Its All About Me?

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

I have found that a lot of newer officials are not truly interested in any type of criticism, constructive or otherwise, so I mind my business until someone shows me some sort of interest in learning.

Agreed. Worked a scrimmage last Saturday with several less experienced officials. Observed them work a 15 min. running clock quarter. I saw:

The L call the T's line.
The L going to retrieve a blocked shot while the defender was taunting the shooter.
The C close on the same play but didn't have enough sense to see what was going on with the defender.
The T stand inside the thrower and administer the throw-in.
The L stand under the basket to the point that the C and T didn't know who was suppose to be the new L in transistion.

The icing on the cake was there was an excuse for everything that I tried to point out.

[Raymond]

In my world there is big difference between teaching and mentoring a new/young official on how to officiate vs. getting into a debate with a veteran official who is misapplying a rule.

One has nothing to do with the other. The thread was about veterans who are too "...fill in the blank..." to bring along new officials not a thread about hard-headed officials who won't admit when they are wrong.

[tref]

For the guys who think some veterans can't be told anything by the new guy, that is no more true than the new know it all who can't be told anything.
It goes both ways!

I used to feel the same way as the OP. But all vets arent like that, you will find someone that takes interest in you once you begin to help yourself. Attending camps, showing up at camps even though you aren't attending, staying for varsity games, asking to sit in on pre/postgames, volunteering to turn 2 person into 3s just for your experience. Those are some of the ways good vets will take notice & be willing to help you.

Another thing you may want check when giving vets advice or rules clarification is, how you say it... sometimes its not what you say.

JMO

[fiasco]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

In my world there is big difference between teaching and mentoring a new/young official on how to officiate vs. getting into a debate with a veteran official who is misapplying a rule.

One has nothing to do with the other. The thread was about veterans who are too "...fill in the blank..." to bring along new officials not a thread about hard-headed officials who won't admit when they are wrong.

Fair enough. Then, back on topic, yes, I have encountered my fair share of veteran officials who see a rookie and automatically assume they are not worth spending time talking to, mentoring, helping, whatever term you want to use, and therefore don't want to "waste" their time trying to do so. They'll encounter someone new and say things like "spoken like a true rookie," or something to that effect, displaying a general disdain for officials with fewer games under their belt. Or they will have a poor experience with a rookie or group of rookies, then assume all new officials are like that.

Whether that has to do with money, insecurity or whatever, I think that largely depends on the individual official. Everyone has their own motivations for acting the way they do.

That being said, I have encountered the exact opposite, officials who will go out of their way to give you an unbiased assessment of your skills and help you navigate the land mine of egos within the association. I found one such official, and it's made all the difference in my young career.

So, in the end, I think none of this has anything to do with basketball, and everything to do with the fact that some people are just dicks.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

In my world there is big difference between teaching and mentoring a new/young official on how to officiate vs. getting into a debate with a veteran official who is misapplying a rule.

One has nothing to do with the other. The thread was about veterans who are too "...fill in the blank..." to bring along new officials not a thread about hard-headed officials who won't admit when they are wrong.

Yep. And in my world officials debate stuff all the time with fellow officials. Sometimes we have to get clarification from a rules interpreter or state administrator to get a final answer. But to have a debate where people initially do not back down is common. And many times it requires a rulebook or casebook to be pulled out.

And one of the biggest things younger officials do, is they try to put the blame on others instead of looking in the mirror. In other words instead of worrying about their mechanics, they worry about why someone that has more credibility is doing something.

Peace