Yet another complimentary ESPN article

[ChuckElias]

Jeez, what's up over at the Worldwide Leader? Here's a follow-up to the Violet Palmer article, with a great message in it. "Unless you ref, you have NO idea what the refs do."

http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/bucher_ric/1513723.html

[zebraman]

Thanks Chuck... great read (beats working too). :-)

Z

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

If I was Pat Riley and I read this paragraph, I'd be on the phone first to the article's author and second to the commissioner, to find out why an official, before the game, is talking about the fact that my team "had no chance of winning" to win.

In the normal midday meeting at the hotel, Crawford cautioned the crew that Riley might turn the game into an ugly scrum, knowing that his young road-weary team had no chance of winning and had been pummeled the night before in Portland.


Imagine if all HS officials could get the benefit of this:

...the 59-page rule book, the 76-page case book and 71-page official's manual, of course, which is tested with weekly quizzes and regular videotape you-make-the-call tests online.

All one guy got Saturday was about two minutes of me vociferously explaining the backcourt rule to him from my bench!

[zebraman]

Originally posted by A Pennsylvania Coach
[i]If I was Pat Riley and I read this paragraph, I'd be on the phone first to the article's author and second to the commissioner, to find out why an official, before the game, is talking about the fact that my team "had no chance of winning" to win. In the normal midday meeting at the hotel, Crawford cautioned the crew that Riley might turn the game into an ugly scrum, knowing that his young road-weary team had no chance of winning and had been pummeled the night before in Portland.

Coach. It doesn't say that Crawford said that. I think that might have been the writer's "take" on the basis for Crawford saying the game might become a scrum. It's good preventative officiating to anticipate that a particular team's style might make for an overly physical game, IMHO.


Imagine if all HS officials could get the benefit of this: ...the 59-page rule book, the 76-page case book and 71-page official's manual, of course, which is tested with weekly quizzes and regular videotape you-make-the-call tests online.

Actually, high school officials have all those books plus a "Simplified and Illustrated" rule book. There are many videos available through our local association and our bi-monthly meetings throughout the season include many quizzes, rule discussions, and scenario presentations.

All one guy got Saturday was about two minutes of me vociferously explaining the backcourt rule to him from my bench!

If it took you two minutes, you must be using a different rule book and he must not have learned the "stop sign" signal yet. :-)

Z

[Jeremy Hohn]

Great article, and I might make copies to hand out to idiot fans at some of my games! I personally know a WNBA official and she tells me that the indeed do have to review that game's video in the hotel every night and justify calls via laptop or phone to their specific game assignor. Talk about pressure! But Connie Pardue has tought me quite a bit about the similarities/differences in calling men's college to calling women's, and I can contribute quite a bit of my acceleration to her!