Tim Higgins?
 

I didn't see Tim Higgins on Thursday or Friday. Did I miss him? Or is he not working the tournament this year? I guess it could be the end of an era. I think he worked 12 Final Fours which is pretty amazing!

I think you're right.

Other notable absences:
Steve Welmer (no surprise)
Brian O'Connell (worked the Big East Championship final)
Steve Olson
Rick Hartzell

He worked a first round NIT game in Kingston, RI (URI vs Northwestern) on Wednesday night. Thought it would just be a warm-up for him before he drove up the road 31 miles from the Ryan Center to Providence for Thursday/ Saturday first and second round NCAA games.

Higgins was a good official for a long time but he simply can't get up and down the floor like he once did.

I see a lot of new faces in stripes, which seems to be the trend.

I think that is great. There are a lot of good officials out there.

John Adams likes newer and up and coming officials. He also does not like guys who cannot keep up anymore. And that is probably why if you look at other big time names, they are also not on the list as well. Or if they make the tournament, they are not going as far as they did under Adams as they did with Hank Nichols.

Peace

I think there was some question if Rick Hartzell got all of his paperwork done before the deadline to be able to work the NCAA Tournament.

I agree...nothing wrong with getting some new faces in there and I think that the officiating this past weekend was generally top-notch.

I guess I'm just a sentimental kind of guy. I went to Syracuse and always knew we were going to get a well officiated game when Higgins was in the dome. But, like I said...It appears to be the end of an era.

That being said, I haven't noticed Higgins having that much trouble keeping up and I give him credit, he has kept his schedule at a reasonable amount for his age unlike some of his contemporaries.

I do like seeing some of the younger faces so far and I hope it continues but my guess is that you'll see the normal crew at the Final Four though (Cahill, Corbett, Greene, etc.) with one or two new faces.

He does not get most of the Big games in the Big Ten anymore (not that I ever remember him getting them all anyway). That has not happen for some time. Guys like Hillary, Welmer, Hightower and Burr would usually be on those games. I cannot speak for the Big East, I am not in that region.

Peace

go away

I didn't realize that being a "vet" got you an automatic bid into the tournament.

I don't understand why people get picked year after year when there are so many good D-I officials out there. Anything to get new faces opportunities is a good change, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm with you Rich. Instead of looking at it as a negative towards Higgins, I look at it a positive for the other very good officials who are now getting an opportunity to shine.

Now if only certain state HS associations would get that message. :rolleyes:

I would totally disagree with you on this...if the best officials each year are the same officials then they should be assigned to work the NCAA tournament and any HS State Tournament. The assigning for the NCAA tourney is a very complicated process hoping to put the "best" officials to work in the Tournament. If you are good enough to work you will get your shot to work at all levels...IMO!

Define best in this case then I have another question/comment for you.

It's my belief that 'best' often means "most comfortable"/"more familiar"/"more credible" with the coaches.

So you are saying the best doesn't mean the best? :D

No, the best means whatever "I think is the best." It does not account for what others may or may not think. And since that is subjective, it only matters what John Adams and the committee thinks. What we think does not mean anything.

Peace

Best is subjective. Who's to say one official is better than another? What are the objective criteria?

It's easy to say this when you're on the inside and there are many officials trying to pound on the (seemingly) locked door. When some officials have been to the state tourney 5, 6, 10 times and there are outstanding officials who never get a shot at it, I think the system is broken. There is nothing about the officials I saw on TV last week (and I admit I didn't watch much as I'd rather watch the NCAA tourney) head and shoulders above the varsity officials I see with 25+ years experience who've never gotten the call. I think it's just easier to pick the same people year after year than try to identify new people and give them their shot.

Right, you're also going on what you see on TV which doesn't factor in a LOT of variables including rules knowledge, game management, etc. Or even a lot of the minor things like signals, etc that you rarely see on TV (I always scream for them not to cut away when they go to report but they almost always do :-( )

Of course all of it is still subjective -- but there is a lot of that subjective we are not privy too either.

I think there are some physical things that aren't subjective and we can make a decision on. Whether we choose to or not is another subject. For instance, if an official can't make it up the court...they can't make it up the court (not saying this about Higgins). If an official does not make position adjustments and is clearly straight-lined that isn't really subjective. If a position adjustment, like continuing to go low at the C, keeps a closed look that isn't subjective.

Hey, if we want to be a fan(boy) of other officials, or fans of the game I have no problem with that - IU and Bobby Knight are the greatest. However, if we want to talk about this as officials, we can't just look at who the official is and ignore what they do on the court. Having said all of that, I don't know why Higgins wasn't selected and I think there was some good/great officiating last weekend.

I think officials like Karl Hess, Anthony Jordan and others have done a great job so far. Does anyone know what Karl Hess tells his patients during the season?

That's why doctors have associates and partners. :p

You have kind of been messing with me today huh? Are you still coming out here soon?

Bobby Knight is the greatest what? :confused: Let's take turns finishing that sentence. I'll go first. "Bobby Knight is the greatest CENSORED."

You mean like many using college mechanics even though there was a memo out specifically asking people not to use college mechanics? :D

I'll be out there 10/10/10 to get married. I'll probably finagle a TDY to Creech/Nellis sometime in June or July.

Back on topic. I am most definitely happy with the seeing new faces in the tournament. For new officials to get in some familiar officials have to be left off the list. That's the nature of this, or any, business.

Saying XYZ is still a good official is not a sufficient argument to exclude new faces. By using that argument the only way an official stops going to the tournament is if he gets injured or retires. This isn't the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court justices do not step down due to injury. At least, not brain injury. :rolleyes:

Despite what anyone would like to be the case, every type of skill has a very few who are truly the best....the basic bell curve holds true in just about any endeavor. You've got a lot of average officials, a moderate amount of pretty good and fairly poor officials, and a few that are pathetic and a few that are outstanding.

The funny thing is that 80% of a group, when surveyed will think they are above average (several studies have shown this sort of inflated sense of a person's own abilities). But, that can't, in normal situations, be true. At least 30% of the officials are worse than they think they are....probably more as a few humble officials are actually better than average that don't think so.

THe real question is whether you want the best on the tournaments or those that are "good enough". The difference between the best and the "good enough" will not always be visible and will matter even less, but it will eventually matter.

The difference shows up in the number of mistakes. The best still make them, but make fewer (or smaller mistakes). Most time, such mistakes don't have any material impact...but if you make enough more, eventually one will happen in a situation that matters.

Many of the average officials would probably do a fine job on most of the games....but the odds of a problem increase. How "deep" you go really depends on the acceptability of the increased risk of an unfavorable situation.

Of course, determining the "best" is a difficult proposition...and an entirely different question.

Good article on Tim Higgins here.....

Basketballrefs.com

Just click on the link for the story.

I thought that Senator Kennedy passed away.

Alrighty then...:D

Tonight ESPN Classic showed the Big East conference tournament quarterfinal game between Pittsburgh and Georgetown played on March 6, 1986.

Seeing nothing better on TV, I decided to watch it for a few minutes. I noticed a few things.
1. The players were far less muscular, especially in the upper body than we see today.
2. First year of the shot clock. It was 45 seconds.
3. No three point shot. (NCAA adopted it nationally for the 1986-87 season.)
4. The C sometimes administered a FT.
5. Dick Vitale was one of the broadcasters.
6. Tim Higgins was one of the officials. :eek: He was MUCH younger, but I had no doubt due to the way that he moved and his signals.

For conclusive proof, I decided to search the internet for a copy of the box score. Here it is: http://www.bigeast.org/fls/19400/sta...B_OEM_ID=19400
Yep, there's his name.

Higgins has been reffing college ball since the 70's and he was, along with Jim Burr, one of the original members of the Big East officiating staff when the conference formed in 1979-1980 season (the conference formed in May of 1979 after the hoop season ended).

There has never been a Big East basketball season that did not see Higgins or Burr on the floor working games in the conference. It's pretty amazing!

I will just say this. Then why does Higgins get about 10 feet in front of the ball as the new trail? I only say this because those are not the mechanics and those are not acceptable by many. In other words, if I were to do this as a camper, I would get told about it.

Peace

Like someone else said, there are so many good D1 officials out there. I like seeing athletic officials working deep into the tournament. I even think Karl Hess has slimmed down some and I wouldn't be surprised to see him work the championship game this year.

So can a lot of officials, why should Mr. Higgins get preference over the other qualified officials?

And??? You must be bored.

Higgins is working the first NIT semi tonight.

Still a very good official imo but he does have mobility problems. He not only looks like a penguin but he's starting to run like one too. I can see where he might have a few problems in a fast-paced games.

As I said though, he can still do the job imo. And that's why he's out there tonight.

He's had his 30+ years at the D1 level. Time to go be a conference supervisor and give someone else a chance. He would be a very valuable person at clinics, camps, and as an observer.

So, if you were a conference supervisor, are you telling me you would knowingly get rid of a known commodity, a great official, simply to make a spot available on the roster to "give someone a chance"? As a supervisor, you are paid to put the best officials out there on the floor, not simply give people chances.

Now, if you break down the tapes and see because Tim is struggling to get up and down the floor, he was out of position and missed "X" calls, while the other members of his crew missed less, then now you have a legitimate reason to remove him from the staff. To simply remove him because "he's had his 30+ years" might be a way to also see you lose your job as supervisor. My guess is, even though he might be slower than before, there are other areas of the game where he still excels, such as call selection and communication, and that's why supervisors continue to use him. When the negatives outweigh the positives, then I'm sure you will see him retire. But not simply because of a number, such as age or number of years officiating.

Isn't he already a valuable person at clinics and camps? Is being a clinician mutually exclusive to being a good D-1 official?

So, Nevada, since you've had your 10,000+ posts, isn't time you step down and give someone else a chance to be a pain in the a$$? :D

Ha!

Are you volunteering? Uneasy lies the head... :D

Naw, M&M has already won the Lifetime Achievement Award....and retired the trophy.:D

See, therein lies the problem. Although I would really like to take his place, and I would really appreciate it if he stepped down based solely on his number of posts, unfortunately I just don't have the experience and knowledge he has when it comes to being the resident pain-in-the-a$$. So I am resigned to simply waiting my turn, and continuing to hone my craft until it is obvious that I am indeed better than him, rather than simply saying he is too old and it's just time to give someone else a chance.

;)

I learned from a Very Old Master. He's taught me everything I know, but he didn't teach me everything he knows. Therefore, the LAA trophy must stay with him.

And, of course, I must include the obligatory: "shut up."

LAA me....



Note to self: shut up.