"I'm 52 years old, and in all my years..."
 

"...of watching basketball, I've never said anything to an official after a game until now." "You are the most whistle happy official I've ever seen in those 52 years. I just thought you should know that."

This is the fan feedback I received after an MAYB game over the weekend in which 3 players on "her" team fouled themselves out of the game....and lost by 15 points in the process.

I could only smile and chuckle as she removed all doubt that she was absolutely clueless about the game and how it should be officiated.

WOW! Someone finally outdid me on the MAYB circuit! I worked that crap for a couple of summers and they stopped using me because there were more people leaving the buildings than entering because I was throwing every coach and spectator out. Those people were absolute nuts and of course everyone of them is a referee themselves in a former life. Thus, they know ALL the rules and you don't know jack. It was absolutely pathetic, youth sports at its worst. Never again!

"Thank you for noticing coach. I really do enjoy officiating and am glad that happiness is showing through. You just made my day. And BTW, I had you pegged for someone in their early 40's":D

I've worked dozens of MAYB games. Overall, I love the work. There are isolated instances of crap like this, though. What was interesting about this particular game was the fact the head coach was in my ear on two previous occasions during the game acknowledging how much his team was fouling and praising me for the way I handled one of his disgruntled/disrespectful players at mid-court during free throws.

I had the coach on my side. Grandma-fan was insanely lost in all the "drama". She should have sought a debriefing with her grandson's head coach before approaching me. But, that is ok. I was confident in how I managed the game. I'm ready to pizz her off next weekend - or whenever she dares to watch me work again. ;)

OK, help me out here. What is MAYB???

Thanks for asking, Rock. I'm on the other coast, and hadn't heard of it, either. Sounds like the equivalent of AAU in our area.

Nice reply, Judtech. I'd have to resist the temptation of saying, "You're ONLY 52?!" (That wouldn't end well.)

It's what I tell my wife when she asks if I want to take out the garbage.

A simple" You should get out more!" Probably does the trick here.

In terms of the level of play, AAU is much much better around here, imo. But, MAYB is a growing organization that attracts a lot of teams - good and bad - to dozens of tournaments with 5 game guarantees.

AAU ball around here uses a shot clock and, depending on age group, allows a player 6 personal fouls. MAYB does not utilize a shot clock and allows 5 player personals only.

As far as that 52 yr old Grandma-fan, when she approached me, she had a pleasant look on her face and extended her hand. I shook her hand (which turned out to be a mistake cuz she wouldn't let it go until she made her point). That's when she said, "I'm 52 years old". Of course, I immediately smiled and said "No no no! You look more like FORTY 2."

Unfortunately, she didn't fall over dead from being killed by my kindness. She wouldn't let go of my hand until I had all I could take of her perfume, hand lotion and criticism.

I have worked many of the alphabet soup leagues and all of them are basically the same. I do not know why this league would be much different as you still have coaches and fans that are clueless. And the kids are made up of players from different places or schools than who they would normally play with. The only difference I see is when we work these games from an officiating camp standpoint. As those camps encourage officials to take care of business and we are being evaluated for how we handle the coaches and players. Other than that, I do not see how these individuals behave differently.

Peace

"I'm 52 years old, and in all my years..."

Shoot, man, I use that line about twice a month. I try not to use it on the same referees, though.

I have to admit that, among many reasons for poor behavior by fans, coaches and players, one of those may well be "lazy officiating". I've given up a large pctg of my games this spring/early summer so I can attend my daughter's 12U games at some of these MAYB tournaments. And, to be honest, I'm appalled by the lack of hustle and interest on the part of the officials working some of her games. Little to no switching, reporting from the baseline by the lead official, no bump and run.

Anyone that watched me work this weekend (w/ the exception of 52 yr old granny super fan) saw an official that was working his butt off. I despise laziness.

I think sometimes it's lazy, others it's ignorance. Many newer officials working these leagues don't know jack about switching, reporting fouls, or positioning. Hell, half the time you're grateful when they're not both on the same side of the court. They're new, it's where they learn.

I won't disagree, Snaq, because there are a lot of new officials out there. Thing is, in my area, I've been around long enough now to know who the newbies are...and the guys I saw being lazy weren't newbies. They were apathetic midlings. IMO, they are no longer motivated by anything other than getting their games in and leaving with their game check.

No passion, no professional pride, no nuthin.

Sad.