WHY ARE THE REFS SO BAD THIS YEAR

[PageMan]

I've seen some good, but mostly bad, even in games where we won. There is a real difference in what Nashville association calls and what the Shelbyville association calls. I dread playing with Nashville officials since they tend to let a lot of things go where as some Shelbyville refs are somewhat tighter. It does vary with the official involved however. I try to get the names of the officials who do our games for future reference. There are some good women officials out there, but 2 years ago I saw one who called every little touch - probably her 1st year. Lately she has been calling more in line with everybody else. I think the officials show be accountable to someone at the TSSAA and coaches should be able to file reports about questionable officiating. I think every officials should be reviewed annually and a file of complaints kept about their officiating. I know I make mental notes about the ones I see to know what to expect from them the next time I see them.

[gotmilk?]

I just feel sorry for the good refs! I was at a game awhile back where one official was awful and the other 2 were having to give make-up calls just to keep the game fair! I dont think he was favoring one team over the other I just think he didnt have a clue as to what he was doing!!

[BBPRIDE]

Great points by you and Girlpower. Something has to be done. I have actually seen refs this year affect the outcome of games. Usually complaining about the refs is what the losing team does to make excuses. This year it appears to be different. I know they have a hard job, however, they should want to improve as they get more experience but some just seem to not care. Coaches should have a direct line to the state or someone to report abuses. If say the coach from one school calls and complains, the board, or someone should call the opposing coach and the other refs. I bet the majority of the time the other refs and the other coach would give an accurate view of the calling. At least I hope they would. The good refs want to work with other good refs. And coaches, or at least good coaches, want to win because they played better, not because of the refs.

A person of few words!

 

Very true! I have seen refs affect the outcome of several games for both teams. It wasn't home court advantage because they were making bad calls on both sides. I have also seen out of state refs that called totally different. I have been told that the good ones go to the collegiate level to ref and it is just hard to keep good ones on the high school level. Let's face it, no one gets paid enough to be yelled at no matter what call they make!! Crowds can get pretty rude sometimes.

[banjodr]

Wingman10 is a retired ref. He is good and could still ref. Hope he reads this cause he has great ideas on the subject. The key is accountability. There is none. If the pay scale was based on ratings there would be a great difference. People who would take the time to make sure and do it right would get back into officiating. Remember ACOUNTABILITY

[TdTbb]

Generally speaking, refs are doing the best they can. I have been around basketbal for about 40 years now. That does not make me any expert but I have seen alot of refs...yelled at a lot. But I do not think this string is being fair to the refs in TSSAA.

 

Pageman...what you described is called good coaching. You follow the refs, find out their tendencies and use it to win the game. There are better refs and some ok refs. But ANY ref that goes out and does the job is a better person than the fans that watch them. Pretty much a thankless job.

 

Some calls vary from location to location based on the history of the area and the particular ref....touch calls, charge, blocking. block shot. Each of these four have a definition in the rule book...but dang if I see the same from court to court. I do not think for these four calls, the NBA agrees.

 

I think the fans (parents especially) get involved emotionally so much that if you ask two people watching the same game, they will descibe the refs calls totally different. I know for a fact, I am always right

Edited January 19, 2006 by TdTbb

[MCHSBballfan]

I would like to see more stringent requirements in place to be a TSSAA ref. When I ref'ed, I was amazed at how little you had to do, and know, to be one. I took an open book test at home and sent the test to Nashville. I would also like to see first year refs go through a manditory number of games watched and evaluated by more senior refs. I don't think coaches are best for this. Some coaches like "hands-off" play, and some like "bumping" ball. The problem we have in this area is that the people that knew what they were doing are dropping out. Last week at a game one of the "good ones" told me, "I wouldn't work with this bunch of clowns." It's a shame to see the members of each team work so hard to be on the floor only to have "THEIR time" ruined by bad reffing.

 

I quit calling to watch my daughter play and don't feel the same as the one above. I plan to get back in when she is finished, but I do understand where he was coming from.

 

My daughter's team is doing well. So I can say that there have been games where her team won that I have wanted to duck my head for the calls that we were getting. And the games that they lost, you have to play through the bad calling.

[teachthegame]

Interesting thoughts so far and everyone seems to be in agreement that the officiating is not very good overall. But it's not just a high school problem. My daughter played four years in high school and is now a college player and I've seen some officials in both groups who did not have a clue. Whoever first mentioned accountability is on the right track. What penalty is there for being awful? What reward is there for doing a good job or trying to improve? One last thought, a little humilty on the part of officials wouldn't hurt anything. I respect the person who realizes they miss some and is man or woman enough to say I missed that one.

[jchs39]

The officiating is bad at all levels of the game just look at the call in the NFL playoffs that the league had to publically admit was a bad call. I think all fans want and expect perfection, we must realize that we wont ever attain that. I do believe that in any given game we should have consistant calls. Some type of review system should also be in place to help ref's get better and if they don't improve then they can move on. It is a thankless job and I'm glad some people are willing to do it.

[The Highlander]

I agree with the collegiate comment. Worst call I've ever seen was a couple of weeks ago at the Lady Vols-UConn game. Hornbuckle got elbowed in the schnozz, and was called for a foul.

 

I'm not sure the reviewing of ref's and ranking them would work. Here in East Tennessee, the good ole boy network is in full force. We have a lady ref here that is so biased against a couple of teams it is pathetic. She has even been videotaped telling the bookeepers to "watch this, I'm going to T-up that coach." One game in particular, she made two consecutive calls for blocking, when it was evident to everyone in the gym they were both charges. Yes, it was against my team, and yes, it was at a pivotal point in the game, and I feel cost us a chance to win. However, after the game, I had opposing fans, and even another ref that was there watching the game admit the calls were wrong.

 

My point with that ramble is that one of the crew calling that game just happened to be the senior official for the area. He made no move to reverse the call, no move to talk to her about it. A couple of days later, he told several of us he knew at the time she made a bad call. Why would we want to have him evaluate her? Nothing would be accomplished. To beat it all, he is a pretty good ref himself.

 

We don't need "evaluations" by other, possibly just as bad, referees. What we need is accountability through either coaches or fans being able to ask the TSSAA for review of tapes, oversight, or evaluation by a totally neutral qualified person from the TSSAA office. Or at least have a ref from a totally different region, say have an eastern official evaluate a crew in middle or west Tennessee.

 

The Highlander

[senator]

I agree with the collegiate comment. Worst call I've ever seen was a couple of weeks ago at the Lady Vols-UConn game. Hornbuckle got elbowed in the schnozz, and was called for a foul.

 

II DO NOT KNOW ANY OF US THAT DO OUR JOB PERFECT.YES THERE ARE BAD CALLS.THE REFS ARE EVALUATED BUT THE PROBLEM IS 97% OF COMPLAINTS ARE FROM LOSING TEAMS THAT USE REF AS AN EXCUSE'm not sure the reviewing of ref's and ranking them would work. Here in East Tennessee, the good ole boy network is in full force. We have a lady ref here that is so biased against a couple of teams it is pathetic. She has even been videotaped telling the bookeepers to "watch this, I'm going to T-up that coach." One game in particular, she made two consecutive calls for blocking, when it was evident to everyone in the gym they were both charges. Yes, it was against my team, and yes, it was at a pivotal point in the game, and I feel cost us a chance to win. However, after the game, I had opposing fans, and even another ref that was there watching the game admit the calls were wrong.

 

My point with that ramble is that one of the crew calling that game just happened to be the senior official for the area. He made no move to reverse the call, no move to talk to her about it. A couple of days later, he told several of us he knew at the time she made a bad call. Why would we want to have him evaluate her? Nothing would be accomplished. To beat it all, he is a pretty good ref himself.

 

We don't need "evaluations" by other, possibly just as bad, referees. What we need is accountability through either coaches or fans being able to ask the TSSAA for review of tapes, oversight, or evaluation by a totally neutral qualified person from the TSSAA office. Or at least have a ref from a totally different region, say have an eastern official evaluate a crew in middle or west Tennessee.

 

The Highlander

[The Highlander]

I agree with you Senator. Most refs try very hard. Having done it myself, there is no way you can see everything that goes on in a game. I don't have a problem when refs miss a foul, etc. And I don't even mind particularly bad calls when they are consistent. What upsets most people however are the blatantly one-sided calls. I have been involved in a game with approximately 30 fouls called against us. We committed every one of them. However the opposing team was called for 6. Playing man to man all game, and pressing part of it. Can't convince me they didn't foul.

 

My point was not that ref's are bad, heck I'd never do it for what they are paid. I was addressing the comments someone made about evaluations. They don't work when the evaluator is a buddy, or in at least one case in our area, a husband and wife and two brothers.

 

Yes, losing teams sometimes use the refs as an excuse. I have never allowed my girls to do so. If you lose because of a call or couple of calls, you did something stupid to be in a position for one call to cost you a game. I figure if I'm up by 30, a bad call or ref with an agenda can't cost me a game.

 

I, and probably others have also had the winning team's coach apoligize for the poor officiating. And I've apologized to teams I've beaten also.

 

Again, you are correct, most refs do try very hard. Don't misread what I wrote, I was not addressing the refs in particular, just the evaluation (lack of) of the refs.

 

The Highlander

[hallewould36]

Interesting thoughts so far and everyone seems to be in agreement that the officiating is not very good overall. But it's not just a high school problem. My daughter played four years in high school and is now a college player and I've seen some officials in both groups who did not have a clue. Whoever first mentioned accountability is on the right track. What penalty is there for being awful? What reward is there for doing a good job or trying to improve? One last thought, a little humilty on the part of officials wouldn't hurt anything. I respect the person who realizes they miss some and is man or woman enough to say I missed that one.

Now of course High School is different so this probley would not apply but if the refs had to be interviewed after a game like have a press conference that would be right on point for accountability and probley the weaker refs would quit or be exposed . like i say its very unlikely in high school but it would i think help college and even pros if the refs had to answer questions after the game from the press