Whistle for a sub?

[tomegun]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

I don't disagree with you. I am a firm believer that play-calling is 90% of the deal for officials and I spend most of my time worrying about getting the right position and the right look and the right philosophy to make proper decisions on the court.

That said, why can't officials focus on that *and* get the mechanics right, too?

Last summer I went to a camp where I was told up front that "this is a HS camp, we will use HS mechanics." I hadn't raised my hand 5 times in 3 years before pointing a direction and still got some darned good assignments. I took it as a challenge (and I didn't want to be noticed for something so silly) and didn't miss a single "stop clock" the entire weekend and was *still* noticed (in a positive way) for my play calling.

So while I'm not against what you say, I'll ask again -- why can't officials do both?

In a perfect world they can, but either I have the worst luck or high school officials can't do both (half serious, half kidding). Let me ask you this, would you ding an official who looks good, but doesn't use mechanics by the book versus an official who uses sloppy mechanics by the book?

I failed to mention, Las Vegas has always been a liberal area when it comes to mechanics. I started years ago in phoenix and we had to do everything precisely by the book. That actually helped me when I got to Vegas - I had fundamentally sound mechanics to start with.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by tomegun

Let me ask you this, would you ding an official who looks good, but doesn't use mechanics by the book versus an official who uses sloppy mechanics by the book?

I'd ding both of 'em. There's no excuse for either imo. If you want uniformity in your area, it's up to YOU to set the parameters of what that uniformity should be and then apply those parameters. If you're not doing so, why evaluate people in the first place?

I could care less what parameters you set up locally, Tom. As long as everybody in your area is trying to do the same thing, great. But, as Nevada said, you may have a problem when your officials go outside your area. However, imo that ain't really a biggie either. A good pre-game takes care of most of those problems.

[tomegun]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

I'd ding both of 'em. There's no excuse for either imo. If you want uniformity in your area, it's up to YOU to set the parameters of what that uniformity should be and then apply those parameters. If you're not doing so, why evaluate people in the first place?

I could care less what parameters you set up locally, Tom. As long as everybody in your area is trying to do the same thing, great. But, as Nevada said, you may have a problem when your officials go outside your area. However, imo that ain't really a biggie either. A good pre-game takes care of most of those problems.

I can understand what you are saying and I will set the parameters. Unfortunately, I don't think Nevada will like those parameters.

I also agree that officials should be able to do both, but if you can tell me why they can't I'm all ears. Like most associations, we have officials who are at/near the tops in terms of ratings, new officials and those in the middle. The officials in the middle are the ones who make up most of the association and that is where we need to get better.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by tomegun

1) Unfortunately, I don't think Nevada will like those parameters.

2) I also agree that officials should be able to do both, but if you can tell me why they can't I'm all ears. Like most associations, we have officials who are at/near the tops in terms of ratings, new officials and those in the middle. The officials in the middle are the ones who make up most of the association and that is where we need to get better.

1) Jmo but as long as your area is consistent in the mechanics, there ain't a damn thing wrong with it. Local evaluations will show you whether your officials are really doing what you want them to do. And the same holds true for Nevada's area. Iow, I don't think that either of you should dictate mechanic usage to the other. And I also don't think that it's gonna be any real problem come tournament time either. They have evaluators at regionals, state, etc. that will let you know what they want used. And any official picked for state playoffs should be able to easily adjust imo.

2) If I could tell you, some of my my own officials would be a helluva lot better than they are now. In my experience, it's a matter of an official wanting to get better. Some will listen to you; some will nod their heads up and down and say "uh-huh, Tom" and immediately go back to doing what they want to do as soon as you're out of sight. Imo you're sureashell on the right track though, trying to teach and train what you think needs to be done to upgrade your people.