When coaches run things

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by TheOracle

Coaches do blackball officials on rare occasions.

Rare? :-) I have seen several excellent officials get blackballed because they had the guts to take care of business with a couple coaches that other officials were intimidated by. I work in a conference where coaches don't have input to an official but they do provide comments which we get to see. They are good for entertainment (very funny), but not much else.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by zebraman

Rare? :-) I have seen several excellent officials get blackballed because they had the guts to take care of business with a couple coaches that other officials were intimidated by.

I agree. Then again where I am from, it is up the assignor to put their foot down. Some have the courage, some do not.

Peace

[TheOracle]

Originally Posted by zebraman

Rare? :-) I have seen several excellent officials get blackballed because they had the guts to take care of business with a couple coaches that other officials were intimidated by. I work in a conference where coaches don't have input to an official but they do provide comments which we get to see. They are good for entertainment (very funny), but not much else.

I have seen many mediocre officials who think they are better than they are "take care of business" while goading a coach or being wrong in the first place. The assignors I work for make no bones about coaches factoring in about 75% of our ratings and assignments. When I worked HS ball, it was 50% for regular season and 100% for post-season. Guess what? Those who cannot deal with coaches effectively get very few games or get dropped, and they complain about it. They are also quickly forgotten. No different than the guy who gets passed over for promotion at work because the boss doesn't like them.

Grudges from coaches don't happen because you T them up. They happen because of a personality conflict. The best know how to defuse those so they don't carry forward.

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by TheOracle

I have seen many mediocre officials who think they are better than they are "take care of business" while goading a coach or being wrong in the first place.

I have seen some poor officials bait coaches into technical fouls too. That is plain wrong. That is not what we are talking about.

The assignors I work for make no bones about coaches factoring in about 75% of our ratings and assignments.

I am really sorry you work in a system where you have handed that much power to the coaches. Sounds like there was a serious lack of cajones in your group when that system got implemented. Most coaches don't know rules, mechanics, or the proper time and place for coach/ref interaction.

When I worked HS ball, it was 50% for regular season and 100% for post-season. Guess what? Those who cannot deal with coaches effectively get very few games or get dropped, and they complain about it. They are also quickly forgotten. No different than the guy who gets passed over for promotion at work because the boss doesn't like them.

I bet if I observed your group, I would see officials spending way too much time with coaches and I bet I would also see some of your "top dogs" not taking care of business like they should.

Grudges from coaches don't happen because you T them up. They happen because of a personality conflict.

True in some cases, completely false in others. I know some coaches who love the officials that they can intimidate and hate the ones who won't allow the coach to cross the line. That whole "personality conflict" term is stupid. We shouldn't be getting to know coaches well enough to have "personality conflicts." We are out there to work with them to administer the game for the athletes. We have an official in our group that about half of the coaches love (the other coaches are smart enough to see through his schmoozing). He spends way too much time with coaches and hurts crew integrity.

The best know how to defuse those so they don't carry forward.

We had a couple coaches in our area that we had to draw a hard line until they learned what they could and couldn't do. I don't think they "liked" any of the officials that expected bench decorum. They liked the ones that they could abuse. Fortunately for us, our assignor was smart enough to send our officials who couldn't be intimidated and the coaches figured it out by the end of their first season.

I was working a district playoff game with a ref last season and he spent way, way too much time with a vocal coach. Twice, on two-shot FT's, I had to wait to toss the ball to the shooter because he was still having a conversation with the coach. At halftime I said, "we are spending way too much time with coaches." He got all offended and said, "in my area, I am consistently rated #1 by our coaches." I dropped it. Later that week, I ran into another official from his area and asked about him. He rolled his eyes and said, "oh yeah, that butt kisser.... some of our coaches love him. His partners can't stand him." Didn't surprise me one bit.

[TheOracle]

I am really sorry you work in a system where you have handed that much power to the coaches. Sounds like there was a serious lack of cajones in your group when that system got implemented. Most coaches don't know rules, mechanics, or the proper time and place for coach/ref interaction.

[/QUOTE]When I worked HS ball, it was 50% for regular season and 100% for post-season. Guess what? Those who cannot deal with coaches effectively get very few games or get dropped, and they complain about it. They are also quickly forgotten. No different than the guy who gets passed over for promotion at work because the boss doesn't like them.

The best know how to defuse those so they don't carry forward.

We had a couple coaches in our area that we had to draw a hard line until they learned what they could and couldn't do. I don't think they "liked" any of the officials that expected bench decorum. They liked the ones that they could abuse. Fortunately for us, our assignor was smart enough to send our officials who couldn't be intimidated and the coaches figured it out by the end of their first season.

I was working a district playoff game with a ref last season and he spent way, way too much time with a vocal coach. Twice, on two-shot FT's, I had to wait to toss the ball to the shooter because he was still having a conversation with the coach. At halftime I said, "we are spending way too much time with coaches." He got all offended and said, "in my area, I am consistently rated #1 by our coaches." I dropped it. Later that week, I ran into another official from his area and asked about him. He rolled his eyes and said, "oh yeah, that butt kisser.... some of our coaches love him. His partners can't stand him." Didn't surprise me one bit.

I understand exactly what you are saying. I just hope that officials know how to show the coaches that line. If you have some young hotshot at his first-high school job, yes, they can certainly be a handful. You have to be stern at times. But if young officials can learn how to communicate with them, they can "take care of business" without burning bridges.

If my partner is talking with a coach during a FT, I just administer the ball. Same goes for any other throw in. That wold have been an easy way to show him, instead of telling him, to quit gabbing so much. Guys who want to brag about their rating or what games they work usually don't have the substance to back it up.

Coaches are never 100% happy with officials. But when there is an underlying respect on both sides, blackballing and screwing good officials n ratings rarely happens. That's my whole point. We can rail agains the system being unfair or figure out a way to work it. I will never kiss anyone's behind. It's not worth it to me. But I will kill them tiwht kindness until it is time not to. When that happens, they always know it, and there are no hard feelings.

I wish I had these skills 20 years ago. The first 10 years taught me some painful lessons about dealing with coaches and schools. I honestly hope people can avoid that. That's where I'm coming from.