Went to observe a very good boys tourney yesterday and saw one very, very good game and one rather mediocre. I sat behind the table which is where I always try to sit if I am there to observe the officiating, and saw and heard quite a bit of what was going on. The guy who was R, was just absolutely poetic in his officiating (although I don't care at all for him personally!). The game included many emotional and somewhat tense players, three very volatile coaches with a great deal on the line, a partner who was a little bit of a loose cannon. Mr. R kept complete and total control of it all. There was one shouting match between the partner and one assistant coach, one insult swapping between two players of opposite teams, and one intentional foul that almost turned into a brawl -- but didn't, because of the cool of Mr. R. His mechanics were perfect, and he was ALWAYS in the right position to see the action. I doubt he missed a single call, although his partner missed a couple. He calmed the hot heads, kept the table in line and spoke to his partner as necessary. The game was very close, and closely played.
I also saw this partner lose his cool, and it showed me what not to do. He did recover himself, though, and did a very good job over all, but I do think his temper caused him to miss a couple of fouls, and also I think make one bad call. Still he wouldn't have been there at all if he wasn't very, very good, but he just couldn't measure up to Mr. R.
I also realized, I don't ever want to work WITH someone as good as Mr. R, until I'm that good. The contrast would not make me look good! But I definitely want to watch and learn from him some more. Very instructive!
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