Probably the most frustrating first timer ever
 

I did a game tonight where I worked with a guy that was in his second game. It's intramurals, so they don't really "cut" refs, but this guy they should have.

I let him administer the jump ball. His first attempt went about 20 feet in the air and about 5 to one side. I blow it dead and make him do it again. His second attempt was about a hundred times better though.

I don't think he blew his whistle until there were about 3 minutes left in the first half. When he did finally call a foul, he reported it to me as if I were the scorers table, and continued to do this for the rest of the game. When I blew my whistle, whether for a foul or violation, he would literally walk over to me, stare at me, and I had to tell him what to do like a little dog.

I know it's intramurals, and I know it's all a learning experience, but I've never seen a worse newb. This guy didn't have a clue. Glad that game is over.

He's Retired, But We Remind Him About This Every Time We See Him ...
 

This reminds me of a story. We provide "free" officials for an annual scholarship tournament, the Doc Hurley Classic, and some of the games are held in the Hartford Civic Center, now the XL Center, which is a lot different from working in a school gymnasium. A long time ago, one of our best officials kept reporting fouls to the press table, which was on the opposite side of the court as the scorer's table.

That's funny. At least the reporters had no trouble figuring out who the foul was on.

What region do you work IM's in?

I had some training which was good. But geez it really seems to vary. A couple of people I worked with, I literally had to train while on the court. I blame them for being clueless(WATCH A BASKETBALL GAME) but also the associations for letting these guys out there with no training.

Listen, Can You Hear Barbra Singing ???
 

That's the way we used to do it in the good old days. Classroom instruction for the rules. On the court training, from your partner, for the mechanics. I developed some bad habits because of this, one that I still have twenty-eight years later, using my fists, instead of my hands, on my hips, to signal a block.

I'm at Indiana Univ. in Bloomington

I am of the opinion that officials either have the mentality to officiate or they don't. The problem is that we don't mentor the rookies who have it and when they have problems early on we think they aren't among those who have "it." We can find out if they have it by seeing how they respond to the help.

I am constantly trying to recruit football officials from basketball officials (We are really short on FB officials and not so bad off in BB.) with whom I work because I can tell the ones who have the officiating mentality and it is not too hard to move into another sport.

Only some of us consider this a bad habit...

He must have been playing sink the Biz at Nick's.......

This year I have been taking some lower level games to help mentor. It's tougher than you think. You have to pick 1 or 2 things to point out and have them work on them in each half.

For me the toughest part is watching the whole floor so I can help if my partner asks for it. Notice I didn't say call the whole floor. But there have been 2/3 point trys in that gray area between coverage areas. Or making sure a shooter gets down in my partner's primary as he swings his head watching the shot.

It takes time and plenty of games to get good at this vocation!

I started officiating at the HPER when I was at IU. Unfortunately, that was 25 years ago! I remember it being alot of fun, and being a great learning experience. Is Dr. Ross still associated with the intramural program there?

Always remember that at one time you did your first game too. Did the person you worked with help you or be critical?? I remember the guys I worked with in the beginning ,that truly tried to help. I also remember the ones that acted put out to work with me, and i try not to work with them now. Some of them I have passed in ability. I know now i was clueless at first and alittle better now.

It's life, be remembered as one of the people that make others better.

Good call, beachbum. We've all been there. I had never heard of a Fox 40 when I called my first game.
The fun thing about calling with a newb who is awful is the stories you can tell to your partners for the next few years.
Mine was a guy who showed up as a last minute replacement in a varsity boys game. Supposed to be a blowout, but it wasn't. Three man crew, and this kid didn't blow his whistle all night.
A few seconds to go in the game, full court press after a made basket. Me and my experienced partner are in the backcourt, and they throw a baseball pass to the other end.
Crash! Kid signals offensive (bad), then changes his mind and goes to the hips. (right call, but by now we're in trouble). Tweet. Kid T's up player for "giving him a bad look". Walks toward table. Tweet. T's up coach for being out of the box.
The newb didn't last long in our association. The coach is now retired, but we still laugh about it when I see him.

As a guy who is looking forward to his first year next year, I am just praying that won't be me.

I remember my first game 30 years ago. My partner was also the assignor and association president. He had been around likely 30 years already and decided he was going to show me a thing or two about hustle. YA RIGHT! He told me that because he was the senior official he stands at mid-court and I was to run with the play baseline to baseline. I did it for the entire game, and then found out after in the locker room that it was all an initiation and there were 4 other "senior" officials there watching taking bets on how long I lasted. We ended the night by them taking me out for some wobbly pops. That was my first impression of on court officiating.

Maybe not to this extreme....but you'll do something you will always remember.

Me? First game, everytime the coach wanted a timeout I would make the "T" signal. My partner asked me twice why I issued a technical foul to the coach. Me - duh! Lesson learned!

I had a good partner the first time out and hope you do too. Thank goodness it was a B10U game at 0900 and everyone, including one of the Refs (me), was apparently sleepwalking. :p

Now THAT is classic! Hmmm, come to think of it, maybe I'll use it! ;)

Pregame, pregame, pregame.

I am in my first year right now, with things going well so far. But, I did this the first time a coach requested a time out too. I made the "T" signal and instantly knew what I did.

Same for me. Coach asks for TO, I signal "T" , she yells "What did I do?", and I reply "you wanted a TO" (thinking to myself- whats her problem?- dumb coach)...the irony.....

I suppose one of the great things about getting older is that I can't remember all the embarrassing things that happened when I was a newbie.

It seemed like I had some of my most embarrassing moments after I thought I had gotten good, including:
* As I stepped in to toss the ball as we began a boy's regional tournament game, one of the players said, "Are we going to play with a girl's ball?" oops.
* I remember getting ready to put my whistle in my mouth to start a game and... no whistle. Another quick trip to the dressing room.
* During a boring girl's V game once, the horn blew and I made my way to the dressing room, which was just off the end of the court. My partners didn't come in, so I looked out to see where they were. They were out on the floor ready to start the fourth quarter!
* Girls JV game. I called an foul on a shot and looked up to see if the ball went in the hole. When I looked back down, there were four girls standing there who all looked alike. I didn't have a clue who fouled. Neither did my partner. So I walked in the lane and said, "Who fouled?" One of the girls raised her hand, and that was good enough for me.
* After a walking call, a coach yelled, "Dang it, (my name), you've gotta do better than that!" WHACK! Then I realized his player has the same first name as me.

I guess in some ways, I'll always be a newbie.

Let me say this:
I enjoy working with young guys who want to learn. We laugh about mistakes, and work to get better.
I was lucky to have some understanding partners when I began, and I try to help young officials who will hopefully be around long after I'm gone.