I violated rule #1.....not THAT rule #1

[VaTerp]

Originally Posted by Judtech

Then let me clarify: My actions were wrong, not somewhat wrong. If you read into it that I was trying to justify those actions then it is only due to my poor typing/communication skill.
Why did I post it? Share experiences. I have no issue in admitting when I did something wrong. Believe it or not this is out of 'character" for me and I usually try to go the extra mile when on the bench. I obviously failed in this attempt and have actually gotten a few good ideas to put into my quiver in the future, both here on the board and some rather nice Private Messages and I am grateful for them and open for any more!
Learning by shared experience, what message boards were made for!

While I don't condone what you did I can say I understand. I started officiating as an undergrad then coached for several years in my early to mid 20s and still coach AAU in the summer. When I was younger I was probably a little more vocal and less forgiving than I should have been towards officials. I felt that because I knew the rules and had been trained by good officials that I had a right to hold officials doing my games to a high standard. And when they didnt meet that standard it was VERY frustrating.

As I've matured and gotten more into officiating and less into coaching I have found that I say very little to the officials when I am coaching. I realize that not all officials have had the same training I've had and that some just arent that good and nothing I say is really going to raise their level of officiating in that game. In fact, giving them a hard time will likely make it worse as they obviously are struggling to deal with the action in the game without having to worry about a coach.

I will still say a few things here and there and "work" an official like any good coach. But I always try to be respectful and will never try to show an official up. Coaching becomes very emotional once the competitive juices start flowing and I can only imagine that it's even more emotional coaching with your wife. But I do try to put myself in the officials shoes because regardless of what I think of their ability, I respect what it is we all do when we put on the uniform and step on the court.

I'm sure that I have done things as a coach or otherwise that if I posted for anyone to see online it would be easy for someone to form a negative opinion about me. So I'm not going to judge you based on one incident you decided to share on a message board and think it's a bit unfair to do so. I will say though that as an official and a coach, the coaches I respect the most are those that put 99.999% of their energy into coaching their kids. Trying to manipulate officials might get you a call here or there but in the long run it's never a good thing. Coach your kids and try to help the officials improve AFTER the game through the appropriate protocals.