Do You Prefer Friends As Partners?

[tomegun]

This isn't anything too deep; something just triggered this thought.

Do you prefer working with friends or people you don't really care for? Just like work at my job, I have no problem seperating work from my personal feelings and accepting what is best.

There are officials I know that I don't really care for, but I would have no problem working games with them. If I know someone is going to work hard and do what is best, I don't have a problem with them for 32 or 40 minutes.

[grunewar]

I prefer to work with officials who care, are conscientious, professional, and do a good job - friend or not, know em or not.

If I have a "friend" who doesn't care about what he's doing.....I don't want to work with them.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by grunewar

I prefer to work with officials who care, are conscientious, professional, and do a good job - friend or not, know em or not.

If I have a "friend" who doesn't care about what he's doing.....I don't want to work with them.

Precisely.

[Scratch85]

I don't have any friends. I have to come to this forum just to have someone to talk to.

However, I can't stand calling a game with an over friendly official who wants to chat at every dead ball and explain any calls that may or may not have been made. I like calling with offficials who go to their spots and only have necessary conversations on the floor.

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by Scratch85

I don't have any friends. I have to come to this forum just to have someone to talk to.

However, I can't stand calling a game with an over friendly official who wants to chat at every dead ball and explain any calls that may or may not have been made. I like calling with offficials who go to their spots and only have necessary conversations on the floor.

You seem well suited to baseball.

[bas2456]

I actually don't mind working with friends, though as many have said, if they care about officiating.

I'm working a few games with my dad in the coming weeks, he's a first year official, but he's done pretty well so far. Shouldn't be a problem

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by Scratch85

I don't have any friends. I have to come to this forum just to have someone to talk to.

However, I can't stand calling a game with an over friendly official who wants to chat at every dead ball and explain any calls that may or may not have been made. I like calling with offficials who go to their spots and only have necessary conversations on the floor.

Ditto.

I can't stand it when partners want to explain every foul/violation, especially in a varsity game. They've played the game long enough, they know what they did.

[jdw3018]

I've called with a couple friends who were good friends before they were offiicals. I really enjoyed it. That said, while in some ways we're good in those situations (we know how we call the game, we have a good feel for rotations, etc), I believe we also tend to relax a little too much when calling together.

I have to work harder at staying "in the game" when with buddies. But when we all do, it's pretty awesome.

They are good officials who take the game seriously, though, and that's the most important thing to have in partners.

[IowaMike]

Originally Posted by grunewar

I prefer to work with officials who care, are conscientious, professional, and do a good job - friend or not, know em or not.

If I have a "friend" who doesn't care about what he's doing.....I don't want to work with them.

I agree with this statement. There are 4 or 5 different guys I generally work my varsity games with. While I am friendly with all of them and we enjoy working together, I don't socialize with any of them outside of officiating so I don't know that I would call them friends. I don't have any really close friends who officiate. I have also worked with guys I don't care for personally but who call a great game. I would work with those guys anytime. However, it does help to at least get along with the guys you work with when you are driving together to a game 70 or 80 miles away.

That being said, it would be great to work with guys who were also really good friends. Unfortunately, all of my good friends are too chicken**** to give officiating a try.

[JRutledge]

Yes and know. I like working with people that I know and I know there little idiosyncrasies, but I like to work with good officials that I do not know either. It keeps you on your toes. Working with people you know you often get lazy and do not stay on top of things. When you work with people you do not know, you have to pay closer attention to your job.

[truerookie]

My mindset is an official is an official friend or not, we have a game to call and that we will do. I do not allow external factors come into play when I officiate a game(who i like or dislike).