A Little Aristotle
 

"The law is reason, free from passion." -- Aristotle

Does this also hold true to basketball officiating, or do we need a little passion and emotion to work a game effectively?

When competency is present, I prefer an appropriate mix.

I think you have to have some passion to do this for an extended time or you will not enjoy it.

Peace

You have to have a balance between the two. IMO

[QUOTE=bainsey;809997]"The law is reason, free from passion." -- Aristotle

I don't think Aristotle would say the same after observing various governments the last hundred years or so.

Mbyron will be sure to correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Aristotle was talking about law in its pure, unadulterated form.

I believe the passion in officiating should come from being a part of a game that inherently is passionate and emotional. To show no investment in the overall game at all is to come across as aloof in my opinion.

As an aside, didn't Shaq once refer to himself as Little
Aristotle?

The application of law to the actions of the members of the society which espouses said law, inherently involves passion.
The values of a society may be expressed in the laws that govern that society.
The humanity of a society is expressed in the balance of justice and mercy exhibited in the application of its laws.

I read this forum alot but I dont post alot but I thought this quote was also interesting.

"Ive noticed over the years that one of the significant differences between stronger and weaker officials is that the latter are more inclined to want a prescription for everything. They want an anatomical definition of torso when deciding weather to call a charge. They want to know what similar means when comparing someones wristband to their jersey."

It is interesting. Who's it attributed to?

Not here to correct anyone. You might be interested in the previous 2 sentences (in a slightly different translation), where Aristotle is considering the difference between human rulers and the rule of law:

Ti Nkousa
 

"A Little Aristotle" -- isn't that what they called BillyMac when he was a lad? :p

Its from Referee Magazine but I got it from someone else or I would of sighted the source when I first posted it.