Depends on the ref, IMO. Some deserve worse than what they get.

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.

 

:thumb:

 

Excellent post on all aspects. I would love to add to it, but you covered it too well!

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.

 

I would retire around now then.

 

I honestly believe some refs make calls simply because they can. There was an instance where there were two incidents of goal tending on the same team and there was no call. The official could clearly see it too.

 

There were two refs that were there attending the game and even said that it was clearly goal tending.

I would retire around now then.

 

I honestly believe some refs make calls simply because they can. There was an instance where there were two incidents of goal tending on the same team and there was no call. The official could clearly see it too.

 

There were two refs that were there attending the game and even said that it was clearly goal tending.

 

Good professional refs never comment publicly on another official. Its unbecoming.

In general, I think we are too hard on officials. I am amazed and shocked by many of the statements coming from the fans. I know and talk with a few referees. Although they do listen and hear both comments from the stands and the coaches, they have conditioned themselves to let it roll. IMO the referees that I have seen have done an excellent job.

Just as in the coaching profession, there are good ones and bad ones, ambitious and lazy ones, some who strive to be professional and others simply out to pick up a check.

 

There are always going to be ignorant fans who think it is their god-given right, associated with the purchase of their ticket to berate officials. I think officials know when they are doing a good job and the razzing is unwarrented, and those who know when it is justified. Good officials tone out ignorant fans.

 

I've never been a fan of officials who look for things to call, have no rapport with the coaches or players, and think the game is all about them.

 

For the most part officials are hard-working folks, looking to always improve, and move up the ladder in the profession.

 

I want my officials to be fair and impartial.

I want them to understand what constitutes personal fouls, understand the difference between blocking and charging, and recognize the effort the defense is making to stay on their feet, establish their position, and not violate an opponent when going up for a rebound.

I want my players to understand exactly what rules they are playing by on a given night and not be subjected to "multiple choice officiating."

I want him/her to maintain control of the game, not allow it to get so physical where one team gains an advantage over another team.

I want them to put their regional politics aside and just go and call a good ballgame without feeling partial to a team from one region or another.

 

As in baseball, where I want a good ball/strike, safe/out, fair/foul game called, I expect the same in basketball.

 

We work hard for two hours a day to get our guys to play palms up ball-u-man defense, to cut off passing lanes, front the post, give good weak side help and to stand in and take charges. Nothing is more frustrating to have an official who doesn't value proper technique, rewards offensive players for being out of control, and simply calls all contact fouls against the defense. I want him to protect my rebounder once he gains possession of the ball, and to call fouls the same way in the deep paint as he would out on the perimeter.

 

Asking a lot? Probably! If I get guys who are working hard to do 80% of the above, there is no reason to be too hard on him. If not, he's rightfully going to get an earful, or worse yet, be scratched.

:eek:

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.

Sounds to me like you were maybe talking about yourself, if so its good you are a former high school referee, a small percentage may be this way but its very, very small. As others have said I feel most officals let the comments from coaches and fans (if not personal) roll of their back like water off a duck. I always thought it would be a real site to let the fans with the loudest mouths call just one half of a game and video it. I'm sure it would make America's funniest videoes. Officals have a hard job at best, I sure wouldn't want it.

Just as in the coaching profession, there are good ones and bad ones, ambitious and lazy ones, some who strive to be professional and others simply out to pick up a check.

 

There are always going to be ignorant fans who think it is their god-given right, associated with the purchase of their ticket to berate officials. I think officials know when they are doing a good job and the razzing is unwarrented, and those who know when it is justified. Good officials tone out ignorant fans.

 

I've never been a fan of officials who look for things to call, have no rapport with the coaches or players, and think the game is all about them.

 

For the most part officials are hard-working folks, looking to always improve, and move up the ladder in the profession.

 

I want my officials to be fair and impartial.

I want them to understand what constitutes personal fouls, understand the difference between blocking and charging, and recognize the effort the defense is making to stay on their feet, establish their position, and not violate an opponent when going up for a rebound.

I want my players to understand exactly what rules they are playing by on a given night and not be subjected to "multiple choice officiating."

I want him/her to maintain control of the game, not allow it to get so physical where one team gains an advantage over another team.

I want them to put their regional politics aside and just go and call a good ballgame without feeling partial to a team from one region or another.

 

As in baseball, where I want a good ball/strike, safe/out, fair/foul game called, I expect the same in basketball.

 

We work hard for two hours a day to get our guys to play palms up ball-u-man defense, to cut off passing lanes, front the post, give good weak side help and to stand in and take charges. Nothing is more frustrating to have an official who doesn't value proper technique, rewards offensive players for being out of control, and simply calls all contact fouls against the defense. I want him to protect my rebounder once he gains possession of the ball, and to call fouls the same way in the deep paint as he would out on the perimeter.

 

Asking a lot? Probably! If I get guys who are working hard to do 80% of the above, there is no reason to be too hard on him. If not, he's rightfully going to get an earful, or worse yet, be scratched.

 

Mustang GREAT POST.....

Just as in the coaching profession, there are good ones and bad ones, ambitious and lazy ones, some who strive to be professional and others simply out to pick up a check.

 

There are always going to be ignorant fans who think it is their god-given right, associated with the purchase of their ticket to berate officials. I think officials know when they are doing a good job and the razzing is unwarrented, and those who know when it is justified. Good officials tone out ignorant fans.

 

I've never been a fan of officials who look for things to call, have no rapport with the coaches or players, and think the game is all about them.

 

For the most part officials are hard-working folks, looking to always improve, and move up the ladder in the profession.

 

I want my officials to be fair and impartial.

I want them to understand what constitutes personal fouls, understand the difference between blocking and charging, and recognize the effort the defense is making to stay on their feet, establish their position, and not violate an opponent when going up for a rebound.

I want my players to understand exactly what rules they are playing by on a given night and not be subjected to "multiple choice officiating."

I want him/her to maintain control of the game, not allow it to get so physical where one team gains an advantage over another team.

I want them to put their regional politics aside and just go and call a good ballgame without feeling partial to a team from one region or another.

 

As in baseball, where I want a good ball/strike, safe/out, fair/foul game called, I expect the same in basketball.

 

We work hard for two hours a day to get our guys to play palms up ball-u-man defense, to cut off passing lanes, front the post, give good weak side help and to stand in and take charges. Nothing is more frustrating to have an official who doesn't value proper technique, rewards offensive players for being out of control, and simply calls all contact fouls against the defense. I want him to protect my rebounder once he gains possession of the ball, and to call fouls the same way in the deep paint as he would out on the perimeter.

 

Asking a lot? Probably! If I get guys who are working hard to do 80% of the above, there is no reason to be too hard on him. If not, he's rightfully going to get an earful, or worse yet, be scratched.

 

And here you are...

 

Just kidding, of course. Sounds like you want what we all want.

This is a hard question to answer, because the majority of time that we discuss officials it's to talk about the "blown" calls. So, we often tend to focus on the negative to begin with. Very rarely do you see any posts on here praising the officials for their job.

 

However, that being said, I would think my objections to the job that SOME officials do on the court center around three things...

 

1.) Not being consistent. Hand checking goes on all game, and no whistle, until we get inside 4:00 in the final quarter. THEN it's a foul?!?!? If you're going to let kids do something at the beginning of the game, you don't change mid-stream.

 

2.) Anticipating a call. Have seen too many plays on tape, where when slowed down (and yes, I understand officials don't have this luxury) a player that gets whistled for an infraction, when he/she didn't actually commit it. Traveling calls and over-the-back seem to top the list here.

 

3.) Be affected by a player's/coach's reputation. I've seen the coach for a top-5 team blow a gasket yelling at an official so much that you'd swear he was going to have a heart attack right there on the sideline. He gets away with much more than many other coaches, simply because of who he is, and what team he's coaching. Not only does he not get T'd up for what he said...but "miraculously" this same official often turns around and makes a call in favor of this coach's team in a very short time.

 

So, in the end, are we too hard on officials? Sometimes yes. Often we are passionate fans who don't like to admit that our team "screwed up", and use the officials as a scape goat. Often we are ignorant of the many rules. But, there are times when the criticism is probably deserved.

I think we are extremely hard on officials. Every bad call is not someone being cheated. I think that fans are often way too hard on the officials and the ones who generally are have never put on the stripes and seen what it is like and would never last if they did. It is a very difficult job, ... and a thankless job. Do it right, you never hear a word. Make a mistake or even a 'perceived mistake' and you will get reemed, called a cheater, etc.

 

Just like in any profession, there are good ones and there are bad ones. The good ones can have bad nights and even the bad ones can have good nights.

 

Rest assured, that no matter how good a crew calls a game, ... if it is a close game, someone will blame them.

I want consistency, PERIOD.

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. .

 

We have officials in our region that called myself and all the other coaches in the region a couple days before the ratings were supposed to happen and actually ask for a #1 rating from us to make sure they made the regional tourney or the state tourney and some of the coaches did and some of us didn't, but don't say they don't talk about it, if they didn't care about moving up and calling the big games, they wouldn't do it. Most do it because they love the game and want to be in the big game, for the same reasons we coach and our players play. So it is talked about very much.

 

And I agree with the officials talking about the good and the bad players on the way to the game and what they have done in the past and seen them do, how they act, and that goes for us coaches too. If a coach has a short fuse, I'm sure the officials know about it and are ready for it. coaches scout and officials talk to other officials for the same reason we scout, because they don't want to be surprised. It's all part of the job. And I admit we are too hard on officials, we always want perfection and know it's not possible, they are only human.

As long as coaches in the state of KY have more control over rating an official than their own assigner has how could you expect anything more than an average job?