Referees

Guys it is something these men give of themselves. I have a friend who is a refree.

And his motto is i try to call it as evenly as i can on both teams. I am human and i make mistakes, sometimes we have to come together as officals and be on the same page.

Yeah we see some miss call and some we don't like. But as long as things are consistent. I'll take that any time. And think about something else. These men volunteer their time for very little money in return. Now how many others would do that after working all day long, so our kids can at least play their games.

[CoeburnCane]

Just because they're volunteering doesn't give them an excuse to mail it in some nights and make every last call on another given night.

Sometimes consistency is tossed out of the window because they're too tired or there's another sporting event on TV they wanna get home and watch...or conversely, they've brushed up on the rule book and want to put that newly found knowledge into action, regardless of if this makes the game last 2 times as long.

[cvcgrad]

It is not a job I would want to do.

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Guys it is something these men give of themselves. I have a friend who is a refree.

And his motto is i try to call it as evenly as i can on both teams. I am human and i make mistakes, sometimes we have to come together as officals and be on the same page.

Yeah we see some miss call and some we don't like. But as long as things are consistent. I'll take that any time. And think about something else. These men volunteer their time for very little money in return. Now how many others would do that after working all day long, so our kids can at least play their games.

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Well there is an easy way to fix it. Join the association and become an official. It may show some it's not as easy as it looks. Not trying to be a smart aleck either.
But seriously, these guys i think do the best they can. Not that i don't get upset with some myself.
Some well are better than others, that is just a fact also. But in general their the ones who put on the stripes to at least give the kids some one there, so they can have a chance to play the games.
I've never been one to point blame if i have never done it. I been on both sides, when i helped coach p-nut, who ever had the early game ref'ed the late game.
Believe me it ain't as cut and dry as you think. Best thing you can hope to do even at that young age is make calls consistent on both teams.
I've had my share of f' you from parents, and you ask them to ref. Always the same answer. I worked all day i am tired.
Well i worked all day. Helped coach a game. And am now ref'ing one for you to cuss me out? Anything fair about that?

[R0cketer]

You know, that is something that bothers me. It seems like it is 'wrong' to question officials. That mentality has been bred in too long.

Look, I appreciate that its a tough job but anytime someone complains saying 'go do it' isn't the solution. If someone is horrible at a job, the fix isn't getting someone else in there who doesn't know how to do it, to fix it, the job is to get the people who do it better.

College officials get their performances taped, their supervisor reviews them, performances, complaints and they get graded. Having talked to a few officials, I know they get paid more than they do for a high school game, but not a great deal more. They have something to review them, not to insult them or make them out to be bad officials, but to help them be better and more consistent officials.

Now then, you're right they don't get paid a ton but it makes it even worse to pay them what they get when they can't be improved, can do what they want and you know there is no reason for them to get better or improve. In an average game, if you're lucky, you have 1 good or decent official.

I don't necessarily blame the officials, heck I know I couldn't be unbiased enough against certain teams, so I know I wouldn't be able to do it. I do however think there should be a recourse for them. For all practical purposes, a school can request that a particular official not officiate a game at their school. That's great, except that doesn't keep them from officiating on the road, or for that matter if someone has to cancel out, doesn't mean they won't end up at the place that requested to not have them. If a coach does something stupid, they can get suspended or removed. If a player does something horrible, they get tossed, or kicked off the team. If a ref does something horrible, they get yelled at, get mad, and probably make more horrible calls, call some technicals, etc etc.

I appreciate that the refs give up their time for very little pay. You make a point there. What about the coaches, who are there each day, for very little pay, giving their time? What about the players who give up their time to play a game and have the game or the rules changed during the game on them? Shoot what about us as fans who pay our money into admissions, food, gas, etc.

Don't take this as an attack on the refs, I'm more wishing they got more pay but that there was a way to make them better, for them to be criticized and not be 'above it'. We have had a few officials over the year who would admit a bad call and appologize for it, or try to explain what they saw, why they made a call...then you turn around and have one who just says thats the call I made, and if you try to get them to explain it, they go into defense mode tell the coach to shut up, sit down, etc.

We all know they are human, I'm made the comment several times when there is a good football game or such on when we have a game, be ready to play physical because they won't want to make many calls.

It is a tough job. No question its a super tough job but that doesn't mean they are above being questioned or should be above giving respect back to the coaches, players and fans to do their best.

[cvcgrad]

To put the topic into some kind of context, you have to remember that this is high school sports. I would venture a guess that most schools spend a helluva lot more hosting games than they make from the admissions, concessions, etc.

From a business perspective, high school sports programs aren't generating enormous revenues for schools. If they were, then perhaps there might be a better system for selecting, hiring, reviewing referees.

The VHSL system is not perfect, but it's we have to work with.

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College officials get their performances taped, their supervisor reviews them, performances, complaints and they get graded. Having talked to a few officials, I know they get paid more than they do for a high school game, but not a great deal more. They have something to review them, not to insult them or make them out to be bad officials, but to help them be better and more consistent officials.

[/ QUOTE ]



Reading this comment makes me wonder how often - if ever - fans have made a point to let a referee know they appreciate them when they feel they've done a good job.

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It is a tough job. No question its a super tough job but that doesn't mean they are above being questioned or should be above giving respect back to the coaches, players and fans to do their best.

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[Bettyboop]

I told one the other night, I appreciated him. I don't often get to do that.

[cvcgrad]

I can imagine why it doesn't happen often.

I am as guilty as the next person.

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I told one the other night, I appreciated him. I don't often get to do that.

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[R0cketer]

Honestly, I would say not very often but for the main reason (IMO) is that when you think someone did a good job, the way it seems at least, there is a huge portion on the other side that thinks they were horrible. Very seldom do you get a chance to thank an official because after the game they tend to be wherever they change and gone fairly quickly.

I have thanked officials for good calls or told them that they did a good job on a particular game or later if I thought they did.

Honest a lot of us who question things about them don't think they are the great Satans, but do wish they had a way to improve, and was subject to a bit more review. There are some that I have no doubt do the very best they can do, likewise there are some that I think be it due to crowds, personal issues with coaches in the past, etc do call things a bit 'biased'.

I can say myself that if a referee sucks, I can deal with it, as long as he consistently sucks. If one wants to call a team I support for ever little thing they do, your players can adjust to that, its when one team is called for handchecks and on the other end the team looks like they would be better suited for OZ on HBO and its not called.

I know a lot of fans love to talk about the refs but if you get most to discuss it after the game, not in the middle of the fire, the biggest complaint is the consistentcy, not the mistakes.

[imported_ut1]

Yeah, its O.K. to complain, but constant whining gets old real fast. A lot of folks speaking up know the ins and outs of the game as former players, so I give great credence to their complaints. I agree that there is a real problem with consistency, but how do we fix it? So far, complaining hasn't helped. What I see is that we need MORE officials, as well as some YOUNGER officials. Now, I'm not saying these guys are too old, but working a regular job and then calling a game five or six straight nights can't be good. Something has to give, and I'm afraid they're not going to be at their best. We need more officials so that the ones we have aren't overworked. We need some younger officials to work alongside the older ones so they can benefit from these older officials' years of experience. Then you have a problem there also, as some people like to really blast the younger ones by complaining that they're too young, they're a know-it-all, etc. We're sure not doing ourselves any favors there. The fact remains that these two issues must be addressed, and until they are, there's going to be complaining.
Its a fact of life, so accept it as part of the game and go on...unless you want to do what the initial post in this thread suggested.