are just printing money in those matches.

Last year my first game and last game were both varsity matches played to full houses. The joint was rocking and loud, the kids were playing lights out, the kills were brutal. Mixed bag in between those games of talent level throughout the year but still fun.

I did a 5th grade rec league game where both teams played above the usual level for a rec league. In the deciding game one of the coaches took out his best player as she had played in the first two games and he wanted to be fair. One of the best sportsmanship moves I saw last season. They eventually lost but his parents were fine as all the kids played. His goal was to prepare them for eventually playing in high school and he wanted to be sure that everyone still enjoyed the game. You never know if you're gonna cut the next Jordan.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by stmaryrams

In the deciding game one of the coaches took out his best player as she had played in the first two games and he wanted to be fair. One of the best sportsmanship moves I saw last season. They eventually lost but his parents were fine as all the kids played. His goal was to prepare them for eventually playing in high school and he wanted to be sure that everyone still enjoyed the game.

This coach deserves a medal.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by stmaryrams

I would have to agree with those who say that they are just printing money in those matches.

Thank you. That's all I was saying. Then Rev got his panties in a bunch.

It's a piece of cake, working those games but it bores me to death.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by TimTaylor

We probably have more ejections in basketball in one week than volleyball has had in this state in the last 5 years.

OK - that's the clincher. If there's no fun in it, I'm out.

[refnrev]

[QUOTE=BktBallRef]Thank you. That's all I was saying. Then Rev got his panties in a bunch.
___________________________

Actually, they were compression shorts! (which you would never wear when doing VB anyway.)

[Adam]

Originally Posted by refnrev

Actually, they were compression shorts! (which you would never wear when doing VB anyway.)

Who are you to judge? Some people may find them very comfortable. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Edit: as for volleyball, have you seen the tall leggy women that play at the higher levels?

....with the nice, tight shorts on.....

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Andy

....with the nice, tight shorts on.....

Are you sure that wasn't refnrev?

[refnrev]

I heard that tjones1 is thinking about adding beach volleyball to the sports he officiates. I think he has this thing for temporary gatorade tattoos? How about it TJ?

[tjones1]

Originally Posted by refnrev

I heard that tjones1 is thinking about adding beach volleyball to the sports he officiates. I think he has this thing for temporary gatorade tattoos? How about it TJ?

Hey, the rumor is true. We are still trying to work out my contract. Things are on the hush-hush right now. But, I can tell you they aren't going for the round trip and board, plus free Cold Stone Ice Cream. And yeah, the gatorade tattoos are just an added bonus!