Too Many "T's"?

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by kblehman

Wow, I must be an anomoly.
Been working for 25 months, 295 games, no T's.

You've either got the greatest number of coaches and players in the history of the game who actually believe in true sportsmanship gathered together in one small geographic area......or you're deaf.

Btw, I thought that I read a while ago that you were a rookie with about 60 games under his belt.

[kblehman]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

You've either got the greatest number of coaches and players in the history of the game who actually believe in true sportsmanship gathered together in one small geographic area......or you're deaf.

Well, I will say that I've been real close a number of times, and had a few of those close calls come this year, my streak would've been broken. I think in my first year I let the coaches complain more because when they did it made me wonder if I got the call wrong (which wreaks havoc on your concentration if you're not careful). Let's face it, it's a confidence issue for us when we're rookies, right?

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Btw, I thought that I read a while ago that you were a rookie with about 60 games under his belt.

FWIW, the 295 games includes a lot of kids' tournaments, especially when I was first starting, because I wanted to learn and get comfortable with mechanics & positioning, etc before working school games. I still do a lot of AAU tournaments, etc of all ages--up to HS--as well as some HS leagues. At any rate, my count for official school games is about 100 or so, from MS level up to JV. (Haven't done varsity yet--getting home at 11pm for the extra $5 isn't worth it to me, and I have no ego involved.)

One more bit of clarification: Although I'm a 2-yr rookie I was 48 when I started. Also, I have a fairly calm but firm demeanor, so I may not act as much like a rookie as other younger rookies do. At least, I hope not, since I'm 50 now and I think I do a fairly good and consistent job for both teams. And yes, I've been pretty lucky with coaches; the few situations I've had with coaches I've been able to diffuse. And no player situations at all yet.

All that being said, my fuse has gotten just a bit shorter this year--it's grown shorter in proportion to my gain in confidence as an official. Plus, I've learned some tricks from you guys (the stop sign, not discussing every call) that have helped as well. I just wish our local association had the same sort of mentoring mentality as I've found in here.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by kblehman

I have a fairly calm but firm demeanor, so I may not act as much like a rookie as other younger rookies do. At least, I hope not, since I'm 50 now and I think I do a fairly good and consistent job for both teams. And yes, I've been pretty lucky with coaches; the few situations I've had with coaches I've been able to diffuse. And no player situations at all yet.

If it's working for you and the game is kept under control, no need to change. It doesn't matter how you get there....just that you do get there.

Having said that, you will be in a situation somewhere down the road where you will have to nail somebody. That's true for all of us. Don't ever think that it's some kind of failure on your part when you do have to "T" somebody up. You're simply reacting to what you run into. It's just another call.

Jmo.....

[kblehman]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

If it's working for you and the game is kept under control, no need to change. It doesn't matter how you get there....just that you do get there.

Thank you, I appreciate that.

RE: Control. I've had 2-3 games this year that started getting really chippy in the 2nd quarter, so during halftime I suggested to my partner that we stay on top of it. Before the 3rd started I went to each coach and told them we didn't want an injury or a confrontation so we were going to tighten it up to keep the game under control. They understood, thanked me for letting them know, and then relayed the info to their players. We then backed it up with our whistles and each of the games, though very close, were uneventful. I have no idea if that's one of those "book" things, but that type of communication has worked for me so far.

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Having said that, you will be in a situation somewhere down the road where you will have to nail somebody. That's true for all of us. Don't ever think that it's some kind of failure on your part when you do have to "T" somebody up. You're simply reacting to what you run into. It's just another call. Jmo.....

Thank you; I understand that now a lot better than I did just 3 months ago.

Back in December I had a coach and asst coach constantly chirping and questioning each call. I ignored it then, but if it happened today I'd give them their warning. I did that last week to the coach of a FR girls team who was complaining loudly because they were losing and were on the short end of a 10-3 foul count. During an OB I walked over and told the coach the reason it was 10-3 was because his team was chasing and playing D with their hands instead of their feet. He agreed, but kept complaining. I then told him he'd had his say and needed to quiet down and coach his team. Not only did he not give us any more grief, but his team started playing hard and won the game.