This past weekend in Vegas

[tomegun]

I have never seen so much basketball in Vegas at one time. I had the daunting task of assigning more than 20 courts for three tournaments at the same time. I didn't make it to 1/4 of the courts I assigned, but this is what I took from the weekend:

• There are a lot of good officials out there - both good on the court and good people
• There are a lot of U1s and U2s out there; I was amazed at how many calls I got about issues that could have been handled without my intervention.
• On the flip side, one official sent me a text message and said, "I ejected a coach. He was being belligerent and disrespectful. blah, blah, blah." My response: good job.
• I can't believe how many officials were late, no shows and/or out of uniform. Especially when the guy I worked for clearly communicated fines.
• The only time I was able to relax was when I was on the court officiating.
• Many officials have a seriously inflated opinion of their abilities. I hope some of them realized they were in over their heads and I cannot let that happen again next year regardless of what I think of them as people.
• Many officials lack integrity and think other people, me in this case, are stupid. Uh, I don't think so.
• My cell phone was blowing up all weekend! I'm almost at my monthly limit of 1500 text messages and my billing cycle doesn't end until the 16th. Yikes!
• Basketball is a great sport.

One official from this board was going to come and work, but something happened and he was unable to make it. Word on the street was that Nevada was in town, but he was working another tournament and I didn't see him or talk to him.

[Mark Padgett]

It sounded pretty stressful but think about how nice and cool it was outside.

[Jay R]

I was also involved (as an official only) in a big tournament in our area. Every year, it's a struggle to get enough guys and gals to officiate this tourney.

Here are some of my observations:
- The level of play was strong with a few exceptions
- Most officials were doing so many games (3-4 games a day of good quality high school age and one older division) that it's difficult to stay sharp
- Most officials worked hard and were professional
- A couple were an embarassment to our avocation
- One official stopped to talk to a fan during play; on a drive to the basket, his partner had to call a foul from the trail because buddy wasn't looking at the play (this guy should not be officiating but that's what happens when you don't have the numbers)
- Myself, I had a great weekend of mostly good ball and a nice paycheck to take home.

[tomegun]

Wow, your only concern with number of games were officials doing 3-4? One of my biggest struggles was officials wanting to come here and make a lot of money. With travel and lodging it is difficult - some officials wanted me to give them 8-10 games a day. By last night I could see officials struggling. I know this is driven by the economy, but I will have strict standards next year. I don't know how they do it; I did four games yesterday and I was tired (I didn't plan on doing four, but when I asked the site director if he wanted three-man for the last four games I was the only official there so I had to do the first two of those last four).

The other problem I had was officials thinking they could receive games from me and assign them or that they were the leader of their group that came with them. Some of those officials will not be back; I have someone I'm accountable to and I have to know what is going on.

[Judtech]

Heck, if you had had it in April I could have helped out. I would have done it for a free buffet and/or show ticket!!
Although it appears you did violate the first rule of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. What happened in Vegas apparently didn't stay in Vegas!!

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by tomegun

some officials wanted me to give them 8-10 games a day.

Padgett was in town?

[fullor30]

Regarding pay issues, I reffed 5 games at a high level Nike national girls tournament last month in the Chicago area with games at various sites. The assigner wanted a 'resume' to see if you were 'qualified' to officiate. Emails were fast and furious a good month before tourney, with various guidelines to follow and numerous site changes. My games were changed to a Junior College 60 miles from my home. My first game was at 8:00 am and assigner wanted us there 30 minutes prior to tipoff, and we were required to call him when we arrived. I should have known something was up when I checked my partner's experience level on the IHSA web site.............3rd year guy.

Half way into first game I find out game fee is twenty bucks. The entrance fee for teams was I believe 10,000 making it, according to coaches, the most expensive event to date. It was a college exposure event with over 200 college coaches attending. I was furious and felt taken advantage of. I don't officiate for money but somebody was taking a hefty slice out of our pockets.

As it turned out, many officials found out it was 20 bucks a game and either backed out, or just didn't show for the next day games. I never bothered to ask game fees as I assumed it would be fair for summer ball.

Only good thing about the event was it was good ball with great players from all over the country.

That said, it's been almost a month and I'm yet to be paid.

Fool me once..............

[grunewar]

Tough story Fullor!

Originally Posted by fullor30

.........it's been almost a month and I'm yet to be paid.

Along with everything else, man I hate this! You know money changed hands a long, long time ago!

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by fullor30

Half way into first game I find out game fee is twenty bucks. The entrance fee for teams was I believe 10,000 making it, according to coaches, the most expensive event to date. It was a college exposure event with over 200 college coaches attending. I was furious and felt taken advantage of. I don't officiate for money but somebody was taking a hefty slice out of our pockets.

I hope you are wrong becasue that it completely outrageous unless they're playing 30-40 games.

They were paying the officials $20/game for a total of $40/game. Perhaps some other clock/logistics/security people were being paid. So maybe you've got $100 per game in personnel expenses...call it $200 to be generous and give the organizers and assignor a little profit. Gym space is not that expensive and even if it were, it woudn't add up to 10k. Let's call it $300 per game for floor time. So @ $500 per game split between 2 teams ($250 each). That gives them enough money to run 40 games per team...

...or the organizers and/or assignors are making a lot of money.

The fact that college coaches are there is not relevant, they're there on their own dime.

[GoodwillRef]

Originally Posted by tomegun

Wow, your only concern with number of games were officials doing 3-4? One of my biggest struggles was officials wanting to come here and make a lot of money. With travel and lodging it is difficult - some officials wanted me to give them 8-10 games a day. By last night I could see officials struggling. I know this is driven by the economy, but I will have strict standards next year. I don't know how they do it; I did four games yesterday and I was tired (I didn't plan on doing four, but when I asked the site director if he wanted three-man for the last four games I was the only official there so I had to do the first two of those last four).

The other problem I had was officials thinking they could receive games from me and assign them or that they were the leader of their group that came with them. Some of those officials will not be back; I have someone I'm accountable to and I have to know what is going on.

We have guys in our area that also want to work 8-10 games in a day and they are walking up and down the court during game #1! An official that has respect for himself and the game (IMO) will not work more than four games in a day.

[Zoochy]

Originally Posted by GoodwillRef

We have guys in our area that also want to work 8-10 games in a day and they are walking up and down the court during game #1! An official that has respect for himself and the game (IMO) will not work more than four games in a day.

I work a few leagues/tournaments in the Sl. Louis area. I can only handle 4 games. Mentally and physically I break down at 4 games. I do see other that are doing 6-9 games. They move slow. One guy moves soooooooo slooooooooow down the court, that if the court was cement, it would harden before he got from one end to the other.

[bainsey]

Originally Posted by tomegun

[*]There are a lot of U1s and U2s out there; I was amazed at how many calls I got about issues that could have been handled without my intervention.

Some clarity, please. Are you talking about umpires in a three-man crew, or do "U1 & U2" have another meaning?

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by bainsey

Some clarity, please. Are you talking about umpires in a three-man crew, or do "U1 & U2" have another meaning?

He's referring to officials who are assigned as U1 or U2 in a three man crew becasue they don't yet have the experience, knowledge, know-how- or people skills to be the referee (the man who has all those qualities and can handle a situation before it gets pushed back to the assignor.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

He's referring to officials who are assigned as U1 or U2 in a three man crew becasue they don't yet have the experience, knowledge, know-how- or people skills to be the referee (the man who has all those qualities and can handle a situation before it gets pushed back to the assignor.

I'm guessing he might have even been talking about people who were assigned to the R position but acted like a U1/U2.

[tomegun]

It can be all of the above, but in this case it was simply calling me on the phone for dumb stuff. This really applies for many occupations. It is like someone who always has to ask versus someone who knows what to do and may or may not back brief.

BNR, I'm thinking the only thing we will have at that time is Men's Rec. July was definitely the month to come out. NBA scrimmages, Euro League tryouts, huge high AAU tournaments. It was like Boo Williams on steroids.