We played an AAU tourney in Bethlehem this weekend, had four really well-refereed games. Contrary to the complaint about refs that didn't hustle, I had to keep an eye out for these guys flying the sidelines. We like to break, and they ran well to be in good position to make the calls. And they were doing 4 games, back to back. The one guy we had was probably in his 50s, and he ran better than anyone.

Facilities were good too, with us actually allowed to use real scoreboards. We ended up losing two close ones, but got to see one of the best players I have seen in the age group and took her team to overtime. Well worth the overnight!

Glad you had a good tournament and glad that you got good officials. Being an official that is "in his 50's" (can't say that after May), it's good to see an official hustle and be in position.

I'd like to echo Hawks Coach's comments. My son played in a big AAU tournament in Columbus, GA, this weekend. I only saw the Sunday games, but was impressed with the overall consistency and level of effort. Four comments:

1. At halftime of several games, I noticed officials conferring with one another. Hey, maybe they were just shooting the bull, but it looked good.

2. Had a re-jump on a bad toss. Don't see that very often, but it was a good call.

3. Had a double technical called after a player made the front end of a 1-and-1. Cleared the lane, shot the 2nd free throw, then went to the possession arrow. Ooh-ahh.

4. Made the mistake of complaining to a referee about a call (I was a fan). To my surprise, he turned around and started arguing with me. I shut up pretty quickly - I've learned not to escalate.

Yesterday, I did a couple games for a charity tournament in a tiny middle school gym. Tile floor http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/dead.gif Anyway, 7th/8th grade boys games. In the second game, kid brings the ball up the floor very quickly. Just as he gets over midcourt, Blue #3 reaches across the dribbler's body to try to knock away the ball. Instead, he causes contact and actually gets knocked to the floor. I whistle and announce "Block!" Blue #3 stays on the floor, the coach comes out to check on him and after a couple minutes he gets up and walks to the bench. I then go to the table and say "That foul was on Blue #3".

At which point, the gym is nearly silent and one female voice shouts out "WHAT???"

Maybe it was the kids mom, hmmmmm? http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/boohoo.gif Anyway, I didn't argue with her. http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/ignore.gif

I was in charge of scheduling officials for a tournament this weekend. It was 5th grade boys and girls and 9th grade boys and girls. Quite a disparity in levels of play. I scheduled three officials at each court. We worked two on and one off. I made it a point to see that the officials were hustling all of the time. It is a lot tougher to do that when you work 6-10 straight games. But with the rest, I felt there was no excuse not to give it your all for two games. I heard alot of good things about the officials from players, coaches, and fans. It is rewarding when things work out. I, too, have been to tournaments where it is obvious officials are just there to get paid. They stand like statues on the division line as the trail. There is no excuse for that. If you are too tired to hustle, you shouldn't take that many games. Just MHO!

The thing that gets me most when officials are just there "collecting a check" is that we are the ones paying that check! The tourney this weekend was $350 for the entry (some for gym, some for officials, and some to the club), then we pay gas, food and lodging, plus drive 3.5 hours. We expect our kids to hustle and give it their best effort, and I expect the same of the officials. And I can say that every team on the floor that we saw, including the two-man teams, hustled up and down the floor and gave a solid effort. Makes it worth the drive!

Even the DI Tourney guys are doing a lot of preliminary bird dogging. ;)

LOL. Very true, I've noticed a lot of it too. But I kind of figured it was obvious who the foul was on when I said "BLOCK!" And, to be honest, I think it was obvious to everybody. . . except his mommy :)

Mom's rule book is pretty simple. . .
 

with respect to fouls.

Rule 1: If my kid fell down, he/she was fouled.

Rule 2: If he/she got hurt, it was intentional and the offending player should be removed from the game and never play basketball again because he/she is a dirty player.

If mom's administered my league, we would stop playing games after the second or third weekend because 3/4s of the league would be suspended.

OK, I'll stop now.