Tri-County Seven

[etownsparky]

While in some cases the refs at middle school games are newer or lower caliber officials, a lot of times they are varsity/college guys who don't have a higher level game that night.

 

It is not uncommon to see the same 2 refs from a middle school game one night in a prime time conference game in a 3 man crew the next night.

 

It is what it is...

It's odd you mention this. I was surprised (pleasantly actually) when I saw the officials walk in before the game. One calls alot of middle school, high school JV and even lower level high school games. I like the job he does. The other, which happens to be the ref involved in the main fray, calls many higher level high school games and has called at the Arby's before. As a matter of fact, he was the head official for the EHS/Sullivan East games last night. He normally does a decent job, but is known to be somewhat of a hot head. I didn't really have an issue with the way he called the game but rather the way he handled the situation I described earlier.

[etownsparky]

Sparky I didnt think it would be you; sorry if you took it that way. It was a middle school game so the quality of officiating would be lower anyway. TAD has a very good team this year and will most likely get back to the Forge for the Sectional tournament and make some noise there.

Ref definitely took a bad situation and made it worse.

No offense taken, my response was intended to be mostly tongue-in-cheek. You aren't the first to ask the same question...LOL. Yeah, TAD has had a great year. I hope they make it to the Sectional and do some damage. I haven't seen the seeding in the Area tournament yet, but if they both play well, I'd say TAD and Unicoi will meet again.

[Thebballguru]

It's odd you mention this. I was surprised (pleasantly actually) when I saw the officials walk in before the game. One calls alot of middle school, high school JV and even lower level high school games. I like the job he does. The other, which happens to be the ref involved in the main fray, calls many higher level high school games and has called at the Arby's before. As a matter of fact, he was the head official for the EHS/Sullivan East games last night. He normally does a decent job, but is known to be somewhat of a hot head. I didn't really have an issue with the way he called the game but rather the way he handled the situation I described earlier.

 

I would imagine it could have and should have been handled better, but even officials are human. A lot of times we as fans tend to forget that, and in a job where you are held under a microscope and have so many critics I can imagine it being stressful. This doesn't excuse bad behavior on any refs part...but I can for sure see where they could be "on edge".

 

I normally am sympathetic towards refs because I have several close friends who are officials on various levels of the game, but there is a line that needs to be drawn. Professionalism and consistency is all that can be asked for in a ref, no matter what sport or what level the sport is being played on.

 

Just my opinion.

[etownsparky]

I would imagine it could have and should have been handled better, but even officials are human. A lot of times we as fans tend to forget that, and in a job where you are held under a microscope and have so many critics I can imagine it being stressful. This doesn't excuse bad behavior on any refs part...but I can for sure see where they could be "on edge".

 

I normally am sympathetic towards refs because I have several close friends who are officials on various levels of the game, but there is a line that needs to be drawn. Professionalism and consistency is all that can be asked for in a ref, no matter what sport or what level the sport is being played on.

 

Just my opinion.

I understand that officials are human too. However, an experienced official should know how to better handle a situation like this. I realize the job may be stressful, but an official must also realize that emotions run high with a parent, especially when their child is injured. What's even more disturbing is the report filed by the ref to the TSSAA was not a fair and accurate account of what happened. I conclude this because the story recounted by the TSSAA to the TAD administration does not match the actual events. Fortunately, there is video of the entire ordeal that clearly shows what transpired. I believe this video was recently provided to the TSSAA for review. Without the video, there's no doubt the official's account would have gone uncontested. Regardless, I agree that professionalism and consistency is a reasonable expectation for officials. I give the ref in question an 'A-' in the consistency department for the game, but a resounding 'F' in the professionalism category!