Officials Taking Over Ballgames

[Cinderella Man]

I don't know where this post is coming from, but after reading a little about a few recent games, I had to comment on this. Let me know how you guys feel.

 

I was reading about the closing minute of the Jackson City/Owsley Co. game the other night, and I saw where Jackson had a lead of 7 with 34 seconds left to play in the game. A player received a technical after whining about not getting a foul called. I know little about these 2 teams and nothing about this game (other than what I've read, I wasn't there), but a player receiving a technical with 30 seconds left in a close game seems a little drastic. Was he really that mouthy? It is possible that the player did deserve it, but I'm just tired of officials taking over a game late. I mean, does the official here feel like the player is really trying to show him up?

 

Again, I'd love to know what the young man said. I don't like all the whining and crying I see today from high school athletes, but it does take place, and it happens the entire game. I'm sure that one possession was not the first time on this night that a player whined about a foul call, or lack thereof. I just want some consistency.

 

What do you guys think? Anyone else have any incidents they'd like to share?

[Wireman]

I went to the MSU vs. Central Michigan game the other day at Morehead. The game was played entirely by officials. They called 45 fouls for the game and the game lasted 2 1/2 hours. I know that's not high school, but still a good example of officials taking over.

[Master of the Hardwood]

All of this is an example of guys wanting to be "Noticed". They think if they call all the fouls or call something that changes the flow of the game, they can be seen and get some attention, which is exactly what you guys are doing for them! The game is supposed to be about the kids and some officials have to make it more about them or who they can T up or who they can remove from the stands to get more of the attention on themselves. It's ridiculous that assignors allow these officials to keep calling. It's the same one's night after night that have to prove that they are needing all of this attention and keep doing things to get the spotlight. Another thing is the officials that take games in the county they live in or take games with schools they are associated with. That is a lose lose situation, especially if you have to make a big call for or against that team, which happened last week in the HIT tourney with Breathitt county. It was a bad situation for everyone involved and all goes back to the assignor.

[YAKOFNORWEGIA]

I thought this thread was about a horror movie. You know the Earth being invaded by Officials.

[FORMERPRO]

You all need to try and officiate a high school game and decide after that ho w easy this high paid job really is. Its really easy now, with all the bleacher wanna be's helping you out by screaming at you. Us fans know the rules so well and we see the play from 80 feet away, I'm sure we are right and they are wrong. I'm sure the officials say,thanks for all your help guys.

[MBWC41]

I officiated a mens softball game once, I'd never do anything like it again. It was horrible. While I dont always agree with the calls made, I do have a high level of respect for refs who are verbally abused night in and night out by a few thousand fans.

[KIDS FAN]

I have said for years that until you pay these guys and gals what they deserve and rid the officiating ranks of the bottom feeders then we will get some bad officiating. As a rule 75 to 80 percent of high school officials are solid and upstanding. We just can't seem to lure new officials to help with the turnover of older officials leaving the profession. I know in the 14th we have a core group of solid experienced officials but they are slowing down and we don't have the new guys to take their spot. The new ones we are getting are the ones presenting the problems. I say pay them more and demand more for it. The older guys done it for the love of the game and not just the money but times are a changin'. MO MONEY.

[The Ghost]

One part of this post will urge you all to go to the girls forum and read a few posts about officials there.

 

As to officials "taking over games": Being an ex official and still training them today, I can say with relative ease that yes, there are times that officials call way too much in a game. But, it really depends on when the calls are made. I have posted this before and now it is as true as it was before; Womens college officials call the game fairly well most of the time. Mens college officials are starting to get into the system of calling contact that needs to be called to "CONTROL" the game. I have seen more "player control" (ie charges for all you bleacher bums!) fouls called this season already in the few mens games I have watched than in any other season in the past 5 years. Finally they are getting the message that when two players hit the floor, sometimes you have to call a foul!

 

There is a difference between "taking over" a game and "controling" a game. If calls that need to be made are made early, coaches and players have a chance to adjust to that particular crew. Yes, you will find variance in how different crews officiate games. No way to avoid that, due to the fact that some officials just will not change the way they do things for anyone. Yea, that's bad and we need get them out, but that is a supervisors problem (in both HS and college). In HS, you do not have near the officiating talent pool to choose from. Yes, there are good officials in every region, but in the smaller associations they are few and far between. So coaches have to deal with different crews just like they deal with different teams; kind of like the "Forrest Gump" theory. Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get! Some crews will call hand checks and so called "ticky-tack" stuff....some will not. Sometimes they have to pass on that stuff so as to get other more serious violations and keep the game under control.

 

Some games the officials have to "control" the game by calling 50 fouls (my personal best for a game was 57 in HS, 65 in college - the whole crew, not me personally). Those kind of games no matter what you do, teams will not stop fouling and if you do not keep calling the fouls, fights break out ect. Then things get really ugly. So when you see officials "taking over" a game, maybe they have to. Maybe the players just are not as athletically gifted as some others and they just have to keep calling the fouls due to that lack of talent. Think about that next time you see officials "controlling" a game!

 

One other thing about the money issue.....more money is not the answer. That would keep some of the "bottom feeders" around. They are just there for the money anyway and it shows most nights! Do not get me wrong, officials deserve all the money they can get, it is just not the best answer for this particular issue!

 

:dancingpa

[mcpapa]

As a rule, I don't gripe too much about officials as long as they are consistent. As someone has already stated, there is a big difference between controlling a game and taking over a game.

 

What I have noticed more this year than ever is calls being made that are "anticipated". Officials are always going to miss a few calls; that comes with the territory. I just hate seeing whistles blown before the contact occurs!

 

I attended all of the MCIT games last week. During the Thursday session I sat through both games with one of the old coaching guard, Mr. Bob Hall. Over the course of four hours, we spoke of many things; not the least of which was officiating. He said his philosophy was (and I wasn't around to observe; maybe some of the old-timers out there can corroborate or not) that as a coach, sugar was more effective than vinegar when it came to working with officials.

[HHSDad]

While I think games at all levels and all sports are being overofficiated, I don't think that its originating with the game officials. There's been a lot of rule changes and "emphasis" the past few years that have forced official to call more fouls, penalties, etc. Several years back, I don't think you would have seen some of these calls being made.

[HOMELESS CAMEL]

I know early on at the Brossart/Mason game, Mason got a quick 5 fouls or so called on them to Brossart's zero, of course as the game went on, things did even out.

 

While watching Scott Co at the Beach Ball classic, the announcers were talking about a hand check is never called and should be called a lot more often. So while watching Mason's game I was looking for that and sure enough, both teams did their fair share and nothing was called.

 

As has been stated on here, as long as they are consistent and call things both ways for both teams, I don't mind. It's not related to high school basketball, but I know of a few NFL games were flags are flown because the refs "anticipate" what foul is going to happen instead of waiting to see what's going to happen. I know someone already mentioned anticipated on this thread and I agree 100 percent.

 

More than anything else, I would just rather the officials let the kids play. Obviously you want to keep the game under control, but let the teams decide who is better.

[pgfromky]

An official that takes over the game thinks how to get more attention directs toward themself, as the wrong idea.

 

You know a referee is doing their job, when you don't notice them while watching a game. Therefore, they are allowing the kids to win or lose the game.

[BaseballFan13]

I have said for years that until you pay these guys and gals what they deserve and rid the officiating ranks of the bottom feeders then we will get some bad officiating. As a rule 75 to 80 percent of high school officials are solid and upstanding. We just can't seem to lure new officials to help with the turnover of older officials leaving the profession. I know in the 14th we have a core group of solid experienced officials but they are slowing down and we don't have the new guys to take their spot. The new ones we are getting are the ones presenting the problems. I say pay them more and demand more for it. The older guys done it for the love of the game and not just the money but times are a changin'. MO MONEY.

 

Can you explain to me how giving them more money will improve the officiating? Seems to me, that the pay increase will just bring in more slackers who think they can make some easy money. I'm not saying a pay raise would be a bad thing to officials who do their job well, but how can you raise some payroll, and not all of it? The only solution I see to better officiating, is by weeding out the "less than acceptable" officials in training.

 

The "rule" you mentioned about the "75 to 80 percent of officials being solid and upstanding" is a stat completely fabricated in your head. I can say with confidence that in the 15th region at least, there is nowhere near that percentage. If you want my fabricated stat, I would say that less than 50% are acceptable.

 

I do agree that something needs to be done in the turnover rate of officials. If new, young officials are not there to take the place of the older officials, then we will continue to repace them with the so called "slackers" who are controlling the games.

 

Just my thoughts.....

[The Ghost]

I know early on at the Brossart/Mason game, Mason got a quick 5 fouls or so called on them to Brossart's zero, of course as the game went on, things did even out.

 

While watching Scott Co at the Beach Ball classic, the announcers were talking about a hand check is never called and should be called a lot more often. So while watching Mason's game I was looking for that and sure enough, both teams did their fair share and nothing was called.

 

As has been stated on here, as long as they are consistent and call things both ways for both teams, I don't mind. It's not related to high school basketball, but I know of a few NFL games were flags are flown because the refs "anticipate" what foul is going to happen instead of waiting to see what's going to happen. I know someone already mentioned anticipated on this thread and I agree 100 percent.

 

More than anything else, I would just rather the officials let the kids play. Obviously you want to keep the game under control, but let the teams decide who is better.

 

From what I have seen in boys basketball, it (the handcheck) is a difficult call to make. The players are so athletic and able to withstand more contact, hence the problem. I think it takes a really quality official to determing what has put a player at a disadvantage and what has not.

 

I also agree that officials would love to "let the kids play", but we all know that sometimes they just don't want to. They want to be lazy and play with their hands and not their feet! They want to set screens with their elbows and end up hitting someone in the mouth with it. If those situations are not handled properly, then you get your "out of control" games. Officials love to let the kids decide the games; it is unfortunate that sometimes they cannot.

[Skoal Bandit]

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to post a response to the jackson city game. i was in the stands and if was i heard from the players mouth is correct then he should have had more than a technical throwed on him. i agree that a T late in the game is hard on a team but language like that should not be accepted anywhere. i use to officate years ago. it is not easy. what amazes me is there are so many out there that just go to the game to complain. let the officials do there jobs. believe me alot of nights these guys walk away losing money. forexample. from one end of the 14th region to the other(jenkins to estill co) is about 130 miles one way. you figure that is a official from letcher co goes this distance and gets payed for the ballgame how they can make any money with the travel time and getting in late. i think we need to look at both sides of the story.