Friday Night Lights

[grunewar]

GV game Friday…..two large, rival schools. JV officials come in the locker room after their game. We ask how much time is on the clock, they say 20:00. Five minutes later we go out. R looks at the clock – 20:00!

DJ (yes, DJ) comes out and says he is having “technical difficulties.” We take the court a few minutes later. Go through the meetings – R tries to be humorous with the girls – yuck.

We line up for the National Anthem…..and the student singing live forgets the words. I looked at her and picked it up and the entire crowd now sings the final few stanzas.

Lights go down, players are announced with strobes and such….and then, the lights won’t heat up again and go on. Game delayed until the gym gets bright enough! I'm U1, V coach knows what’s coming and asks me if we can start as this may help his team……Funny!

Game starts. A scores (2-0). B inbounds and A steals (4-0). B inbounds and throws it away. A scores (6-0) with 6:45 to go in first period. B now gets the ball over the Division Line and B Guard puts the ball on her hip and stands there. A is not challenging her. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick…..for about 30 seconds, and THEY’RE down 6-0.

B worked a very deliberate half-court offense all night. A eventually doubled B’s score. Several nasty collisions and minor injuries. One collision was two players from the same team.

And so my Friday night went.

Sad to say, I was thinking (WWMPD? Did he write this script?).

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by grunewar

GV game Friday…..two large, rival schools. JV officials come in the locker room after their game. We ask how much time is on the clock, they say 20:00. Five minutes later we go out. R looks at the clock – 20:00!

DJ (yes, DJ) comes out and says he is having “technical difficulties.” We take the court a few minutes later. Go through the meetings – R tries to be humorous with the girls – yuck.

We line up for the National Anthem…..and the student singing live forgets the words. I looked at her and picked it up and the entire crowd now sings the final few stanzas.

Lights go down, players are announced with strobes and such….and then, the lights won’t heat up again and go on. Game delayed until the gym gets bright enough! I'm U1, V coach knows what’s coming and asks me if we can start as this may help his team……Funny!

Game starts. A scores (2-0). B inbounds and A steals (4-0). B inbounds and throws it away. A scores (6-0) with 6:45 to go in first period. B now gets the ball over the Division Line and B Guard puts the ball on her hip and stands there. A is not challenging her. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick…..for about 30 seconds, and THEY’RE down 6-0.

B worked a very deliberate half-court offense all night. A eventually doubled B’s score. Several nasty collisions and minor injuries. One collision was two players from the same team.

And so my Friday night went.

Sad to say, I was thinking (WWMPD? Did he write this script?).

He'd have puked on the coaches' shoes while it was still dark.

[Scuba_ref]

This is my first year at the Varsity level and tonight I had the AP 1A #6 girls and then the AP 1A #1 boys teams in a double header. The Girls game was a 40 point blowout and the boys game was a 70 point blowout. I felt like I did very well in the girls game - called a good game and didn't hear any complaints from players, coaches or fans.

I felt like I was a step behind during the boys game, more nervous in general. While I didn't feel as confident after the boys game it apparently didn't show enough for the crowd, coaches or players to realize...other than the beads of sweat on my forehead.

I know that a lot of the credit goes to this discussion board. I read religiously multiple times per day and have learned a ton. The one question I can't seem to find an answer to is "what is the number one rule of officiating?

[KJUmp]

Gigdgo

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Scuba_ref

I felt like I was a step behind during the boys game, more nervous in general. While I didn't feel as confident after the boys game it apparently didn't show enough for the crowd, coaches or players to realize...other than the beads of sweat on my forehead.

I sure know that feeling. I work very hard to slow the game down by focusing intensely on the 4 or so players in my PCA. I count them, I watch the matchups, and remind myself to focus on the defense. Then I relax, let the game come to me, and have a patient whistle. Seems to work for me.

[Rich]

I'm just the opposite. I'm close to putting girls basketball behind me, to be honest. At times I struggle with the lack of pace and the players' lack of being able to work through any kind of contact. I'd say that, on average, my girls games have 10 more fouls than my boys games and are about half as fun to work. There are always exceptions, but I'm not sure they're worth it.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Scuba_ref

What is the number one rule of officiating?

Noooooooooooooooo !!! What have you done Scuba_ref? It's going to be like the apocalypse and armageddon rolled into one.

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Noooooooooooooooo !!! What have you done Scuba_ref? It's going to be like the apocalypse and armageddon rolled into one.

Only if he violates it.

[Scuba_ref]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Noooooooooooooooo !!! What have you done Scuba_ref? It's going to be like the apocalypse and armageddon rolled into one.

With three weeks and 21 games left until the season ends for me I thought it might be nice to end with a bang.

As an acolyte of the grand MP I can honestly say that I have not broken THE RULE in the three years/150+ games of my officiating career.

[Juulie Downs]

Originally Posted by grunewar

We line up for the National Anthem…..and the student singing live forgets the words. I looked at her and picked it up and the entire crowd now sings the final few stanzas.

Stanzas plural?? How many stanzas do you usually sing? Do you mean phrases? Bars?

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Juulie Downs

Stanzas plural?? How many stanzas do you usually sing? Do you mean phrases? Bars?

Wasn't sure if it was the right terminology or not, but knew someone would certainly let me know......bottom line, she forgot the words.

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by grunewar

Wasn't sure if it was the right terminology or not, but knew someone would certainly let me know......bottom line, she forgot the words.

Most people don' know there are any words beyond the first stanza. You can't forget what you don't know.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

You can't forget what you don't know.

True. Also, you can't forget what you do know.