What "type" of person does that... ???
 

Got to talking with a friend today at lunch (non-official) about why certain people seem to always be anti-authoritarian, constantly pissed-off, etc.
Right after we saw some crusty codger tell the waitress the service was horrible.
So, it reminded me of the infamous fan or coach favorite: "You are the worst official ever," and then my friend and I discussed what "type" of person says these things.

The kitchen is running behind and another waitress did not show up that day, so out of no fault to your waitress she cannot get the orders out in time, she cannot keep up with more tables than usual, etc.
And she remains professional. She does not complain to customers and she does not lay blame on the kitchen or the absentees.
Yet, she hears, "This is the worst service ever."
A man runs a stop light in full view of a cop on patrol, so he gets pulled over.
Yet the cop hears, "Don't you have anything better to do? Giving me a ticket for that is horrible, you should be out catching murderers."
There's always "that guy" in the DMV line that starts to get loud and angry and then takes it out on the DMV clerk who had no control of it to begin with.

And the beat goes on...

What "type" of person would go out of his/her way to tell another person, "You are the worst (fill in blank) ever?" without knowing the other side of the story ?
Exactly my point.

This question has nothing to do with how we should react.
We all know how a professional referee is supposed to act in these situations.
My question is about the human condition in general.
I doubt many of us would ever tell a waitress "the service is horrible".
Most likely, if we do initiate dialogue, it is diplomatic and problem-solving in nature.

But, yet some "types" initiate conflict not resolution.

1) What "type" of person does this; and,
2) Does anyone personally know some of these "types" and can better explain this "human condition" ?

Thanks,
Paul

There is a guy at work that is Bipolar. He is in a constant war with authority...."I don't do rules" .....road rage type incidents at work and on the road off site. Basically a powder keg if things don't go his way. Med adjustments lately have helped, but........never his fault type of stuff....quite similar to your folks.

Meds? Hook him up with Mark.

I'm not sure how much it has to do with officiating, though officials see it often enough.

The general answer is: insecure and defensive people are like this. People who are not confident of their abilities cannot consciously acknowledge when they make a mistake or fail. Consequently they blame others.

So, you guys are talking about me behind my back again. That pisses me off!

Just because everyone is out to get you doesn't mean you're paraniod...

:p

As part of my job, I got to ride along with some K9 Officers last week patroling the interstate. We pulled one individual over for towing a trailer that hadn't been registered in 12 years.
"Why are you guys always picking on farmers?"

What type of person acts this way??.....

For the most part they are non-officials (and probably coaches;)lol...
Seriously, I find most officials(at least my friends who are), due to the professional ethics we are taught, are respectful of others in a tense situation where they are put out but see that the one in front of them isnt necessarily to blame...Another side benefit to the craft...

Somewhat OT, but the other day I was walking my dog (he's a small llasa apso) and a cop had just pulled over a woman for speeding. As he was walking back to his patrol car with her license and registration, he nodded at me. I pointed to my dog and asked the officer if he needed any K9 assistance. He smiled. I then said that if that lady was hiding a cheeseburger in her car, my dog could sniff it out. He then laughed and told me that would be a big help.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean everyone isn't out to get you.

Now if you would have said a donut, the officer would have immediately deputized your dog! :D

What exactly is your job? And why were you picking on farmers? You sicced the dogs on the farmers?
I have a trailer like that. Hey, I've been busy!!

What "type" of personality?

In the Jenkins system - Type A.
In the D.E.S.A. test - Type Expressive.
In the Hippocrates Greek Terms - Type Sanguine.

I like the D.E.S.A. It uses four types and relates each type to a Charlie Brown character. Dominant (Lucy), Expressive (Snoopy), Solid (Charlie B), Analytical (Linus).

Two people with the same interest in the outcome can watch a game and have a totally different reaction when the official makes a call, a ball doesn't go in the basket, or a player is injured.

So... if an official is Dominant, and a coach is Expressive... we could have a situation!

In my "neck of the woods", everyone has a trailer like that, except Bubba. Bubba's trailer is registered so when the rest of us want to use our trailers, we steal the plates off of Bubba's. We always return them so we know where to get them next time we need them.

Bubba is constantly pissed-off. I will study his human condition a little more and get back to you all on why he is like this.

In my experience, there are two types, the nothings-ever-my-fault type, and the control freak, that have this issue. I think that's pretty much all coaches, and a fair number of officials. Makes for interesting interactions.

What we actually do is throw a little mud over the corner of the tag so you can't see the year.

All well and good, as long as you remember to keep the unregistered trailer off the interstate.

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"
 

What "type" of person does that... ???
 

The kind I do not prefer to hang out with.

Same thing here. Reminds me of an old (bad) joke:

Q: Do you know why all the men in AR have the same size balls?

A: So they can borrow their buddy's trailer!

Bah, da, bing.

Confessions of a reformed jerk
 

I lurk around here a lot, but rarely participate. As part of my penance I figured I'd respond to this thread. Bear with me. Its pretty long.

I don't know why other people act like stupid morons at sporting events, or in other parts of their lives, for that matter, and I've asked myself on many occasions why I acted like a stupid moron at a basketball game. Because, trust me, I used to make an a** of myself on a regular basis. I'm not proud, just confessing.

For me, its funny peculiar, because I'm an otherwise pretty laid back, fun loving person. I don't have anger issues anywhere else. And, I don't always have anger issues at a sporting event. I've coached and played on a lot of teams that lost a lot of games, and have many times walked away with my self-respect intact. Really.

Sometimes I don't, though. My stupidity is always associated with a sitatuion that:

1) I have a lot invested in the team (kids, coaching, alma mater, I'm playing)
2) The game is close (we may or may not be winning)
3) Something seems "unfair" - and I don't mean the referees are cheating. I at least know better than that. JR and I had a debate about that a long time ago. By unfair, I mean, it seems like, for example, the same contact on both ends doesn't yield the same result.
4) My frustration snowballs with other people's frustration

I still don't know exactly why I was such a freakin' idiot, but I suspect it had something to do with me feeling like whatever was going on was happening to "me", and I was frustrated because I felt like I couldn't do anything to make it better (control issue?). So, I lashed out at the only other people involved that I thought I could impact - the referees.

That's why this website has been so good for me over the years. Not only have I learned a ton about the rules of the game, I've also learned a lot about refereeing, the people who ref, and their motivations.

As I wrote in another thread awhile ago, I don't say much at games anymore. As a coach I'm much more focused on the game. I still find myself getting agitated in close games sometimes, but I can catch myself and calm myself down.

Am I completely reformed? I wish. But, at least I don't embarrass myself or my family or friends nearly as often. And, hopefully, I don't make it worse on the referees, players or other fans.

One thing that works real well with me is having an official politely put up his hand in the stop signal and tell me "that's enough". Even as a spectator it shuts me up. I think its because the referee's intervention breaks the "frustration snowball" and returns me to a relatively normal state. Now, I'm not saying its a referee's job to control morons like me. Its certainly not. But, as many of you have expressed in anecdoes with fans and coaches, it often works. Kinda like snapping your fingers at someone and saying, "Hey! Wake up!"

So, thats it. I offer no excuses. I don't want any sympathy. I just hope the next time you ref a game I coach or watch that I don't do anything that results in a thread about me the next day on The Official Forum.

Sure, no problem, happy to help
 

The type of person who communicates this way is a frustrated and angry person, at least in that moment. This type of person (frustrated & angry) feels like they've been treated unfairly somehow. While there may be bonafide reasons behind whatever has happened, this type of person is frustrated and isn't interested in excuses. Unfortunately this type of person hasn't learned that exhibiting their frustration & anger will most likely lead to more of the same- particularly if it's a coach yelling at a referee. :D

I've only told one referee that he's, "the worst ever;" and he didn't even whack me, which kind of says something about the accuracy of my proclamation if you ask me. I called him that because he is the worst I've ever seen and I was frustrated and angry. I seriously doubt that his ranking will ever be challenged in my time. So other than perhaps the occasional reminder to this one particular official, that's a comment I guard closely. You have to earn it. I'm not going to just willy-nilly say that to any random official just because I don't happen to agree with the call.

Look, truth be told, I'm fairly certain that I probably make more mistakes in strategy & tactics while coaching a game than the officials do while officiating the same game. In my experience the video backs up the call way more often than it doesn't.