Agree. They are great officials because their love of the game motivates them to learn the rules and mechanics, and their personalities are such that they can manage a game.

Being an ex-player is neither necessary nor sufficient for this combination of love of the game and suitable personality.

I think ex-players become good/great officials faster than people who did not play. Ex-players have a feel for the flow of the game and anticipate action better than people who have not played. But that is tempered by (as jTheUmp pointed out) "knowing the rules as a player."

That being said, I do agree wholeheartedly that love of the game and personality are the keys to becoming good/great officials, and have a much greater impact on success than playing experience.

Until fairly recently, you couldn't get hired by the SEC unless you had played in the conference.

Which explains some things.

I showed up for a baseball game for my son and ump didn't know what a foul ball was and didn't stop the game until the coaches complained.

I don't agree with this. I know what JR is trying to say, but this statement is clearly incorrect. Sports differ, but you will pick up baseball much easier having played a bunch of it. You shouldn't see your first HS fastball from behind the catcher.

Anyway, dual sports at the same time CAN be a problem. I did volleyball in years past and now do football and basketball. I don't like working basketball until I'm finished with football, but around here, that's impossible. Stopping the action for basketball conflicts with how things work in football. It can be done, I just don't like it.

However, volleyball shouldn't be a big deal in that respect. Around here it would be tough to do both football and volleyball at the highest HS levels. VB plays Tuesday and Friday varsity (Fri/Sat tournaments early in the season) and FB is Friday, a little Sat. and early in the week for subvarsity. Plus, by the time November comes around, both playoffs start and you could end up with a conflict.

The VB guys and I compare notes early in the BB season about our respective (FB and VB) seasons, playoffs, etc. I have never heard of anyone around here that does both FB and VB -- at least not at any high level. Other states may be different.

You are right that certain sports are different, but players most of the time had no idea what we did and why we did them. Even calling the plate as and umpire you still have to have some training in timing and have some philosophies are to where to set up and what to do and what not to do. Playing does not teach you that aspect. If that was the case they would only use former pro players to umpire MLB games. As someone said the SEC used to almost exclusively use former players to officiate the football games and that has been in many cases a disaster. I think mostly what playing does is help you understand the strategy of the game and technique, but just like any player not all players understand the game they are playing at the same level. This is why I say that playing really has no big affect on your ability as an official at least in football. I know as a basketball player I had to get over many myths that I thought were illegal and had to retrain my thinking to understand the rules.

Well if you are working a sport where the two sports run at the exact same time I would think that would be more difficult. But I have worked football and basketball at basically the same time but of course one was lower level or JH games and the other was in their full seasons.

Peace

In the spring I concurrently work high school baseball and softball and NCAA softball. While the three sports are similar, there are different rules. I think to do this one needs to know all three sets of rules well and have enough concentration to remember what game is going on.

I'm not talking about levels of play, at least not too much. It isn't about what we do or how much the players understand what we do. Its more about knowing the game. A hoops official needs to know the difference between a man and zone defense, a single post and double post offense, a guard and a forward, etc. He doesn't necessarily need to know what a match-up zone is or how it compares to a basic zone.

A football official needs to know the difference between a guard and tackle, a safety and linebacker, what a screen pass is, etc. He doesn't necessarily need to know the difference between a cover 2 and the old strong/weak safety.

How do you think that helps a basketball official call the game? By being able to better anticipate the play?