Does anyone know.....

[Mark Padgett]

....of a discussion board for basketball coaches? You know - the kind where they complain about officials. I'd like to visit there and see how many complaints are because the official actually called the game according to the rules.

If you know of one, please post it here. I could use a good laugh. Thanks.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Mark P.:

Do you realize how much fun we could have by joining a discussion board for coaches? But seriously, the NFHS Discussion Board does have a board for coaches.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
But seriously, the NFHS Discussion Board does have a board for coaches.

Yeah but they never use it! I don't think they can write!!

[Tim Roden]

I do remember someone once mentioning a howler monkey board, but I don't remember where it was.

[theboys]

Go to worldofsports.com, and click on the "active month" category to the left. You'll be disappointed, though. Coaches discuss officiating very little.

I think you'd be surprised about how much blame coaches put on officials. Post-game discussions rarely revolve around a referee's calls. Generally, coaches obsess about opportunities missed or given away. What's the first thing a coach will tell a player when the coach hears the player whining about poor officiating - "The ref didn't cost us that game." And, as you know, the coach is right when he makes that statement.

From the beating officials take on the court, you might think otherwise. The difference is, the coach gets his frustration out during the game. You, as an official, don't have that luxury, so you beat up on coaches here.

Don't get me wrong. Coaches deserve a lot of the abuse you heap on us. We don't know the rules like you do, don't ensure our players know the rules, etc. Can you imagine if we did, though? Then, we would really feel like we could argue with you. You don't want to go there.

Actually, I wish officiating groups operated more like Mark Padgett's, where coaches (and players and parents) are required to attend preseason rules seminars. I'm going to propose one for our high school this year. so, instead of referees hearing "over the back!", they'll hear "disadvantage!".

I've mentioned this in another post, the problem with basketball officiating, compared to other sports, is the amount of judgment involved in calling the game. With the concepts of "advantage/disadvantage", "accumulatory contact", etc, officials set themselves up for some of the abuse they receive (not all, just some). Rules level the playing field, but rules interpretation, right or wrong, colors the perception of the participant.

How about an example from football? The famous "non-fumble" in the Raiders-NE game - bad call? No, the referee went by the book. So, instead of blaming the referee, the blame goes where it should - to the rule book. You don't like the call, change the rule.

As opposed to basketball, where "palming" may or may not be called, depending on whether a player gains an "advantage" with the violation. Now, I know a lot of people don't have a clue what "palming", "carrying" or "double-dribble" actually are, but for those who do, if its not called by the rules, the perception of unfairness can be introduced.

Having said all of this, the biggest problem associated with basketball refereeing is not "judgment" calls, but the lack of knowledge of fans, coaches and players. Although it is the sports program's responsibility to educate people, maybe referee organizations should take the lead, and become more involved.

Just a thought, albeit an extremely long-winded one.