Officiating

[aoa_stripes]

I'll say this about officiating and then be done with it.
1st of all there`s never going to be a perfectly officiated ball game no matter what level you are watching. Just like every other association in America there`s going to be some officials who do a good job, and then those that don`t do as good a job. If just 5% of the fans who constantly complain about the officiating would put the time and effort forth to try it, then maybe the association would have the numbers to be able to select the best officials. Before criticizing every single official in the Association, stop and think of if everyone who is "called" a horrible official on here was to be weeded out, we would have no more sportsin this area. I know there are some good and some bad, but c'mon guys if everytime you watch a ball game you say it`s the worse you`ve ever seen then you have no credibility.
From experience it is much easier to officiate when you have 2 teams who know how to play the game the way it is supposed to be played, and also have coaches who know the game. Just ask yourself how many teams there are like that around here.
I'm not picking sides on anything, or defending anyone in this matter, I just ask everyone put themselves in the officials shoes before they critisize.

[imported_aoaofficial]

Well said.

[pvfan]

I'm tired of officials getting on here and say if you dont like how we ref then go do it yourself. Not everybody has the time, desire, or the know how to officiate. I would much rather go watch a game than officiate a game, I suck at officiating, I've tried it I realized that. Instead of making myself look like an idiot out in public I don't do it. I agree there are a few who just bring down the entire AOA. There are some obvious problems in the AOA though that I think even officials would agree with, the process of selecting officials for big games is extremely flawed. I think you have a lot of officials in the association who put down other officials and then end up having to work with them and it makes for a bad situation because they don't have faith in their fellow official. I as a fan can live with missed calls it's obvious ignorance of the rules that gets me. Having teams shoot on the wrong end and not recognizing it until 5 minutes later, 7 team fouls and they dont shoot one and one, inability to correct clock problems late in games, and numerous other events. The ones listed are just ones I've seen in the last week. I watched some of the Twin Valley Tournament Last week and the officiating in that game was 5x better than any officiating I've seen this season in SWVA. It wasn't a blowout game either the game I attended was like an eight point game. Overall I think there needs to be some type of review process, as of now I know of none. The commish of the league should evaluate officials and reward them with bigger games, in Febuary I don't want to see the same guys who officated the Coal Classic officating the LPD Tournament. Just my .02.

[CoeburnCane]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Zebra</div><div class="ubbcode-body">From experience it is much easier to officiate when you have 2 teams who know how to play the game the way it is supposed to be played, and also have coaches who know the game. Just ask yourself how many teams there are like that around here. </div></div>

So...now it's the kids/coaches fault? They're not good at a sport so we can't get decent officiating in that sport??? I've heard it all now. You just can't throw the kids under the bus like that to make an excuse for sorry officials not knowing the simplest of the rules (see PVFAN's post).

If our kids around here just ran up and down the court and every time they touched the ball there was a foul or a travel and the coaches didn't know a hand check from a charge, then I could see your point. That's just not the case though.

It may be easier when you have two teams that are good at a particular sport, however, that should not dictate the performance of the refs.

[pvfan]

I've heard that excuse by a couple of refs here recently. It seems to be their new excuse for poor officiating.

[imported_UKCats1]

I very seldom make a comment on this situation but I will here. I know what Zebra is saying and I fully understand what he is saying. When two teams are very talented and are experienced they know how to play the game. With this kind of situation it is easier to call because more often than not you will not see a silly situation or a silly foul because they are well coached and know what to do.

Now you go into a game with two teams that are full of sophomores and have not played a great deal together you will see a great deal more silly things happen that a more experienced team or talented team might not make. Those kinds of games are more subjective in the eyes of the fans because the officials have got to make a decision on what is a felony and what is a misdemeanor. If an official goes into a game an does not use common sense in making calls then every trip up the floor there would be some kind of violation. In football holding can be called every play but the key here is did the player gain an advantage, did the team benefit from the hold. Was the hold at the point of attack or was it on a corner back 50 yards away.

When I teach young officials on what to call and what not to call I tell them that they have to use some common sense when making calls. Every team, every player deserves the best officiated games possible I am not going to dispute this, and I know that Zebra is not blaming the teams he is simply saying that some teams do not make the mistakes that others make. Do you want to go to a game where there are 20 flags per team and 100 yard of penalties on each team or go to a basketball game where each team shoots 60 free throws. What is missing in some officials and some games is common sense. The quality of the teams does make it a little more difficult to officiate.

Another example might be in baseball. A pitcher who is wild and no where near the strike zone pitch after pitch will not get that borderline pitch where a pitcher like Greg Maddux who has perfect control will get those borderline calls.

I really do not know of an official that is out there to cheat a team. I know of officials that are there to get it over with I have heard that one myself but I do not know of anyone that would intentionally cheat a kid.

[aoa_stripes]

I apoligize if I was misunderstood. Yes That was what I was talking about. You elaborated on the situation very well.
As an official you must have some thick skin. You can ref a good ball game and at the end of the day one team and set of fans are going to think your horrible because they lost. Most fans have such thick bias glasses on that things can look differently for them. These fans will remember every single thing that a crew did wrong that hurt their team, but will forget about the no calls or such that also helped their team. This is just normal and expected. Sports....gotta love it!

[pvfan]

My problem is not questionable calls that go one way or another it's the obvious missed calls. I just don't see how you can have officials who have officiated for 20 plus years and not know which end of the court teams should shoot on. I went and watched the GC/Lee football game last year and Lee High got the absolute shaft in that one. They called a block in the back 25 yards away from the play that was totally unneccessary and ended the game really. It's just obvious dumb things that make me shake my head.

[imported_UKCats1]

You ever see that Payton Manning commercial where Payton is following everyone around commenting on their performance at work or at home. This is what this topic makes me think of. I would like to do everyone that complains about the officiating of any sport on any level this way. I would love to follow people around and comment on their faults. My advice to you if you are so unhappy about the officiating is to call the principals, call the VHSL, organize people in the area and petition for change. Nothing is going to change by complaining about it.

[pvfan]

I've seen several things change by complaining about them. I don't know of anyone who has a paying job who is not evaulated. Officials rarely ever have the comish go watch their games. I really don't know of any job that allows one to work without being evaulated, whether it be offical or president.