Officiating other sports

[doubleringer]

I do both football and baseball in addition to basketball. I find that football is just plain easy. Once you learn your responsibilities, you have a very small area to worry about, and if you do manage to miss something, there are 4 other guys out there to help you out.

Baseball I find challenging in that there are plays and rotations that you will see less than once a year. I find that baseball is difficult for me in that I'm very much a repetition learner and there are too many variables that don't happen often. I also find that the game management aspect of baseball is different than basketball. It is more of a chess match and moves a lot slower. I personally don't have nearly the same game awareness in baseball because what matters in the game is sometimes very slow to develop.

I've worked full varsity schedules and playoffs in all three for a few years. Baseball is getting cut back for me this summer and I'm getting out totally soon after that. I need my summers to expand my basketball camp attendance and stay in shape. A little more time on the golf course will be nice too.

[DLH17]

Originally Posted by doubleringer

i do both football and baseball in addition to basketball. i find that football is just plain easy. once you learn your responsibilities, you have a very small area to worry about, and if you do manage to miss something, there are 4 other guys out there to help you out.

+1

[Berkut]

Originally Posted by doubleringer

I do both football and baseball in addition to basketball. I find that football is just plain easy. Once you learn your responsibilities, you have a very small area to worry about, and if you do manage to miss something, there are 4 other guys out there to help you out.

Hmmm, if the other 4 guys are doing their job though, they should not be able to help you much of the time.

Football is easier than basketball, although the rules are a hell of a lot more complicated. It is more officiating by exception though - most plays are very routine.

[Amesman]

Originally Posted by Berkut

Football ... the rules are a hell of a lot more complicated. .

Did not realize this (not disputing it, just didn't realize).

I always figured that, sure, while you have to be on your feet and move, it's probably not as much wear and tear as basketball officiating but wasn't sure on the decision-making.

[Berkut]

Originally Posted by Amesman

Did not realize this (not disputing it, just didn't realize).

I always figured that, sure, while you have to be on your feet and move, it's probably not as much wear and tear as basketball officiating but wasn't sure on the decision-making.

Oh, no question that basketball takes a lot more energy and fitness.

Basketball also has many, many, MANY more "tough" calls game in and game out. Football has relatively few.

But the rules can be a bit of a bear, especially if you are the R and hence expected to know them and know all the penalties and enforcements. Heck, just getting the scrimmage kick rules down solid is a challenge that most high school officials never achieve, IMO.

[Mark Padgett]

I think officiating rugby would be cool.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Amesman

Did not realize this (not disputing it, just didn't realize).

I always figured that, sure, while you have to be on your feet and move, it's probably not as much wear and tear as basketball officiating but wasn't sure on the decision-making.

Football rules are the hardest because every rule and application has a specific course of action based on many factors. People think officials in football get together to pick up flags, when actually we are trying to make sure we share all the facts to get a play right. For example if we have a penalty, thinks like did the ball go out of bounds, incomplete pass, first down, live ball, dead ball, score made can all change the enforcement. If you do not recognize the right situation, you will screw up the rule completely. And even though those rules are hard, you can lean on each other to get things right and you have to lean on each other as your penalty might not have anything to do with other actions on the field. A lot of football officials also try to lean on the Referee to make most of these decisions as well. Which is a recipe for trouble, but you can get away with this a lot of the time. The problem is everyone on a football crew needs to know the rules because they might be the one that saves the crew from disaster. This is partially why I feel basketball is harder, because I cannot lean on other officials to get plays right that I call.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

A lot of football officials also try to lean on the Referee to make most of these decisions as well.

This I'll never understand. Of course, as the referee on my crew, I don't have the luxury of letting someone else know the rules and enforcement.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

This I'll never understand. Of course, as the referee on my crew, I don't have the luxury of letting someone else know the rules and enforcement.

I do not understand it either. But many do it and expect the Referee to know everything. And having been a Referee, I realized more how much I need others to know things I cannot answer. A lot of times I was the guy that found out the information last, as I was not looking in certain places. I am sure you know this yourself as a Referee. But often crews get away with it because coaches are clueless to rules and most situations are not realized until much later.

Peace

[jTheUmp]

From the perspective of a thee-year football official, first year basketball official:

I wouldn't say one is necessarily harder then the other, but they are very different experiences.

Football has more complex rules, and a lot more players to watch on a given play (especially in undervarsity play when you only have a 2 person or 3 person crew). On the other hand, you usually get around 15 seconds or so of 'down time' between plays, which can help you mentally reset yourself. And in a regular 4- or 5-person crew, you generally know what you're going to be looking for before a play starts.

Basketball has relatively simple rules, but requires more snap judgements. your keys change much more rapidly then they do in football, and there's very little downtime. Also, the fans are generally much closer to the action, so they can be more of a distraction if you let them... on the other hand, basketball seems to have more of a 'Hot mom' component then football.

I haven't done baseball yet (although I'm starting this spring), so I can't make any comparisons there.