The worst a coach said to me this year

[ODJ]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

After we penalized his team for intentional grounding on a pass that was nowhere near anybody offense or defense and he argued his TE was in the area, the coach yelled "I'm going to murder you on the Internet." This is in reference to our state's process for rating officials for playoff advancement. It is done once a year online and any coach can vote for any crew. In our post-game we decided the coach probably deserved an opportunity to re-state his opinion (give him enough rope to hang himself) or an instant flag.

That's automatic in any sport.
A coach can rate a crew he hasn't seen during the season?

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by ODJ

That's automatic in any sport.
A coach can rate a crew he hasn't seen during the season?

Every school gets a ballot with every crew that applied for the playoffs. They can vote for every crew if they want. They can vote for no crews if they want. They can vote for crews that have never worked their games. They are supposed to vote for the crews that worked their games the past 2 years but since schools contract their own officials, there is no validation of schools and crews.

Once the state finals are over we get a report listing the schools that voted for us and the votes we got (scale of 1 to 5) but those values are not mapped. We also see what our average is compared to other crews so we have an idea of where our ranking fell. Most of the schools on our list are schools where we have worked but there are some I've never seen in my 7 years.

This is such a strange process I don't think I could make it up. We are working to change it and the state is listening. At leat this year they required all officials working the second round and beyond to be certified.

[sloth]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

Every school gets a ballot with every crew that applied for the playoffs. They can vote for every crew if they want. They can vote for no crews if they want. They can vote for crews that have never worked their games. They are supposed to vote for the crews that worked their games the past 2 years but since schools contract their own officials, there is no validation of schools and crews.

Once the state finals are over we get a report listing the schools that voted for us and the votes we got (scale of 1 to 5) but those values are not mapped. We also see what our average is compared to other crews so we have an idea of where our ranking fell. Most of the schools on our list are schools where we have worked but there are some I've never seen in my 7 years.

This is such a strange process I don't think I could make it up. We are working to change it and the state is listening. At leat this year they required all officials working the second round and beyond to be certified.

As a referee and crew chief in Indiana, I can tell you that this rating system really effects the way that you handle coaches...and they know it. While there is talk of changing tha rating system, there really is not incentive for the IHSAA to make the change nor the coaches to relinquist the power they have. I tell my guys that I don't want to see an USC on a coach unless you have NO other option.

The ultimate proble with this system is the fact that some crew have name recognition that gets them votes. If your starting a new crew you have to spend a lot of time talking to AD to not only get your schedule lined up (because the crew chief books all game for the crew) but to get your name out there for the vote.

Another quark to Indiana (since I've said what I have so far) is that you book games out YEARS in advance. I have all but three Fridays booked for the combined 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons; I'm half way through 2012 and have three for 2013.

[Bad Mood Risin]

We had something not nearly so vile, but along the same lines.

(First of all, if coaches are allowed to ding officials because they don't agree with calls, then that system is FUBAR in the first place.)

We had a private school from several hours away playing one we service. I meet with the coach and give him a list of officials, out of courtesy.

In the first half there's a pass interference call -- I don't remember if it was a call or no-call -- that this coach didn't agree with. He starts screaming "I'm reporting you. I have your name."

All I did was laugh because this was a completely hollow, meaningless threat. He has no authority to call anyone to complain about a judgment call. Even if he knew whom to call, the call wouldn't be well received or given any credence. So all he really did was prove himself to be an a$$.