Only another official would care

[dsqrddgd909]

Was having a nice phone conversation with a college buddy today. He was a good basketball player in the west Chicago burbs and played against Doc Rivers.

He asked me how the officiating thing was going and I launch into various topics including trying to move up, assignors, camps, mentors etc.

After a few minutes, ...... I can hear the "crickets" on the other end of the line.

Thank heavens for this board so I can learn from and share with fellow officials.

[JRutledge]

The average person does not get us. When I tell people I am an official people act like I go to one school to work all my games. And when I went to camp this past weekend, there were people that could not understand why I could not call them during Saturday of that camp. It can be sometimes frustrating to explain things to people outside of this profession.

Peace

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

When I tell people I am an official people ...

First question. Always. "Do you like giving coaches technical fouls?" Like it's the only thing that we do.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

First question. Always. "Do you like giving coaches technical fouls?" Like it's the only thing that we do.

True, but we never even tell each other about the great travel we called last week.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Adam

True, but we never even tell each other about the great travel we called last week.

That is certainly true, but we do not talk about technical fouls all the time either. I know I call way more travels than I ever do technical fouls.

Peace

[Adam]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

That is certainly true, but we do not talk about technical fouls all the time either. I know I call way more travels than I ever do technical fouls.

Peace

So do I, but I talk way more about the technicals than I do the travels.

I do think I called more technical fouls than 3 second violations, though.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Adam

I do think I called more technical fouls than 3 second violations, though.

Then you're not doing a good job. By the end of the season, the number of three second violations called must equal the number of technical fouls charged to coaches. Just like officials are supposed to charge the same number of fouls to both teams during the game.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

The average person does not get us. When I tell people I am an official people act like I go to onI havee school to work all my games. And when I went to camp this past weekend, there were people that could not understand why I could not call them during Saturday of that camp. It can be sometimes frustrating to explain things to people outside of this profession.

Peace

I have a friend who always ask if I had fun as if I actually went camping. They just don't get it. LOL

[Mark Padgett]

You know you're doing a good job when the first question someone asks you after a game is not "Did you throw out any coaches?" but "How many coaches did you throw out?"

[Brad]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

First question. Always. "Do you like giving coaches technical fouls?" Like it's the only thing that we do.

It's the most visible thing that we do —*right up there with kicking calls in the last seconds of games. I'd say it is #1 though ... it's confrontational (from the coach/fan viewpoint), stops the game, and forces all attention to be on you at that moment.

So, it's not that they happen often, it's simply that they are what sticks out in fans' memories.