Officiating philosophy

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by grunewar

Concur! I am always curious when an athlete says they will give 110%! How do you give more than a 100% effort?

I guess they "step up" their game! (another great expression (sarc))

I heard a commentator yesterday (I think during an Olympic event) say that "somebody on this team is going to have to step up and do more than they're capable of".

If they do it, then it isn't more than they're capable of, is it?

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

So what happens when the home coach has a history with you and always complains he's getting screwed? Are you going to try extra hard to not perpetuate any fears of unfairness?

No, since I don't even know what that means. I know I call every game fairly so any conception a coach has about "getting screwed" is his problem, not mine. If that coach thinks he "got screwed" while I'm calling a game the proper way, nothing I can do will change that, nor should the responsibility for his perceptions be on my shoulders. Also, I certainly wouldn't do anything different based on who's the home team and who's the visitors (to address a different point in this thread). As I've said before, I couldn't care less.

[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

If they do it, then it isn't more than they're capable of, is it?

I agree 117%

(Yea, I know - that was too easy.)

[Smitty]

It's interesting that the OP and instigator, mu4scott, just sort of slinked away from the conversation. Maybe he's learning something after all...quit while you're behind.

[mu4scott]

Originally Posted by Smitty

It's interesting that the OP and instigator, mu4scott, just sort of slinked away from the conversation. Maybe he's learning something after all...quit while you're behind.

Not slinking away from anything. Can't spend every waking moment on here.

BTW I stand behind everything I've said.

I'm predominantly a HS basketball official.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by mu4scott

Not slinking away from anything. Can't spend every waking moment on here.

BTW I stand behind everything I've said.

I'm predominantly a HS basketball official.

Let me guess: anywhere from 3 to 5 years' experience?

[Tio]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Let me guess: anywhere from 3 to 5 years' experience?

Well, mu4scott has the same mindset of many upper level referees. Quite impressive for a HS official.

All I can say is at the collegiate level, there is a difference in the intensity level of the coaches. This is their livelihood and means of providing for their family. I work in a conference that has nine schools spread out in 5 states and when one of the teams in my area goes on the road, our supervisor sends at least one-two officials from the area on the road to work the game. This combats the perception that the road team is going to get jobbed by a hometown crew.

Secondly, there are little things that we can do to combat perception. I think Welmer's point is well taken in that a crew needs to start strong and be ready to officiate. How many times have you seen a crew show up and miss a weird play right out of the gate? There is less a margin for error with the visitors..... take it for what it's worth. Maybe Rutledge can elaborate on the rest of the content as he has heard the Welmer talk in person. I think we should all be aware that Steve Welmer works in several conferences and everyone wants him to work their games.....

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Tio

Well, mu4scott has the same mindset of many upper level referees. Quite impressive for a HS official.

Um, no, don't really think so. Good try though.

You mighty be aware of it but "many upper level referees" posting in this forum have already disagreed completely with his (and your) "mindset". They just don't run around trying to justify their stance by trumpeting their resumes.

It's an old trick to try and bolster your own iffy position by trying to state some doo-doo like all the "upper level referees" agree with you. Try something else next time. That one didn't work.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Tio

Well, mu4scott has the same mindset of many upper level referees. Quite impressive for a HS official.

All I can say is at the collegiate level, there is a difference in the intensity level of the coaches. This is their livelihood and means of providing for their family. I work in a conference that has nine schools spread out in 5 states and when one of the teams in my area goes on the road, our supervisor sends at least one-two officials from the area on the road to work the game. This combats the perception that the road team is going to get jobbed by a hometown crew.

I agree that college is more intense and that college has coaches with more on the line. But that is mostly a supervisor problem, not an official's problem. And it really is not a problem when you are working lower level college games. Those coaches turn over so much anyway that I do not see coaches spending a lot of time worrying about where the officials are from. Not to say that that never comes into play, but I do not hear that when I am from a completely different state than both the teams and the teams are closer to each other than I am to either school. The most memorable comment I have ever been faced by a coach that brought up the issue of where the officials were from is when a team was from Florida playing a team in Indiana (3 hours away from my house BTW). The Florida coach made a comment to me sometime in the first half while the coach’s team was losing and said, “I am from Indiana too.” My comment to him, “None of us live in Indiana.” He had a puzzled look on his face and he went back to coaching the rest of the game. This coach ended up winning the game, but he probably never realized what I meant. I know I did not control what he was thinking, but he at least went back to coaching.

Originally Posted by Tio

Secondly, there are little things that we can do to combat perception. I think Welmer's point is well taken in that a crew needs to start strong and be ready to officiate. How many times have you seen a crew show up and miss a weird play right out of the gate? There is less a margin for error with the visitors..... take it for what it's worth. Maybe Rutledge can elaborate on the rest of the content as he has heard the Welmer talk in person. I think we should all be aware that Steve Welmer works in several conferences and everyone wants him to work their games.....

The problem with this thread is the OP is making this comment a bigger comment than it was when presented (and was presented since). This was really a small comment in a bigger context. Steve is big on salesmanship of officiating and he feels that he is as much a salesperson of himself as he is an official. I think that this is one of many things that you hear at camp that you can use or simply throw away. Welmer did not make this all about game management or if you do not use this approach that you would not become a good official. I think this is just like anything you hear if you like the approach and understand it, use it. If you do not like it or do not completely understand it, do not use it. Also another point I was trying to make several posts ago, was that what works at the D1 level, does not work for all other officials sometimes. Welmer is on national TV and his scrutiny is very different than a D3 official that might be lucky if 100 people show up to the game. Even the dynamics of who is assigned is very different at those levels. And this comment certainly in my opinion was not about game management as it was to eliminate an early perception. I also recall that Welmer never made this an absolute statement as to suggest you had to call the first foul this way or the rest of the game was in trouble. He was really not that grandiose about it. Now we have spent a bunch of time debating this when in reality it was not that big of a deal based on what I remember. Welmer talked about a lot of things and this was just a small part of that talk.

Also keep in mind that many things people advocate in camp are not always accepted by other officials that know the official who made certain comments. Welmer might be one of the more well-known officials across the country, but there are people that I have come in contact with just as big of a star power as an official, that have not necessarily follow this approach.

Peace

[eyezen]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I worked one of the biggest in my state. Not because the teams had history, but both teams had not played in 35 years. And I was fortunate to work the only two games they played in 35 years the past two years. Both teams were in the same town and one was a Catholic school and the other was one of the most successful schools in the state (if you include state final appearances and overall playoff success). The first game had over 4000 people in attendance, the second game had just under 2500 (size of the gym of course). Both games were on live local TV and tickets were sold out before the season started (both games were the first weekend in January). It could not get any bigger to me from a high school standpoint and who was home or visiting was not a concern. I guess I had to call the school that was hosting and see where to park. And I guess it was nice to know who was paying me that night. I have never been involved in a game that involved so much hype and interest during the regular season or post season.

They played home and home in a two year period and it was hard not to know who the home team was and who the visiting team was. They will not play again at this point. It did not make a bit of difference to me other than which gym I had to drive to. I do not understand why this is a game management issue. If it was not a big deal to me during these two games which was a really big deal to these people, do you really think it is a big deal to me when there are hardly anyone in the gym? I guess we all have to worry about something.

Peace

Not to get off topic but...

My money is on Quincy High vs QND

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by eyezen

Not to get off topic but...

My money is on Quincy High vs QND

Peace

[Raymond]

Let's not forget this is a D1 guy talking about D1 officiating.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

The only reason I can see to be aware of home vs. visitor is to make sure they're wearing the correct jerseys.

Here in Connecticut, the private "prep" schools, unlike the public high schools, have a long standing tradition that the home team always wear dark uniforms, and the visitors always wear white uniforms.

Does it effect my game? A little. It takes me a while to get used to reading the scoreboard to anticipate a bonus, or double bonus, situation. A dark uniformed player fouls a white uniformed player and the home team on the scoreboard has a foul added to its total. In fact I just screwed up typing this and originally typed visiting team in the previous sentence, and had to retype it. Weird. Odd. It's like that the whole game.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Here in Connecticut, the private "prep" schools, unlike the public high schools, have a long standing tradition that the home team always wear dark uniforms, and the visitors always wear white uniforms.

Does it effect my game? A little. It takes me a while to get used to reading the scoreboard to anticipate a bonus, or double bonus, situation. A dark uniformed player fouls a white uniformed player and the home team on the scoreboard has a foul added to its total. In fact I just screwed up typing this and originally typed visiting team in the previous sentence, and had to retype it. Weird. Odd. It's like that the whole game.

Maybe you should work those games only on "opposite day"?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Tio

The visiting team and coach are more paranoid than the home team. They are usually travel weary, have had the fans jeering them since warm ups, and now have 3 officials that the coach has never seen work before. Even at the collegiate level, there is jockeying going on. North Carolina played BYU in a tournament last year in Vegas and wouldn't play with the Mountain West officials (who normally work BYU games) and so a Pac-10 crew was brought in last minute. So, I try really hard not to do anything to fuel any perception of unfairness. One thing I try to do is never spend more time with a home coach during introductions. That is a sure way to start building a negative perception.

This perception can occur in high school games also. Many years ago, a few years after Title IX kicked in, the two top high school girls teams (for several years) in Connecticut never faced each other because they played in two different leagues for regular season games, and played in two different classes for state tournament games. Team A invited Team B to its Holiday Tournament, a much anticipated game by girls basketball fans across the state. Each school had it's regular season games officiated by two different local IAABO boards, in the case of Team A, the home team, and Tournament host, my local board. The coach of the visiting team, Team B, wanted this "big" game to be officiated by his own local board's officials, that officiated all his games, in his own league, both home games, and road games. The led to a debate, not only between the two coaches, both very strong willed, but between the two local IAABO boards over territory and jurisdiction. Team B actually threatened to withdrawal from the Tournament unless it could "bring it's own officials". I'm not 100% sure how it turned out, this was over 25 years ago, but I believe that our local board refused to allow another local board to officiate in our territory, which forced the issue to be settled between the two two coaches, and the game was played, with the home school's local board's officials.

Also, rookie officials, take note of Tio's statement: "One thing I try to do is never spend more time with a home coach during introductions. That is a sure way to start building a negative perception." This is an excellent suggestion, because perception and reality often get confused, which should be avoided as much as possible.