Congrats to Bad Zebra!

[26 Year Gap]

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

[JRutledge]

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

Peace

[OKREF]

Awesome. Congratulations.

[Welpe]

Must not be too bad then.

Congrats!

And 7A is the second largest classification?!

[26 Year Gap]

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

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

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

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

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Must not be too bad then.

Congrats!

And 7A is the second largest classification?!

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

[Triad zebra]

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

[Bad Zebra]

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.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

Well, this one is in the books. We made it through without any major gaffes or bad calls.....

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!

[shavano]

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

[bainsey]

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

This struck me the most curious...

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

-Media time out procedure

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?

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by bainsey

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.

[canuckrefguy]

What? No video?

Dang.

Sounds like a job well done, BZ!

[Jay R]

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.