Old SI article on Tommy Bell and his Crew

[Texas Aggie]

I stumbled upon this and thought it was a good read. Almost 40 years later, not a whole lot has changed.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.c...13/1/index.htm

[jaybird]

Great article. I remember most all the names mentioned but don't know if I ever read that article before. Thanks.

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by jaybird

Great article. I remember most all the names mentioned but don't know if I ever read that article before. Thanks.

Nostalgia. Tommy Bell spoke at our annual association dinner back in like 1975. Tommy was not tall at 5'8" but had a commanding presence -- Note: he was also a University of Kentucky alum like me. A lesson that has stuck with me from that day forward was the inspiration he gave Burl Toler at the start of the season after the missed down. He basically said to Burl forget about that lost down and go forward.

[Sonofanump]

"Only a year after starting out as a Kentucky high school official in 1955, Bell was working both football and basketball in the Southeastern Conference"

Wow.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Sonofanump

"Only a year after starting out as a Kentucky high school official in 1955, Bell was working both football and basketball in the Southeastern Conference"

Wow.

"two NCAA basketball championship games (San Francisco-Iowa in 1956 and California-West Virginia in 1959)"

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by Sonofanump

"Only a year after starting out as a Kentucky high school official in 1955, Bell was working both football and basketball in the Southeastern Conference"

Wow.

He had a good connection as he played football at Kentucky for Paul "Bear" Bryant.

[ajmc]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

I stumbled upon this and thought it was a good read. Almost 40 years later, not a whole lot has changed.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.c...13/1/index.htm

One thing seems to have changed, the tone of the article suggests officials 40 years ago were respected for their pursuit of perfection, whereas today they tend more to be ridiculed for every instance of failing to attain absolute perfection.

Perhaps the difference is not so much with the level of performance as it is with how unreasonable the expectations have become.

[HLin NC]

Thanks for posting that. Nice article

[aschramm]

Originally Posted by ajmc

One thing seems to have changed, the tone of the article suggests officials 40 years ago were respected for their pursuit of perfection, whereas today they tend more to be ridiculed for every instance of failing to attain absolute perfection.

Perhaps the difference is not so much with the level of performance as it is with how unreasonable the expectations have become.

I'd agree with this. We live in a time with instant replay, high-definition TVs and multiple angle shots on every play. Alot of people just don't understand that the angles an official gets during the play won't always be as good as what they see on television.

[Ed Hickland]

What makes it worst is the video camera, the handycam. People see the replays and slo-mo on high definition television where the networks deploy a wealth of cameras and now every parent believes they can replicate that effort with their $298 handycam.

It always amazes me when the biggest, fattest guy in the stands yells out, "how come you didn't cover that?"

[aschramm]

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I could see this occur: A parent runs up to you at the end of Saturday youth game (or even halftime) and demands you watch his little handycam because he believes you blew a call. Saturday games usually provide no locker room and very little crowd control, so I could definitely see this happening.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by aschramm

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I could see this occur: A parent runs up to you at the end of Saturday youth game (or even halftime) and demands you watch his little handycam because he believes you blew a call. Saturday games usually provide no locker room and very little crowd control, so I could definitely see this happening.

It happened during a baseball game I was working (and assigned) when a parent didn't like a call I made. I told him to send it to the assignor.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by aschramm

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I could see this occur: A parent runs up to you at the end of Saturday youth game (or even halftime) and demands you watch his little handycam because he believes you blew a call. Saturday games usually provide no locker room and very little crowd control, so I could definitely see this happening.

It happened to me several years ago with a parent who was standing on the sideline near me as a wing. I think it might have been a still camera but he wanted me to look at a hold that we missed. I smiled and walked away. They weren't being rude or obnoxious about it.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by aschramm

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I could see this occur: A parent runs up to you at the end of Saturday youth game (or even halftime) and demands you watch his little handycam because he believes you blew a call. Saturday games usually provide no locker room and very little crowd control, so I could definitely see this happening.

I had a AAU basketball game in which the game winning shot was an uncontested 3/4 court heave. Coach brought me a cam-corder after the game claiming the player travelled.

[ljudge]

Originally Posted by aschramm

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I could see this occur: A parent runs up to you at the end of Saturday youth game (or even halftime) and demands you watch his little handycam because he believes you blew a call. Saturday games usually provide no locker room and very little crowd control, so I could definitely see this happening.

Oddly enough this came close for me with a much better outcome! I was working the Referee position in a midget game about 10 years ago and on the opening kickoff a player muffed the ball and it went into the EZ. They thought the player gained possession, then fumbled into his own EZ, to which the other team had recovered for an apparent TD. Of course I quickly ruled TB. I heard nasty yelling from the sideline of how "we got on camera and you screwed up."

Needless to say the first half was a not-so-friendly atmosphere for me. But in the 2nd half not as much noise. Of course being a young referee (and I know everyone makes mistakes) when I said good-bye to the coach I had to ask...."Coach, I know you saw that first kickoff on tape and perhaps you saw something different than I did. What did the film show? I'd like to learn from it."

Quick response...."Yeah, we looked at it at halftime and you were right."

Funny that parent and/or coach didn't approach me letting me know that I was correct. I can't imagine if it would have turned out with me being wrong.