Questioning Partner's Call

[The_Rookie]

That said, if he still has a cob up his ass about the situation, I'd just write him off. Apologize (high road and all that) and move on. Block him if you want (I probably would) if he's that much of a dick about it.[/QUOTE]

+1..Sadly like in life itself we run across partners who are dead heads with bad attitudes

[rockyroad]

Lots of good advice. My addition would be to calmly point out to him that you were not trying to overrule him at the time, and would never do that. You were simply bringing information to him. How he chooses to respond to that communication is up to him. My communication to him would be (name is made-up)...

"Mike, I was not trying to overrule you. If it came across that way, then I am sorry. I was just trying to bring you some information I thought was important at the time. Won't happen again."

[Andy]

I would also apologize as others have suggested.

I would also recommend a bit of follow up on your part, since you are the assigner for this particular group. Talk to some of the other officials you assign and see if they have had similar experiences with this guy.

Being a new official, you may want to have a heart-to-heart with him to persuade him to lose the defensive attitude, if you think there is enough potential there.

[Afrosheen]

Yes, I definitely did apologize to him after the quarter was over. I also told him that as a crew of officials that we have the obligation of getting the call right. So where the situation is now is that this official believes that I was wrong based on the rulebook because of the reason I gave to him which led to my willingness to approach him during the game.

I will change up my way of addressing these situations during the game when I'm working with a sensitive official, but I want to make sure that this official understands the rulebook that he is now using to prove me and my approach wrong, which evidently is an incorrect interpretation. He merely focused on one rule (2-6) and did not read the corresponding rules thereafter. He is trying to say that I as a partner am never allowed to question him ever.

I understand that we are to trust our partners, but there is also the concern of making sure the call is right, especially when it's obvious. Additionally, I want to be able to exhibit myself on principle rather than having to once again kowtow to an inexperienced official who is trying to veil a "gotcha" attempt over a situation where I thought we both put it past us.

Now I don't want to be condescending or be an ass by not assigning him anymore games. I want him to be able to take responsibility as I did during the game. But I'm not sure how to address this as it was pretty disappointing to have received such an email from him.

[Afrosheen]

Originally Posted by referee99

Afro,
Did you address this in pregame?
As a crew, let's not kick a rule. If you think I am about to kick, come get me and let's make sure...
etc...

To this particular partner, no… he showed up late, as when he arrived I was taking the few minutes before the game to check roster pictures from both teams.

But I do emphasize to my partners during high school games to stop the game and discuss any opportunity to correct an error I made. I try to be as open to my partner as I can by giving him full reign over the game as long as we are able to communicate verbally and non-verbally throughout the game.

[RookieDude]

Afrosheen...

I'm really late to this conversation, but I did read most of the posts.

I appreciate your enthusiasm about getting a call correct...you know, for the integrity of the game etc.

Let me share a little story, that kind of goes along these lines.

Some years back, during the old two whistle days here in WA. state, I was doing an evaluated game at the "B" State Tournament. I was new L as the ball was coming from the backcourt to "my" frontcourt. The T was trailing the play around midcourt. I was already at the endline. I was "looking throug the players" (ball watching) as I saw a crash around midcourt. The player that was dribbling had been fouled. My partner did not have a call...for whatever reason. I thought I would "save the crew" and make the call.

After the tournament...I read my evaluations. The evaluator said, "that while your call was correct, it is not your call, let your partner live and die with it." (I got to watch the championship game from the table as the Alternate Official) Who knows?

Anyway, this situation isn't exactly like yours...in that you were questioning a possible RULE error...while I was questioning JUDGEMENT.

I guess my point is...with many situations and experiences of approaching my partner...I have a general philosophy ...If I am going to ERROR...I am going to ERROR on the side of LET IT GO, TALK ABOUT IT LATER.

SIDENOTE: A lot depends on game situation, level of play, how far away I am from the play, how sure I am that my partner kicked a call, does my partner really need the help, etc.

Again, it sounds like you really do care about this officiating gig...that's cool.

[Afrosheen]

Thank you RookieDude. No worries on the late post, I've subscribed to the topic and I'll read what comes to my inbox. Replying to it though depends on the quality of the post.

And I can relate to your point as I had an evaluation myself where I had a crash but I was the trail in a transition play and I made a call that was in my partner's area. The evaluators recommended the same thing as they wanted to see the other ref be more willing to make the call.

The central reason why I created this thread is to glean from others how they've determined the balance between trusting their partner and essentially living and dying with his call and maintaining the integrity of the game. To me these two things are at the opposite ends of a spectrum and making that choice is fuzzy rather than as black and white as some people make it out to be. And I see you got what I was intending with my post by sharing. So thank you for that.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Afrosheen

To this particular partner, no… he showed up late, as when he arrived I was taking the few minutes before the game to check roster pictures from both teams.

I forgot to ask before. What in the world is this about?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Adam

I forgot to ask before. What in the world is this about?

Must be some type of local, or state, AAU procedure to make sure that a mini-LeBron James isn't illegally added to a team roster at the last minute? Seems to me that this should be a responsibility of an AAU administrator, rather than an official. Add this to the Bay State postgame hand shake rule, and it could make for a long day at the table.