Chicago Area Sectionals 3A and 4A

[truerookie]

This is the bottom line. The officials you see on the court are mainly college officials. They are the ones chosen a high percentage of the time to officiate state tournanment games.

The work just enough game to be considered for the post season.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by truerookie

The officials you see on the court are manly college officials.

That's a good thing. I'd hate for them to act feminine, unless they were women, of course.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by truerookie

This is the bottom line. The officials you see on the court are mainly college officials. They are the ones chosen a high percentage of the time to officiate state tournanment games.

The work just enough game to be considered for the post season.

Not really in Illinois.

[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by truerookie

This is the bottom line. The officials you see on the court are manly college officials. They are the ones chosen a high percentage of the time to officiate state tournanment games.

The work just enough game to be considered for the post season.

I don't think that blanket statement works in IL. Most officials that work late in the state tournament have worked enough both in the regular season and in past seasons to establish a good reputation and ranking. Also, on the flip side, as officials rise in the college ranks they are discouraged from working lower levels such as HS. There may be some officials in the state tournament that have also worked at the college level, but the state selection process and rankings do not include any mention of being able to work at higher levels.

[JRutledge]

I can tell you with great confidence that most officials in Illinois that work the Boy's 3A or 4A players at the Sectional level are not "college officials." Knowing many of them personally in this area for sure, most work almost no college at all. And most lower level college officials work some level of high school in their schedule.

Also what kind of bothers me is when people make the claim about what is appropriate for "high school." The game is essentially the same. Actually I find that college officials call more than a high school only official because we have more philosophies that are followed for things to be called. I hear more high school officials trying to justify not calling "hand checking" than I ever hear a college official do. At the college level if you attend camps of any kind and listen to the NCAA tapes, there are many things they want us to call and "absolutes" are one of those reasons.

Most of all when the teams get to this level of the playoff, these are the good teams or teams that deserve to get to that level most often. So you might have teams being able to play through some contact that will not happen during the regular season. Kind of like was said, "This is big boy basketball" now. That being said if anyone would have come to my game on Tuesday, we called a lot of fouls to the point we were it the double bonus for at least one team both halves. And two of us were college officials. A lot of what you call is totally dictated by the teams you have. Heck if the put the ball on the hole most of the time we do not have to call fouls at all.

Peace