How Much Personal Baggage do you bring?

[TxBktball03]

And I don't mean luggage...

I attended a college women's basketball game today. I'm not a ref yet, but I observe as often as I can. It truly and objectively seemed like the lead ref had brought a bad day to the game. In the first half, he made most of the calls and most seemed very ticky-tack. The slightest brush and it was a foul. He had a permanent frown and even dressed down a coach who used his first name. In the second half, his frown had eased and the officials hardly called anything unless the foul smack of two arms coming together could be heard in the back row.

My question is, do most of you try not to bring your rainy days to the court, and if you do, how can you avoid taking it out on the boys/girls?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I usually leave the wife at home.

[Josh Ovens]

well, we are just as human as everyone involved in a game; whether it be players, coaches, fans, athletic trainers, etc. people like to think us as officials wearing halos, as if we are perfect and we never make mistakes. the reality is we do make mistakes, and sometimes, things even have affected me outside of officiating, and i happened to have a game that night. sometimes, Sh*t just happens.the main thing you can try to do is maintain your focus, and generally speaking when youre having a bad day, your not gonna give people as much of a rope as usual, and sometimes a coach or player may end up choking on it. so all i say is, you have to try your best to keep your "cool" and maintain a level of professionalism that people not only expect, but also one that is desired>

[JRutledge]

I can only speak for myself, officiating is a drug for me. There is no better way to not think about anything that the day brings. I love officiating because it is something that I love so much, I do not worry about the other things that happen that day. Good or bad.

So maybe this official just had a bad game. It does not mean that they necessarily had a bad day. And maybe they were just right on for that kind of game. Sometimes we just can never win. We either call too much or we do not call enough in peoples eyes. Great to be us I guess.

Peace

[BktBallRef]

My guess is that if you had been officiating for 5 years, your perception of this official would be quite different.

[Gochron]

Just trying to get by myself. I just let things roll off my back, and move on. At the end of each day, I write down all the negatives that day, roll that paper into a ball and toss it in the can. The next morning we start anew. Easier said then dine sometimes, but I try.

[Bart Tyson]

I have to agree with BktBallRef. In women's there are certain automatic fouls. Some of these fouls do not require hard contact. And there are other plays with hard contact that are not fouls. So, if you were privy to the rules and POE and this particular pregame, then you would have a different oppinion. This does not mean this official did not make a bad call in the game. There will aways be a call or no call we wish we had to do over again.

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by Gochron
roll that paper into a ball and toss it in the can. Easier said then dine sometimes.

I agree, Gochron. I wouldn't want to eat the rolled up paper either

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Chuck

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by JRutledge
I can only speak for myself. There is no better way to not think about anything that the day brings.

Actually, Rut, you can speak for me, too, on this particular subject. Officiating basketball is the best way to calm my mind and put the day behind me. There is only one time in 10 years that I can recall thinking about my personal life during a game, and even then, I was able to call a good game.

That's not to say that I always call a good game. I've called bad games, and I have also called games where I did ok, but I knew that I was not as sharp mentally as I should be.

This might be what the original poster saw: a ref having an off night.

Chuck