As i read the post about good officials, and after a discussion with a few coaches at lunch today (snow day), we talked about officials. Most importantly how fast the game has gotten, how talented the players have gotten and how our expectations as coaches have gotten sky high for officials as well.

 

My question after all this is have we gotten too hard on them? Do we expect too much?

 

It's a tough question because as a coach and fan of basketball i have seen some very dispicable things said and yelled out at officials by coaches and fans alike. However, i expect as the game changes over time for officials to change as well. In high school basketball it is ultimately about the kids and sportsmanship. I sometimes feel like we lost track of that somewhere along the way.

 

Your thoughts as both coaches, players and fans?:popcorn:

I think we are in most cases. People always want to get on to the refs and blame them. But I do believe that there are refs out there who really cheat. Go to a game at Clay Co, at Corbin, at Hazard or Perry Central, at Lexington Catholic, at schools in Louisville, etc with certain refs. You will get cheated. Not always, it just depends on the crew. But cheating goes on so some guys deserve getting yelled at and ridiculed as much as possible. But for the most part people are too hard on refs.

 

Thats just my opinion.

I think we are in most cases. People always want to get on to the refs and blame them. But I do believe that there are refs out there who really cheat. Go to a game at Clay Co, at Corbin, at Hazard or Perry Central, at Lexington Catholic, at schools in Louisville, etc with certain refs. You will get cheated. Not always, it just depends on the crew. But cheating goes on so some guys deserve getting yelled at and ridiculed as much as possible. But for the most part people are too hard on refs.

Thats just my opinion.

 

I have to say in 20 years of being around basketball in KY I have seen some questionable calls but I cannot remember ever seeing a game and thinking a referee cheated. If I even thought that I would be sending a tape to either the assigner or KHSAA to be reviewed. I think most coaches would do the same as well.:eek:

Edited February 10, 201016 yr by gold sunrise
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I'm not sure it's cheating as much as a bias for or against a certain team or player.

 

It's always interesting watching how certain kids can be holding and grabbing and the other kid trys to get free and gets called for a push off?????

 

I think officials need to referee the game with the same standards for each player, no matter how big, small, quick etc, and no matter which school they play for and that just don't see that happen very often at the high school level.

Probably.

Me? Me? No, never. No really, I mean it. Never too hard.

I think for the most part officials get a lot of stuff thrown at them from coaches and fans, some deserve it, however most don't. I think officials tend to read a sports section or look at a teams record etc... and subconsciously become biased toward the team or even toward a good player.

I think we are hard on them. I mean most of them do their best, and I have handed refs their checks, and they are paid very little for what they have to put up with.

Yes. Yes. Yes. We are too hard on officials. Basketball is the hardest of all sports to officiate. I personally have been guilty of being too critical in games I have coached.

 

I have also seen some pretty blatant stuff from some of the officials doing small schools in the 10th. I have seen some things that I thought were outright cheating for a specific team. This does not happen very often, but I do believe it happens.

I bet if you ask most refs they will say that fans and coaches are not too hard on them. Yes, they will say they get yelled at by fans and screamed at occasionally by coaches but to most refs it really isn't that big of a deal. Refs realize that fans are passionate especially about their own blood and they also realize that many fans and coaches simply do not have the time nor desire to fully understand basketball rules. Therefore, if a fan is yelling that a ref missed a walk and the ref knows that the fan doesn't know the part of the rule about control then he/she really doesn't let it bother them. If a coach questions a call rather vociferously, again, no biggie. I'd question it to if I was a coach.

 

As long as its a)not personal and b)doesn't threaten the safety of an official most good officials let it roll off their back.

If I had a dime for every time I've heard "WALK" or "THREE SECONDS" from the stands - when there was NOT a traveling or three seconds violation, I could have retired a couple of years earlier.

They get paid, and there are no repurcussions for their mistakes - no matter how big or small a mistake is made. The majority are shallow and weak. They listen to coaches and fans gripe about something, whether it's legitimate or not, and then they call it because they think it pleases someone. They go into games with a bias about who is supposed to win and lose. They talk about players and what they are going to do before the game is even played. They talk about how they don't like a coach or team before the game even starts. They worry too much about make up calls instead of calling the game fair. They worry about ratings and whether their assigner is at the game to watch them. The reason I know this is because I used to be a high school referee, and all of this stuff made me sick. No, we are not too hard on officials.

They get paid, and there are no repurcussions for their mistakes - no matter how big or small a mistake is made. The majority are shallow and weak. They listen to coaches and fans gripe about something, whether it's legitimate or not, and then they call it because they think it pleases someone. They go into games with a bias about who is supposed to win and lose. They talk about players and what they are going to do before the game is even played. They talk about how they don't like a coach or team before the game even starts. They worry too much about make up calls instead of calling the game fair. They worry about ratings and whether their assigner is at the game to watch them. The reason I know this is because I used to be a high school referee, and all of this stuff made me sick. No, we are not too hard on officials.

 

Wow - quite the first post!

 

Welcome to the site, and feel free to check out the following link. ANd don't be shy about asking a mod any site-related question that you might have.

http://www.bluegrasspreps.com/showthread.php?t=35010

They get paid, and there are no repurcussions for their mistakes - no matter how big or small a mistake is made. The majority are shallow and weak. They listen to coaches and fans gripe about something, whether it's legitimate or not, and then they call it because they think it pleases someone. They go into games with a bias about who is supposed to win and lose. They talk about players and what they are going to do before the game is even played. They talk about how they don't like a coach or team before the game even starts. They worry too much about make up calls instead of calling the game fair. They worry about ratings and whether their assigner is at the game to watch them. The reason I know this is because I used to be a high school referee, and all of this stuff made me sick. No, we are not too hard on officials.

 

How on earth can they worry about all those things you listed, be "shallow and weak", call it because they think it pleases someone, worry too much about make up calls instead of calling the game fair and still worry about ratings? Your first post isn't making any sense to me.

They get paid, and there are no repurcussions for their mistakes - no matter how big or small a mistake is made. The majority are shallow and weak. They listen to coaches and fans gripe about something, whether it's legitimate or not, and then they call it because they think it pleases someone. They go into games with a bias about who is supposed to win and lose. They talk about players and what they are going to do before the game is even played. They talk about how they don't like a coach or team before the game even starts. They worry too much about make up calls instead of calling the game fair. They worry about ratings and whether their assigner is at the game to watch them. The reason I know this is because I used to be a high school referee, and all of this stuff made me sick. No, we are not too hard on officials.

 

I wonder was district you officiated in. I have never seen this from the BBA as a coach or a ref. I'm sure there may be one or two out there but I do not think anyone ever verbally talked about ratings. As for talking about coaches/players...this is done at all levels...high school, college, and even the pros. Just like referees get certain reputations, so do coaches and players. Its a part of the game IMO. Coaches scout and try to know the other teams personel. Refs do as well as they get coaches and teams more and more often. For example: if I knew a coach liked to complain about calls a lot i would talk about it with my partners. Usually my advice was answer questions not statements. I would also say if that particular coach got too bad that we would need to warn him early. As a coach now, I would prefer the refs talk about me and about my coaching style. Especially for guys/girls who may not of had me.

Edited February 10, 201016 yr by gold sunrise
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