On a more specific level, do you sometime find it hard to maintain an unbiased approach to a particularly troublesome player (temper, making faces, marginal poor sportsmanship, etc)? I would think it takes tons of discipline some nights.

This may be a dangerous statement, but when has that stopped me?
If you asked me right now who won the games I did over the weekend (Friday and Saturday) I honestly could not tell you with out some thought. My wife even asked on Saturday and I said "Yes". The only thing I care about is where the game is being played and when I need to be at the gym. ANother consideration I give is who is playing. Why? Well if my assignor calls and gives me the choice of games I will take the two teams that will be competitive. I don't care who wins, I just want it to be well played and/or a close game. THose are much more fun and easier to call. However, this has just landed me the City Rivalry game at the Middle School level next week. I was bumped from a JV game for this. It should be fun, earlier in the year, one of our officials was threatened by a mob, yes mob, outside the door and had to have a police escort to his car where another group was waiting.
I am SOOOOO excited!

LOL! At least you could have posted a sign!

http://www.allied-media.com/images/signs-traffic.gif

In a lopsided kids rec game, with a dirty, slippery tile gym floor I favor the underdog on OB calls that are on the baseline. But this did not happen until my older, wiser, and more experienced partner said:

"The parents are here to see their kids play basketball, not the referees blow whistles."

Which at that level made sense to me.

My experience has been that basketball is a contact sport. Some contact is incidental to the game, other contact creates an unfair advantage and is rightly penalized.

There is a reason that some teams are favored. They know how to use their size and strength to their legal advantage. The un-informed watch a physical game where the fouls seem to go one way and don't realize that the refs are calling it exactly how they should. Fans of the losing side think that the refs are calling the game in a way that benefits the favorite.

Frequently, in reality, the stronger team's players are in an advantageous position when contact occurs, and they become the rightful beneficiary of foul calls. They are one step quicker to the loose balls, and get most of the calls when there is contact contesting those balls. What looks like a call that could go either way is called in favor of the player who started out in the advantageous position.

It takes watching a lot of games, and the ability to separate yourself from what you want to happen, to understand this when it happens to a team you support.

Yessir! Never penalize any ballplayer for being bigger,stronger,more skilled or better coached than their adversary.

Well said
 

How can I work a game for you Hawks Coach? Our HS season is near done and I'm getting tired of the howlers. It would be a pleasure to work a game for a well coached team of players and a coach that understands the game as well as you do.

Thanks for your input to the forum.