#3. Wearing a college shirt/jacket in a high school game.

#2. I worked with a fellow recently who put smokeless tobacco in his mouth during halftime of the first game. A school administrator told him it was a tobacco-free zone, and he did again later in the night!

But my biggest pet peeve:
#1. The guy who doesn't wear a lanyard, and then tells me and my partner all night why it makes him a better foul caller.

I am 6'2 and weigh 230#s. I need to drop a few pounds.

I occasionally ref with a partner that needs to drop a few more than that and because of it there is a lack of hustle and being out of position to make the call. It is not professional.

There isn't an official alive that can truthfully make that statement. We <b>all</b> get beat down the court at one time or another.

Is he from Virginia?

But some officials do their best to minimize it by:

-Breaking to the other end while the rebound is still in question
-Breaking to the other end when the ball is knocked loose by the defense
-Not working up properly on the press

etc., etc.

I see it in college games and high school games. By skinny and not-so-skinny officials.

I see a lot of officials work 1 step from the division line as the trail, never working deeper, never working onto the court, not even in 2-person, where it's required.

Yup, you're giving up good position on 95% of the plays to get good position on 5% of the plays. Not a wise trade-off imo either.

As a first year official.. Mine are in order.


1. Not rotating on fouls. When I go to rotate and they are waving me back it makes ME look like I dont know what I'm doing... I dont need thier help to look clueless.. I do that well enough on my own as is.

2. Lazy refs. When I'm trail.. and I beat you down the court on a fast break.. and there is no earthly reason that should happen... :mad: One time I just kept running and made myself lead cause this guy just walked down court.

3. When you know that this could be a good official, but they suffer from the two syndromes above.

4. Officials who YELL at coaches and fans. As their partner.. I feel like crawling in a hole.

5. Officials who are all of the above giving me advice cause I'm a first year official. :mad: I dont mind advice.. I welcome it, but when I'm dealing with all of the above and then they have the nerve to tell me what I'm doing wrong...

Just a point of clarification, you don't rotate on fouls, you switch (I am assuming two man).

All of your other points are valid and should be discussed with your partner.

Just remember all of these points as you move up and work with first year officals yourself.

a partner that makes a 'make up call' because I missed on an earlier one

players that talk out of the sides of their mouthes just soft enough so you can't actually hear what they are saying, usually following a call against them

And sometimes rather immediately followed by another call against them :D

(before anybody flames me to a crisp, I am just kidding)

(mostly)

One of my pet peeves is officials who try to run backwards, their days are numbered!

Mine are....

Guys who don't hustle....get yourself in position cause if you are not where you should be, you are making us both look bad.

Guys who make up their own signals...Like the "superman" for their "over the back calls" rather than the push signal. Use the approved mechanics, that's what they want us to use.

The guy who who refuses to listen to anything you have to say cause he's patched/licensed or has more years of experience than you...I couldn't possibly understand anything cause I let my license lapse a couple years ago and I've been doing this for 7+ years! :rolleyes:

Guys who take it all too personal ...If another official is advising you, just listen, don't take it personally. You don't have to agree or utilize what they are saying, but just listen....It might not be the way you do it, but that doesn't make it wrong and it doesn't mean you are doing it wrong either...

Lack of eye contact.

Showing up dressed 2 minutes before tip-off

Ripping on other officials and how bad so and so is and why do they get good games.....

Unprofessional talk--for example, the hot mom in the stands, how hot the coach is, etc., etc., as if all men are simply pigs and I care about that crap.

Feature this - last night I'm getting ready to administer an inbound when my partner puts his hand up to wait. After about 5 seconds, he puts it down and I proceed. At the end of the quarter, I asked him why the holdup? He said he was watching "some hot babe in tight pants walk up the bleachers"!

I wasn't mad, just a little upset that he didn't point her out to me. :rolleyes:

BTW - this guy is in his 5th year, I think.