Men's Championship Game, v2

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

The thing is, Hightower always looks like he did last night.

That said, I listed all the Final Fours he's worked since 1988. I see guys in my state working 5, 6, 7 state tournaments, and I wonder....

Do the national/state assignors not realize how important it is to a lot of us to one day reach the summit of our avocation? We work hard, go to camps, try to do the right things, and then those assignors make easy, predictable, even lazy choices instead of working harder to identify those people who haven't been there who will come in and do a fantastic job.

While I'm happy for Hightower and the guys that made it, there are a dozen others who would do just a good a job and haven't gotten the chance because Hightower has been there 10-15 times.

If I was ever made king and got to assign state tournaments, you would get to go once and once only until everyone I deemed qualified had gone once. Which means, in all reality, you wouldn't get another one for 10-15 years. But more people would be able to share in the experience. The only people that would hate this are the ones who are currently in favor and going 2 out of every 3 years.

I here you, but imho you have to differentiate between a state title game and a NCAA final. I agree that if you've done a state final, you should step aside and let another qualified, deserving official have the honor.

That philosophy again, imo, does not apply to NCAAs