lacking effort
 

Hello
I'm basically still a rookie official so I have some questions. First, I worked a game last night with a veteran official who was acting very lazy with his mechanics, communication and his effort in getting up and down the floor. I didn't say anything because i am new to the association and he was a veteran. What should I do in this situation?
Second, we had a double whistle last night. I had a timeout and he had a foul. The veteran was offering no advice so we gave the foul to team A and awarded the coach from team B his timeout. Neither coach argued but just curious if we were correct.

Remember it when you become the veteran working with a rookie.

If he's not switching properly or something, tell him you need the practice so would like to do it correctly.

You should get together to decide which came first. If it was the TO, then ignore the foul (unless it was intentional or flagrant). If it was the foul, then ask the coach if he still wants the TO (especially if the request was because his player was trapped, or a count was about to expire, etc.)

Not everyone does this for the same reasons. Some are working games for the money or to just get out of the house and the money. The lessons that rookie will learn as they become a veteran and you will understand how the people around you approach the game.

Peace

In time, you will learn why you're working with these cats. You're both at the lower at end of the scale. You are, because you're new and unproven; he is, because he's proven to be lazy. We all have had partners like this. Just get through the game with what you can, and remember his effort come ratings time at season's end.

I felt I needed to work twice as hard to make up for his lack of effort. It was definitely a good learning experience.

You need to work "twice as hard" every night. ;)

In hindsight, it was good that I saw all kinds of officials in my first few years. I learned good habits from some, I learned what not to do from others. I learned that sometimes you just have to get it done and nothing good can come from "speaking" to that person.

I would suggest that you also consider this. Although this official lacked effort and so forth, were there things that he did well? A firend of mine was complaining about a a college official in our area and his poor mechanics. I said "how has he been doing this for 30 years with such poor mechanics?" I wanted him to ponder the fact that we can learn from everybody. This official with the poor mechanics is a master of game management. This is how he has survived. When I work with him, I try to learn game management from him. When I'm looking for somebody to model my mechanics, I look elsewhere.

When you stop learning, it wil be time to stop officiating.

Work your game. Lazy veterans are always a part of the game. If you don't feel that he/she work at their best, talk to your assignor and let them know your concerns. Do it in a non-threatening manner, with the thought that you are there to learn, but you didn't feel that this was a person who was there to help a younger official. It is likely that the assignor has heard this before and they need this info for future assignments for the both of you.