Take a look at this article. It is from a coach who has lost to the same team two years in a row and has in issue with the officiating. If I am not mistaken I believe the interviewed him right after the loss, thus you can hear his emotion in his comment. Tell me what you think.

http://www.theadvocate.com/stories/0..._eahs001.shtml

Give the coach a pacifier and put him in his crib.

Z

Coach should be suspended for a game or two at the beginning of next season. Pretty standard rant, a la Pat Riley. Can't fine a HS coach $20,000 tho. So a game or two off should do it. I'm sure the AD won't do it, tho.

Chuck

One word:CRAZY!

"had 3 shots at the basket in last 15 seconds"... and missed all 3. He's right, the officials cost him the game because they made his team miss all 3 shots.

Typical crybaby. Fortunately most coaches have more brains than this jerk.

How do you suppose he responds to parents that tell him that it was his coaching that cost their child a college scholarship?

Did I read the article correctly? He had two trips to the line in the last min. of regulation, and 4 free throws in the last min. of OT?? And missed them all???? And now is crying about the refs??????? Ouch...

His team had ample opportunity. The coach is catching a some heat from his comments last night. I doubt he gets suspeneded or anything like that, but I am sure he will lose some respect in the community.

[Edited by Ridgeben on Feb 25th, 2003 at 10:42 AM]

I've seen missed & bad calls....Heck I've made my share.

To blame a ref for blowing an entire game is giving them too much credit. I don't see HOW one of us could if one wanted to.

It's sad.

Our state association doesn't put up with this type of crap. Perhaps the LHSAA needs to be made aware of it.

I am sure the LHSAA is taking a look at it. The commisioner lives in the same area as this guy.

[Edited by Ridgeben on Feb 25th, 2003 at 10:43 AM]

I just emailed this clown and read him the riot act. I encourage all of you to do the same. Here is his email address:


[email protected]

Here's the reply to my email. Notice he misspelled my name. Also - I tried to catch and point out all the spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors, but there were so many, I'm sure I missed some. Remember, this guy is a teacher.


Mr. Padget,
As for my remarks in the Advocate, I stand by them. As for as blaming the officials for our loss; you are out of line sir. I find your remarks unprofessional. As for as my players lacking skills I find that insulting from you. I have been coaching for 20 years. I have tried my
best to place a disciplined and skilled team on the floor. My trackrecord (sic) proves that. It's that skill which was hampered by one official.

When you have one official making calls out of his area; then that's unprofessional, insulting and ludicrous. When an official stands under the goal and watch (sic) a player violently hits the floor and calls nothing then that's disrespecting to me as a coach and it's disrespecting for my players. Because personally, I teach my kids not to go after air borne (sic) shooters. Why go to a referees meeting and go over the rules? Mac said protect the shooter, they didn't. This was given to all officials that attended the meetings. No, the referees didn't lose the game, one official in a three man crew decided to make call after call out of his area. Do you think it's professional for an official to make decisive calls out of his area? Why did this one person take it up on (sic) his self to blow his whistle? I believe their are so mechanics involved in refereeing. This one referee did not allow his partners to make calls in their area. How do you think I felt watching my kids hit the floor and this one official would not make the call.

I have two kids seriously hurt after this game. It's inside of 30 seconds; my guard is driving to the basket she clearly gets pushed and knocked down on the shot, there is no call. Early in the game he's called similar plays against us blocking rightfully awarded the opponent free throws. Is it too much to go on the road and ask for consistency. I have the utmost respect for officials. I have a disdain for show boats and officials who call out of their areas. Did they lose the game for us no they
didn't? (sic) 2/3's of this crew worked their tales (sic)off. They were consistent the entire night. But, one of them was not. I as a coach and my kids work too hard to have opportunities taken away from us because one official can not or will not follow the rules of officiating or the etiquette of officiating. You and I know that it one official can make a good crew look bad. You also know it's wrong for the opposing coach to ask for officials by name. I have never requested a a (sic)particular official by name. I have never asked for black or white or
whatever. I always just ask for officials who are going to be consistent. This one official in the crew did not allow the others tofunction properly. I am quite sure that in your 24 years of officiating that you have either been with crews or witnessed a crew blow call after
call because of poor mechanics. Because of this one individuals (sic)mechanics the entire crew looked bad. What do you think is unprofessional? For an official to walk out the floor and call out ofhis area. To be inconsistent with his calls. You think it's
unprofessional to tell the truth as I witnessed it. You think it's unprofessional to take up for my kids; I take the blame for all the losses in my program. That's my responsibility as an adult and as a coach. Your peer hampered our opportinity with his inconsistency.

Since you are a veteran of 24 years; i want you to know that if you hadwitnessed this individual you would've have been embarassed (sic) because it's individuals like this who give you a bad name. I have always believed that for the most part that officials are the best. That the truly good ones respect the game and the people who they are working with. The other officials (sic)facial expressions let me know that they were not on the same page. Is it asking too much for consistency on both ends of the
floor. As as "there is no one in the gym who knows more about how this game should be called than my partner and myself". What's the point; officials in a three man crew have areas to cover, areas on the floor that they are responsible for. I have a problem when an official is
making a call when it's not there's (sic) to make. So it's okay for my kid to get a steal, start her dribble, have the ball tipped out of her hand in full view of one official, who makes the call, this one referee who is
trailing the play; then for the lead official to apologize because they know it was not double dribble. The call stop (sic) a wide open lay up.
which (sic) would have put us up by 5 pts (sic) within one minute.

Admit one fact (sic)there are bad coaches, bad players, and bad referees and all of us have a hand. The few calls you are talking about were the result of poor court mechanics. You do not know me therefore you can not judge me.

It's honorable that you speak up for officials. But they are not allknowing or all wise nor is (sic) you or I. But I was there. I have two girls who are hurt as a result of my opinion. Tell that opinion to their parents and to them. I guess getting your legs taking from you do not
warrant a foul! Or that was just a human error.

Mark
 

Can you post your sent message to him?

First, in the interest of fairness, you should post your email to him also.

Second, if an official I never met emailed me the day after a devastating playoff loss to take me to task, I'd send a reply with misspellings because I'd be too mad to double-check. No, I'd probably never make comments like that to a reporter or anybody, but you sure would receive a few choice words for antagonizing me the following day!

Third, I completely agree that this guy was way out of line in blaming this loss on one official. His team made many mistakes, especially down the stretch, that are detailed in the article. Many of his arguments to you don't make much sense either. But you were equally out of line emailing him, at least so soon after the game. You owe him an apology, IMHO.

Yeah - that'll happen.

BTW - off topic - but I saw an incredibly funny bumper sticker today:

Support Our President
Bomb France

I dont think you owe him an apology, but I do think we would enjoy reading the email you sent him. Is that possible?

Here it is in its entirety.

Mr. Chandler - the article in The Advocate quoting you following your loss was posted on an internet discussion board for sports officials. As a 24 year veteran basketball official and a member of the National Association of Sports Officials, I must tell you I find your remarks regarding the officiating at your game to be unprofessional, insulting and ludicrous. Blaming the referees for the lack of skill of your players sends the message to those kids that they don't have to take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions.

Games are won and lost by the entirety of the play from start to finish, not by a few calls which, in your opinion, were not made properly. With the exception of rule interpretations, all calls made in a game are judgment calls and are extremely subjective. Officials are trained over the course of many years to make proper calls taking into consideration the principle of advantage/disadvantage.

A long time ago, I was told that, as an official, there may be someone in the gym who knows more about the game of basketball than I do (after all, John Wooden might be watching), but there is no one in the gym who knows more about how this game should be called than my partner and myself. There's a big difference.

If a teacher in my district made remarks similar to yours, at the least he would be disciplined, and at the most, suspended.

BTW - this guy just tried to call me!!!! Fortunately, I am allergic to speaking with coaches on the phone.

I think I would apply the philosophy I use when calling tough fouls: who initiated the contact?

If a coach at any level sees fit to PUBLICLY question the integrity (not the judgement, decision-making, or game management, but the integrity) of the officials, he deserves whatever venom happens to spew his way.

You reap what you sow.

I see the email that was sent to the coach as being fair and informative. It would have served the coach well to have backed off a minute before doing the interview or before replying to the email. Either way, I am sure he regrets making those comments.

Mark,

Your e-mail seems well-worded and fair to me. Can't wait to hear how your phone call goes. I'm sure he's calling to tell you he's reconsidered his views. :-)

Z

I as an official also have to agree, to be fair to the coach we should see your message to him, but most of all I believe it was very inappropriate to even email this coach. I am not going to waste my time writting a coach who complained about an official who cost him the game. They all feel that at one or more times throughout their carrer, it doesn't accomplish anything.

There is a fine line here, though.

I have no problem per se, with a coach who says "the officials cost us the game", which I always take as "we lost because the officials made bad calls".

What this coach suggested, was that the officials were biased against his team. That is not acceptable and cannot go unchallenged.

Depending on what was said in the email, of course. We, as officials, also have to exercise restraint. But given the fact that the officials would likely not be able to get a rebuttal "quote" in the paper, I have no problem with someone taking him to task for his very-public diatribe.

I was busy washing my socks, so my wife took the call. She told me she could only understand that he asked for me, but she could not make out anything else he said.

My wife spent some time in the South when she was younger and usually has no problem understanding thick accents, but she said she had no idea what he was saying.

I'm not poking fun at his accent, but only saying that it was exceptionally thick and that makes it difficult for those up here in the Pacific Northwest (where we speak perfect English, of course) to understand.

Mark?
 

Hey man, I am on your side on this one, but be careful where you take this accent topic. I am from the "Deep South" as well and I speak and write quite clearly. The school that he coaches is a suburb of Baton Rouge. It is a large high school in what was once considered the "country" but is now considered the "burbs". I am sure your wife heard some "Cajun" in his voice, but I assure you that is no more difficult to decifer than is a Northeastern accent, ie. Boston or New York.

Fair and Informative?
 

I don't see how telling someone you find their remarks "to be unprofessional, insulting and ludicrous" fits the description of "fair and informative". Sure the coach was way off base, but insulting the guy personally is not going to make him think more highly of officials nor take more responsibility for the outcomes of his games. Do you honestly believe that sending him your email will make him think twice before blasting officials after a game. My guess is that he has now reached the point of being so p*ssed at all officials that you have flamed the fires, not educated him.

ok
 

I don't see how telling someone you find their remarks "to be unprofessional, insulting and ludicrous" fits the description of "fair and informative".

Ok, maybe that particular line of Mark's was not 100% fair and informative, but it does express an honest opinion of many. There were many other points made by both indivuals that were also fair and informative. Neither side is completely right here. But I still believe that the coach was way off base blasting the officiating in the paper like that. You just don't do that in public.

The beat goes on
 

The guy just emailed me again. This time, he flamed me for not taking his call, saying I didn't want to "hear the truth". He attached a Word file where he tried to justify his comments. He told me to go ahead and correct the spelling and grammar. After looking at the document, I realized it would overload my spell checker.

Two things stood out - he equated Bobby Knight with John Wooden (blasphemy in my book) and he said he lost one game (he , not his team) because an official wouldn't make "over the back" calls!

Here was my reply:

Mr. Chandler - certainly you are entitled to your opinion. However, having a coach publically berate officials is generally considered by virtually all "ruling bodies" as unacceptable. A better tactic would have been to contact your state association and provide them with the videotapes of the game, so you would have had some support for your comments.

Not even the NBA allows coaches to make such comments public. You must realize that doing so following a tough loss only further damages your credibility.

By the way - there is no such foul as "over the back".

As far as I'm concerned, this guy is the best reason yet for sending your kids to private school.

Surely he wanted "reach-in calls" too. :-)

Z

Re: The beat goes on
 

You need to send this whole email excahnge to Mach Chauvain(sp?) of the LHSAA.
Mack is a no-nonsense kind of guy who will have a look see at this guys problem.
I have worked for Mack, and he is unmerciful if an official screws up but he also stands up for his officials.

Re: Fair and Informative?
 

[QUOTE]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mark Padgett "...I find your remarks regarding the officiating at your game to be unprofessional, insulting and ludicrous. Blaming the referees for the lack of skill of your players sends the message to those kids that they don't have to take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions..."

I like everything you wrote except the part where you mentioned his "players' lack of skill". That's where you maybe crossed the line from standing up for the officials to very politely sh*t-talking the coach. If you'd have replaced "the lack of skill of your players" with "the game you lost", I think you nailed it.

You maybe just gave him more ammo to throw back at you.

Right on for calling him on the carpet, though.

Mark, I looked at your profile to see exactly where you lived that people don't understand Cajun. "Tell dat sorry
a** ref to brung hisse'f to de phone rat now so I can tol' him a t'ing or two about basketball." And now he has your phone number. This means he knows or can find out where you live. hmmmmm... If he apologizes and invites you to
come down and see him and take a swamp tour, don't go.

Croquet? Isn't it a bit nerve-wracking to call things
(what do you call in croquet?) against people that are all holding big hammers?

J.A.R. -- Haven't you ever watched professional croquet on TV? The ref gets the biggest hammer!

Croquet...what about Track and Field?

The refs there get to carry GUNS!

:D

Are you kidding me? Really, if you are it is sailing right over my head. I didn't know there was professional croquet and have never seen any kind of croquet on tv. What does the ref hit with his hammer?

All this looks like is sour grapes on the coache's part, because he has a lot of parents/school board members wanting answers why he can't beat a certain team, and when he can't he makes a bunch of weak *** finger pointing to the officials. Officials have NEVER cost anyone a game. I would ask him to mail you a copy of the game tape, watch it, and THEN we can really get a feel for what happened!

I put croquet in my profile almost as a joke. Every year, there is a charity croquet match near here between a retirement home and a local Lions Club. All the proceeds go to support the Lions Club summer camp for the blind. Local politicians and celebrities are brought in as "ringers" on the teams, and I "officiate", which consists mostly of walking around with a portable microphone and making jokes about the players. We all wear "summer whites" including straw hats and the retirement home serves lemonade and cucumber sandwiches.

Two years ago, our local state representative (who is a personal friend, but a terrible athlete) almost lost to some old lady with a walker. I haven't let him forget it since.

Maybe I should put my real hobby in my profile - amateur gynecology.

As to the disgruntled coach, he emailed me again this morning and said he doesn't need videotape to tell him he had girls laying on the floor. He said other teams at his school sent tape in to the state association and it didn't do them any good. Gee - I wonder why?

Also, regarding my comment about "over the back" not being a foul - here's his reply:

"It must be a call because some of your colleagues still use it."

I must admit he has a point there. Guys - stop calling this. It makes the rest of us look bad.

I work in the association where this guy coaches (although I am sure the refs in this case were not from our association being that it was a playoff game involving a local school) and I have never seen any ref call an "over the back" call. I have seen plenty call a push, but never the dreaded "over the back". I am sure he sees what he wants to see, and when a pushing call is made after he screams "she is on my girl's back!" he equates the two.

I am thinking that this guy now wishes that he had not taken that interview. What do you think?

I agree. Having to deal with Padgett is more than any coach should have to deal with. But in all fairness to the coach, he probably had no idea Mark existed. :D

Oh,my! :D