Laurier Spring League

[JugglingReferee]

Hello,

I don't normally rant after doing games, but this spring league that is going on really takes the cake.

I have the double header last night. 2 x 25min straight time halves.

First game, my P is trail and on 1st three foul calls of the game at the one end (in this spring league getting the ball back into play is more important than switching) and I'm the L. He is really closing down, I mean really closing down. On the 3rd call he makes, which occured right in front of the basket, I look up to find him and he is 2 feet from the baseline!!! I don't think he needs to be blowing his whistle anyways, since I have the calls without problem.

(We're both what we call a "level 3" on our board, which is the best you can get without getting into University ball. Some level 3's are level 3's out of appeasement, others are so because they're quality officials.)

Anyways, my point is that he's not all that great of an official, but he thinks he is. I tried to talk to him about mechanics and positioning and not always having a double whistle. He also signals a 3pt attempt when I'm L and it's 4 feet from me. I asked him what was happening on the blocks when he was looking at where the shooter was shooting from? He couldn't answer. No kidding eh?

Had two games of this crap.

Then there are the players.

Sitch 1: Elbow to the chest, defender goes to the ground. Tweet. "Player." "What? How can you make that call? That's bull****."

Sitch 2: 3pt attempt, foul land extended, 4 feet out. Nice shot, defender puts hand in shooter's face for distraction. I release on shooter to look at high elbow action. Look back at shooter - see defender's hand following through, hits shooter in chest, and continues down contact to shooter's tummy. Tweet. "Count 4." (We automatically count FTs.) "What? That is a horrible call. Did you even see what happened?" (And he's in my face.) Tweet. "T" Teammates help him to the side during more cussing. Defender gets away, come back at me and is in my face. Before he says anything, Tweet. "T, you're gone. Count 4." (Two T's.) I ask people after the game about the foul. 3 people (out of 3) agree that it was a foul.

All for $22 CANADIAN dollars. I wonder if Buffalo needs officials?

Bye, thanks for listening.

Mike