Congrats to Bad Zebra!
 

He was selected to officiate the Florida 7A Girls final in Lakeland. This is the second largest classification in the state.

And "Atta Boy" for you BZ. Have a blast.

Peace

Awesome. Congratulations.

Must not be too bad then. :)

Congrats!

And 7A is the second largest classification?!

8A is the largest. They went from 6 to 8 last year.

Congrats BZ... Best of luck and HAVE FUN!!!

How many schools do you guys have competing. They went to 4 classes from 2 and people here go nuts about how watered down the tournament has become. And everyone here makes the playoffs or plays in post season.

Peace

And in Oregon, they went from 4 to 6 about 5 years ago. Oregon doesn't need 6 classes. 4 would be fine. There are only about 280 high schools in Oregon and they stack about 80 of the smallest schools in the 1A class and about 40 each in of the other 5 classes.

Soft of a combination between an every one gets a trophy mentality and believing that everyone in a class must have nearly equal enrollment to be fair.

I would have to look it up, but there are 16 districts in each class, with the possible exception of 1A. Most districts contain 4-8 schools, although more have 4 or 5 than 8 or more. Each region has four districts and the regionals determine who goes to the state semis in Lakeland. There was more clamoring at the lower end of the scale and 1A is supposed to be 'rural' school category. The district tournaments are not as much of an event with only 4 or 5 schools instead of 7-9.

Virginia only has 5 public school classifications, 6 starting next year, and 3 for private schools.

This is the link to watch on Saturday at 5 pm or so.
2013 FHSAA Class 7A Girls Basketball Finals (Event): Florida: PlayOn! Sports

Thank you all. Take pride in the fact that I consider this forum an element of the success I've had with my schedule the past couple years. This will be the biggest game of my career. I'm pretty confident but a little bit...let's say...anxious.

Just gotta remember to...breathe.

I got this advice that I have taken with me each time I worked a State Final and I am sure it will help you. When you get to the court (or field), look around to where you are. Smell the coffee for a minute or two and realize you are at the State Finals. Then get to the job at hand. It is just another game but more people are watching. Have fun and DFIU!!! ;)

Peace

Congrats.

As our Vice President would say thats a Big Fn Deal!

That's not an unfair assessment.

In NC, our 1A schools' enrollment ranges from less than 100 students to 650+. Our 4A schools range from 1300 to 3000 students. That's definitely an unlevel playing field, even more so in football.

Congrats Bad Zebra!

Guess they'll let anyone work a final. ;)

Seriously though, congrats on the assignment! http://forum.officiating.com/images/icons/icon14.gif

Congrats BZ. Well deserved.

Congrats BZ!

Hopefully no videos "for discussion" on here afterwards :D

Where there's a will, there's a way. :p

Perhaps so, but NC has over twice as many students and schools as Oregon and in in just half of the land area (and no big mountain ranges to cross to get to some of them). Yet, it has fewer classifications (4 vs 6). Oregon has one really large school over 3000 but it isn't particularly competitive in any sport that I know of and there are only 5 above 2000. The classes range from 100 and below for 1A and each class above that roughly doubles in size.

I agree it can work and isn't a bad idea if you have enough schools to actually do it. Here, there are not enough schools in some areas to even make a full league so they do some funky stuff to make it passable. It has been wacky enough that they're considering going back to 5.

When did you work the State Finals here in IL? I went 2 years ago in 3-4A and I am going back this year. Great experience that is for sure.

Yea the competition is definitely watered down. There is a local team that was roughly .500 on the season and was 5 points shy in the Super Sectional to making it to State.

I have worked 3 State Finals in football (08', 11') and in baseball (09') but not basketball.

It may be watered down a little but no one in the country had 2 classes. Not surprised it was changed.

Peace

Congrats BZ!

BZ... you da man!

Each class in Florida has 3 schools in it, I believe.

(Shocked to see Florida has 8 classes. Texas has less)

Actually, each class (1A through 8A) has 16 districts with 4-8 schools in each district. For 2012-2013, there are 601 schools that field a girls basketball team that belong to the FHSAA. The state tournament consists of the district winner and runner up. Thus it begins with 32 teams and winds down from there in each class. It takes a full week to play the semi-final and final in each class. It's a big state.

Congratulations, Bad Zebra!

Every time I see your name, this song plays in my head:

"Here come the jesters, 1 2 3. It's all part of my fantasy. I love the music and love to see the crowd dancin' in the aisles and singin' out loud!" :)

Bad Company - Rock and Roll Fantasy - YouTube

Don't pee in the pool.

Here again is the link...2013 FHSAA Class 7A Girls Basketball Championship: Buchholtz vs Nova (Event): Florida: PlayOn! Sports Game time is 5:05 pm. It is archived, so maybe BZ will have some plays to point out later on. No, I will not know which one is him other than he is not the R.

last 3 minutes

Post Mortem
 

Well, this one is in the books. We made it through without any major gaffes or bad calls. As Rut said...we didn't FIU. FRom a personal standpoint, I was pretty distracted to start because of all the off court stuff we had to contend with beyond a normal game:
-TV Cameras on top of us at both endlines
-Cheerleaders crowding one endline
-Media time out procedure
-Visible and close proximity to the evaluator
-Instructed to get very close to table when reporting due to noise level

Couple all those with a big venue, dozens of media surrounding the court, super bright lighting and you've got a real pressure cooker. It took me most of the first half to settle and get comfortable. I was in a pretty foul mood at halftime but we all calmed down and finished strong, I think. My partners did a good job keeping their s*it together and we all kind of regrouped and adapted. I've earned a new respect for D1 guys that do it nightly.

The play itself was good and easy to call. The players were great and responsive...2 pt. game at half time but the better team pulled away and won by 15 or so. The talent level really made it easy to call. Each team had a D1 commit and they really stepped up and performed. Pretty impressive way for kids to respond, really. I'm sure they felt the same pressures we did (and more).

I had a few mechanical flaws in the first half...I'll attribute to nerves. Calling the play was the easiest part. The initial feedback was positive...our first evaluator noted some transitional contact that we let players play through, but I suspect the official evaluator may differ.

All in all, it was a great experience. I'd gladly do it again as I think I'd improve knowing what to expect. Thanks again for all the well wishes. Hope all of you that haven't yet will get to experience that environment at some point. I'll check this one off the bucket list.

Glad you had a good time....firsts like that can certainly raise your anxiety and it sounds like you got it under control and were successful. Hope there are more to come!

Sounds like it was a great experience BZ. Congrats on making it there!

First and foremost, congrats to BZ, and thanks for sharing.

This struck me the most curious...

I'd like to more about this facet. Before I took up officiating, I became a sideline reporter for our public TV network's coverage (my 12th year), so I'm something of a double agent.

We don't do media time-outs. We only take breaks between quarters and halftime. What's the format?

Check your PM for specifics. Essentially, the first stoppage of play below 4:00 in each quarter triggered a media time out. Not especially complicated...but it was something new and additional to worry about getting right on top of everything else.

What? No video?

Dang. ;)

Sounds like a job well done, BZ!

Bad Zebra,

Congrats, that's what it's all about.

Ragarding your comments about all the extra stuff (related to TV and bright lights), I've had that experience and it can be overwhelming at first. You are right about the NCAA Division I officials, it's not just making the call but also managing everything else. I'm going to the AUS Men's Tournament this weekend (you canucks will know what that is) and it's played in an arena setting with televised games. It won't be my first time at that site but it is my first championship. It is the biggest appointment I've received so far. I'm quite excited.

In watching the video, it seemed that the officials were not always switching after fouls. As a FIBA official, I'm not familiar with NFHS mechanics.

I Wear My Sunglasses At Night ...
 

I once worked a AAU "game" during a McDonald's High School All American Game halftime intermission at the Hartford (CT) Civic Center (now the XL Center). The bright lights were definitely distracting. It was the first thing that I noticed as I stepped onto the court. I really wished that I had taken the time to put on my makeup that morning.

which one are you?
 

BZ, watching the game on YouTube.
All of the officials are remarkably good looking!
Which one are you?

I posted that link early in the thread. He was U1, btw. Plus, there is a link on another thread.

When Did The Forum Turn Into Match.com ???
 

Get a room.