Officiating philosophy
 

I'm curious to hear what you veteran posters think about Welmer's philosophy at the start of a game.

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I don't think much of it at all. To suggest that home or visitor makes any difference in any call is basically a bad idea. Seems mainly like a guy showing off in front of the camera to me.

You do not care what we think, so why answer. ;)

Peace

I don't know what a 150%-er call is, nor am I sure I know know what a 90%-er is.

When I see something that needs to be called, it is called. I don't care which team it is on, nor if it's a violation, foul, or held ball.

I also think the video is poor because not once did we see a pants-pull.

As long as I can comprehend what you write I always care.

You do not comprehend what you are writing. You I guess you really do not care.

Peace

That's a production oversight that will be corrected in the editing room.

Your honor I rest my case.

So, are you saying that you can't understand Rut because of his minor typoes? Seriously?
A bit of advice; pointing out someone's typing errors for the sole purposes of attempting to discredit what they are quite obviously saying isn't going to gain you respect around here. If you don't care about that, fine; I'm just saying.

And you would not understand Welmer's point of view either. I have actually heard Welmer talk about this directly and there was a little more to it than what you posted. So why spend time trying to explain it to you. Then again, smart people can read typos. I read them here all the time and get by just fine. Then again, you think GM is just about calling fouls remember (which many people told you how wrong you were).

Peace

Jeff, can you please us more about Welmer's philosophy?

Ummm first off I thought it was rather amusing that after I chided Jrut about his typos he has one in his rebuttle. Sorry my humor can be a little off center.

Don't dance around it Jrut. He said make sure at the start of the game you have a no doubter on the visiting team if you are going to call it. A 150% if you will. Do you agree?

BTW don't put words in my mouth. I never once said the Game Management was just about calling fouls. You sure love to do that to people.

All he said is if you have a close play, give the early call to the visitor so can let them (visitors) know early they are not getting screwed (I am paraphrasing). I have heard Welmer talk about this the last 3 years and of course there was more detail to the comments. When I heard him talk he used a block/charge reference when giving the percentages as it related to who gets that first call.

To me this comment is no different than what people say about block/charges and the many philosophies people use to help them be consistent in their mind.

Peace

I like the thought process. The first call of the game has got to be strong!

I think we have to be aware that road coaches think they aren't going to get a fair shake when they play in someone else's gym. The first call being solid might be the difference between having a coach all over the crew or not.

Who cares if I agree? I am not Welmer and I do not work on national TV every single game. Unlike some people here, I know my place. ;)

Peace

Know my place?? Wow... Sorry... somebody certainly is an elitist.

Keep dancing around the question Jrut. For a person with such strong conviction you certainly don't want to answer this one.

I for one agree w/ what Steve has to say. He's the best there is at "Game Management" and it starts with him from the first call of the game.

(Disclaimer: I am not JR, nor do I think I can play him on TV. However, I'll give it a shot.)

What a load of bull-pucky. Why not make <B>all</B> your calls strong calls? Why not strive to make <B>all</B> of them correct? What is being 150% correct, anyway? What if you're only 137% correct? Should you not make the call then? If so, what about 123%? 109%? 101.275%?

Let the church say... AMEN!

I am only talking to you because I get a certain level of entertainment out of it. I do not need to dance around anything. What ever I think, my life will not change as a result either way. And I had every opportunity to ask Welmer the questions I wanted to when he talked about this in detail. I personally am not going to share what I think to someone that knows every damn thing. ;)

Peace

Would you agree that he want's Game Management started by his crew on the very first call of the game?

Not that I'm chiding you, but the word is <b><i>"rebuttal"</i></b>.

Or is that one of those typo thingys that I've heard so much about lately?

Whatever though ....it is rather amusing.:)

Sorry for the typo.
 

LOL!!!

You are trying waaayyyyyy too hard. :D

Peace

Keyboard Management?

Only type words you are 150% sure of?

In and of itself, the video is pointless. Are you suggesting we start every game by looking for a home foul before we find a visitor foul? Is that what you are calling good game management? The video makes no sense in the context it was presented to us.

If you simply call the fouls you see, everything will work itself out.

No not really. It’s an honest question. I’m trying to get this GM stuff figured out.

That was funny!

Go read the other thread and you might figure it out.

Peace

And the more you get right, the better game manager you will be also.

Smitty gets it.:)

I'll stick w/ the game management philosophy of a guy who works more D1 games than anybody in the country. Seems to be a pretty successful path.

You do not even realize what you are disagreeing with. I never said to listen to me or what I do exactly what I say. Also there was much more to the talk from Welmer about this "philosophy" than what you heard from a minute statement.

Just this past summer I went to two camps where almost every clinician was a D1 official. I went to another where the camp is run by a D1 Official and I attend that camp every year. There is more to their success then one philosophy pulled out of context. Maybe you should read my signature and the quote. The person that made those statements is a good friend of Welmer and also has his ideas of what works. After all he helps pick or identify officials for the NCAA Tournament. Then again, you probably do not understand that quote either.

Peace

Of course, I agree.

However, I also agree with M&M. You should call <b>ALL</b> no doubters against <b>both</b> teams from the beginning to the end of every game. If there is <b>ANY</b> doubt about <b>ANY</b> call, you shouldn't be making that call. That's called "guessing".

I don't think Welmer would disagree with that either. Saying that we should make sure that our first call in a game against either team is a no-doubter is a pretty standard philosophy at all levels.

Personally, I disagree with any philosophy that gets into worrying about any calls that might be made differently between the home and visiting teams. Call consistency is much more important imo.

Out of sheer curiosity, mu4scott, what level do you officiate?

Before he replies, let's find out if he's from SoCal.

Huh???
I’m not disagreeing with you about anything. I asked for your opinion. You don’t want to say anything and I suspect it’s because you don’t agree with it. I’ve heard his talks multiple times and he has philosophies on end of half, beginning of second half, end of game etc…. Don’t duck out by saying I “took it out of context”.

I’m just curious if you agree with it?

Didn't pull anything out of context.

We should work a game together.

You would be wrong again. I just do not feel like explaining it to you based on what I actually heard him say. And I do not want to debate with you anymore about what game management is or what it is not. Many people tried to explain that to you and it is clear you did not understand what they were saying. Then you chalked it up to typos and other stuff that people were not saying.

You will stay curious.

If you want an answer and the statements were clearly incomplete, then yes, they are out of context. Once again, I have heard him talk about this topic 3 times and there was a lot more to the statements before what was recorded and a lot afterwards.

No, because you would not know how to manage the game. ;)

Peace

I think some of us are missing the point.

First of all, it is impossible for all of our calls to be strong or right. The best officials in the NBA are wrong under 1% of the time proven statistically.

The point is, we need to be aware that especially in big games with hostile environments, certain coaches think they are going to get jobbed by the officials. They are all paranoid. So we need to be aware of this and not start the night off by sticking a garbage foul on a player right out of the gate. This is a good way to invite trouble into your game. In a perfect world, there would be no such things as garbage fouls, but they happen since none of us are perfect.

You seem to be doing better than your counterpart that started this thread.

Peace

Where might I find something that will back up that particular statement?

I thought that the NBE had released data stating that after evaluation their officials were accurate on about 93% of all calls.

He would then automatically be in the magical Land Of College And Above.:D

Unfortunately, I don't believe the NBA makes this public knowledge. I have heard Ed Rush speak before and he mentioned that Javie and Crawford are near the top at 97%. I do know the NBA analyzes every game and grades calls and no-calls as either correct or incorrect and each official will get a percentage score at the end of the year also broken down by calls by position.

I heard the ACC instituted a similar system and the funny thing was the crew chiefs were necessarily the best play-callers, yet finished the highest on the coach's ratings. This should point out how important acceptance and familiarity are in the paranoid mind of the coaches.

So if the top guys are right 97% of the time, how do you come up with your "less than 1%"? Not a math major, were ya?

But is is any more acceptable to stick this garbage foul on one team than the other? I for one say NO. Actually, this may be unthinkable to those with a college and above mentality or some other concept that I don't profess to understand, but which team is the home team or the visiting team is not something that I am interested in during the game.

The visiting team and coach are more paranoid than the home team. They are usually travel weary, have had the fans jeering them since warmups, and now have 3 officials that the coach has never seen work before......

Unfortunately, there is some truth to the "hometown cooking" syndrome. I once had an official tell me he called his block/charges for the hometeam because he had them 3 more times on the schedule. This is wrong......... however, the majority of officials are fair and this guy's career will never progress from where he's at.

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 is a very broad statement which is not necessarily true.

Sound like personal problems to me. Actually sounds kinda like being an official.


Actually, depending on the level, either coach may or may not have seen the officials before.

So you propose to make up for this by being extra careful not to make a call against the visitors, particularly at the start of the game.

Wow, you get one dumba$$ and project that out to "some truth to...." I've had a lot of partners, but I've never had this guy. This is a crappy thing to think and a stupid thing to say; but how many officials out there go the opposite way so they "appear to be fair?"
Just because one knucklehead has an asinine philosophy doesn't make it right to adopt the equal and opposite reaction.

It's worse than make-up-calls, IMO, because you're making up for calls you not only didn't make or didn't see, but you don't even know for sure that they happened to this particularly visiting coach.

Evidently I'm not going to get an answer.

I'm still holding out....

Home vs. Visitor exists and is something we need to be aware of....... not use to assist in judgement.

I realize I made some broad generalizations in prior posts.

What do you mean when you say "be aware of" ?

Game awareness.

Game awareness is about knowing the situation in the game. It does not mean changing the basic fundamental things about what you were doing. If I know a coach has a stick up his behind, I might address him differently. But I am still going to call what I feel I need to and work my game. I am not going to sacrifice my judgment on a couple of plays to make a coach happy. They are never happy anyway. I really do not see why so many worry about it.

Peace

I agree. When we start letting outside factors influence our Judgement we run into trouble. Coaches do have input in the evaluation process in a lot of areas and I think some officials are too worried about likability. Which all coaches hate us anyway even though they may be cordial to our face. I have found that if you communicate well with the benches and work hard, the saner coaches will recognize and respect that. There are some crazies that probably should be in a mental asylum.

So, a part of your game awareness is to be cognizant of which team is home and which team is visitor because.......??

Then why are you insisting that we have to be <b>aware</b> of who the home and the visitors are?:confused:

You're confusing the hell outa me with these contradictory statements, Tio.

It is clear I cannot express my point to you and Justanotherref. Listen to the Welmer clip...... the whole point of this conversation. I don't mind the fact that I agree with his philosophy. Go ahead and formulate your own opinion and if you don't agree with me that is fine.

You haven't made a point. You say you need to be aware of home/visitors, but you cannot give a reason why?

The only reason I can see to be aware of "home vs. visitor" is to make sure they're wearing the correct jerseys. Other than that, I couldn't care less - and I certainly don't let it affect my calls or the way I treat each team and/or their coaching staff.

If the visitors don't like being booed by the disproportionate number of home fans, they should have stayed in bed. What's that got to do with how an official should call the game? I'll answer my own question - nothing!

Have you ever worked a rivalry game?

Yes, and one team was home and the other, visitors. With you so far.

Um no, the problem us that you made <b>TWO</b> different points that are completely conflicting and contradictory.

It's kinda tough to agree with your opinion when you don't seem to agree with your own opinion either.:)

According to prior posts Tio has already answered the question.

This is a non-answer. We all try hard not to fuel any perception of unfairness. Unfortunately this perception flourishes practically everywhere, by both home and visitors.

Tio states that home/visitor does not affect his judgment.

So what was the point?

What Does He Do At A Neutral Site Game ???
 

The highest level I've ever officiated is high school varsity. I've done a few league semifinals and finals, never a state tournament game. I've been doing this for twenty seven years, and I've never differentiated between the home or visiting team, and I've never heard anyone representing the NFHS, or IAABO, suggest that we do.

And The Home Team Pays Me ...
 

Home team gets last ups.

Yeah - two years ago I worked an intense rivalry game. It was a sixth grade girls game between Tigard and Tualatin (those of you in the Portland area know how heated this is) at a Tigard gym. There were two fights in the parking lot, one between two dads and one between two moms! I know my officiating had nothing to do with the fights because they both happened before the game.

The fans were rabid and there were twice as many supporting Tigard as Tualatin. However, despite the fact that two of the Tualatin girls (and one of the Tigard girls) started crying during the game, I didn't make any calls in favor of the visitors intentionally! I called it absolutely by the rules of that particular kids league and evenly from start to finish.

Man, those "rivalry" games are really tough to work! :p

And last change on the ice. ;)

Yep and any questionable OOB calls goes the home teams way :D

Mu4Scott,

I am
not trying to attack you in any way. That's not what I post on here for, but I should have guessed that you would listen to philosophies like Steve Welmer. You know if you put him in the breakdown system like they have for the NBA, I would bet he gets maybe 70% of his plays right. Steve is a great communicator and that's how he gets those 100 game seasons. I on the other hand am not working games for the coaches, I'm working for the players and the game. I believe you should be a great communicator but playcalling should be first.

Also I hope you know that Steve welmer does not work in the ACC as far as I know, he was fired from the SEC and he has never worked past the sweet 16. I respect the man as a communicator but not as an overall GREAT referee. My opinion.

Like I said in the other thread about game mgmt, the term needs to be revamped. There are RARE instances when you should call a foul for game mgmt reasons.

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

They were probably a little rusty.:D

I'm just surprised they used players who are 35 years old....

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?

I read all 5 pages (so far) of the thread and this is what I personally took away as the most important point.

Kudos to Jurassic, though I do feel like I might be in "The Twilight Zone!" ;)

I just can't get past Welmer's math comprehension.

150%? Is that the new math they are going to teach my kid in first grade?

Also always cracks me up when someone refers to themself in third person.

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)) :rolleyes:

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? :confused:

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.

I agree 117%

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

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. :rolleyes:

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?

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.....

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

You mighty be aware of it but <b>"many upper level referees"</b> 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.

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.

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

Not to get off topic but...

My money is on Quincy High vs QND

:D

Peace

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

Ebony And Ivory ...
 

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"? :rolleyes:

It's Not Just At the Collegiate Level ...
 

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.

Bizarro World ???
 

Does "Opposite Day" occur in the Bizarro World? According to Jerry Seinfeld, the bizaroos were a group of beings invented by DC Comics starring Superman and Batman. Bizaroos are opposites, they see bad as good and good as bad. Bizaroo Batman has a useless utility belt rather than a fully functional one like Batman. Bizarro Superman is Superman's exact opposite, who lives in the backwards Bizarro World. Up is Down. Down is Up. He says "Hello" when he leaves, "Good bye" when he arrives.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...BIZARRO%21.jpg

What if you spend too much time with the visiting coach? What if you know the visiting coach more? Why should it matter who is home or visiting in that situations?

Just asking. ;)

Peace

Who Cares What Color The Uniforms Are ...
 

Good point. As many have suggested throughout this thread, officials should be "blind" to home and visitors. Officials should spend the same exact pregame time with each coach, in fact, it's probably best to use a visible count, to maintain proper "game management".

I have worked with Jeff and hope to do it again. He knows how to manage a game. And just prove to it, I you offer 2 typos.

I know there was some humor in your response. I just have one more serious question.

Why are we spending so much time with the coaches in the first place? I might only talk to a coach during the captain's meeting and that is it.

Peace

This is a good point. I think BillyMac's comment was headed in the right direction, but he should've just left out the part about the home or visitor coach. If you chit-chat with either coach in a "social" manner, the other coach will immediately become paranoid. I know this firsthand from a D3 college game last season.

I was the U1 and during the time when were standing at the table before introductions and the anthem, the R went over to the visiting coach and just started shooting the breeze. I turned to our U2 and said, "What is he doing? Setting up a golf date for the weekend?" As soon as I finished saying that, I see the home coach looking at me with his palms up and a WTF look on his face. He says to me, "What's going on over there?" I just shrugged.

R comes back to the table and I told him the home coach was wondering what your conversation was about. So he had to go and chat up the home coach to re-assure him that there was nothing to worry about.

The only thing I might do as it relates to the home and visiting coach is it is not uncommon for people to shake the hands of both coaches before the contest and wish them good luck. Usually that involves the visiting team first and then the home team. But that only takes 30 seconds between both coaches and we move on. Other than that there is no real good reason I want to talk to a coach in the first place.

Peace

Perfect World Versus Reality ...
 

In a perfect world, the only time we should be spending time with the head coach is during the pregame captains/head coaches/officials meeting:

"Coaches. Are your players properly equipped and do your players know how to wear their uniforms properly? If so, coaches and captains. My partner and I expect that you all will be practicing good sportsmanship. Have fun."

However, it's not a perfect world. How often will varsity officials be observing the junior varsity game that precedes the varsity game, and the head varsity coach, maybe from either team, but most often from the home team, actually comes over and sits down in the bleachers with the varsity officials? Maybe it's just to say hello. Maybe it's to ask a question about a rule or interpretation. Or, maybe it's more than that. Maybe the varsity officials may have been officiating this coach's games for over twenty years, and the coach feels that a professional bond has been formed and asks how the season's going, did your families enjoy the holidays, did you hear that Official Smith tore a muscle doing his game last week, etc. Another scenario from the real world is that the officials may often dress in the coach's office, and he's in there before the game, getting a score book, getting some water bottles, tape, etc. and decides he wants to "shoot the breeze" for a few minutes.

These are situations that should be avoided, because, as I've stated earlier, perception often gets confused with reality. Although these situations should be avoided, sometimes it would be awkward to avoid them, and all we can do is answer in a friendly, but terse, manner, and hope that the coach goes away as soon as possible. Maybe there is a professional bond that has formed between the official and the coach. After all, they both share a passion for basketball. I, in fact, relish these bonds, but not at the expense of being perceived as a "homer".

You are right, but those are very rare and might not happen but one or two times the entire season. And there are many ways not to put yourself in a situation where a coach can easily talk to you. I also cannot control what locker room they put us in and most people are never going to know where that room is or is not. The point I am trying to make is we worry too much about what people think and we need to just do our job professionally. And if a coach is that concerned because the coach had a conversation with me that I did not seek, so be it. I have many other things to worry about and who I am taking to is not one of them.

Peace

Most of you who have been on this board know how I feel about this subject. :D

I had more to say, but this is on my mind :D

I can't really knock his hustle (getting the games, NOT actually hustling), but let's not be so blinded by the TV games to not recognize what really is.

Rut is 150% (had to slip that nonsense in) right. Why are we spending so much time chatting with coaches anyway. And, I personally like to keep some distance between myself and a coach when possible (not always possible if I'm in the C during live ball) so nothing can be said so quietly, in either direction, that can be twisted around later.

:D Wow, he really said that (the "video")? I never would have thought it from him. :D