AAA officiating

[shooter41]

The officials are graded. And the state tournament got the ones with the highest ratings. Officiating is tough. I have talked with one of the graders. Officials are in short supply. Most of the officials at least in West Tennessee have never played organized basketball and to me that's part of the problem.

[WCHS Stat Guy Who Got Ejected]

I'm not one to blame officials on a regular basis, but after watching the Rhea County-Wilson Central game on Thursday I must say that I saw the worst officiating I have seen in a basketball game on any level in my entire life. A charge would be called on one play, then the exact same play would happen a few minutes later and it was a block. And I'm not saying that all the bad calls went against the Eagles either, because Wilson Central had some tough calls go against them. Pitiful calls actually. I guess I always thought that as you went deeper into the playoffs, you saw better officiating. The saddest thing about it was that Zach Hyatte,arguably our best player, could never get into a flow because every time he did anything he was whistled for a foul. I realize this game happened 3 days ago, and I wasn't going to say anything about it...but after seeing this thread I couldn't resist.

I remember seeing that exact same thing during the Rhea Co. and Wilson Central game too.

 

Overall, the officiating was horrible in that tournament. Especially Friday night, it was unbelievably bad.

[Gameface]

I was at the Boro tonight and I wasnt going for just one team cuz im from Columbia. If u were anywhere near and watching the game You could tell how bad the officiating was. They were definatley for White Station.......You cant touch the stars. For example: Jp Prince. White Staion was mugging Northside and were gettin calls that Northside wasnt on the other end. Point is SORRY TERRIBLE OFFICIATING!!!! White Station has more players and have great talent but i still think the Delk brothers are the best i've seen in that tournament.

[Whiskers]

I'll have to agree with GoldenEagle11 and the "guy that got ejected". Three of the first four calls against Hyatte and Gillespie were definitely not in the spirit of "let them play"..... touch fouls.... This forced Rhea into a different game plan early and killed their spirit. Wilson Central is a good team, but I think Rhea was more affected by the calls. BTW I don't think Hyatte has fouled out more than 3 times all season and in many games went to the third quarter without a foul. The one incredible call against Cooper was unbelievable. Driving coast to coast and a defender charges into him head first......blocking foul obvious......if not ....a charge. NO... Cooper was called for pushing!

[911]

I agree that the officials were terrible. They were consistant only in that they were never consistant in their calls. What really gripes me is that all those games are on video tape and nothing will be done by the T$$AA. They will never admit the officiating was terrible because it will show that they (T$$AA) has done a poor job with the basic parts of the State Tournament. They have never admitted mistakes. Even though all of us can buy the video and see the nonsense calls that were made throughout the tournament, they will simply say the officials are only human. I question that approach.

Congrats to White Station and NorthSide, I hope the best team won and I hope it was not decided unjustly by the officials.

Just like Official Port_Vol says, we can go sign up to be officials, and I tend to agree. I'm quite sure that their were grandmothers in the stands that could have done a better job.

[goldenboy]

The refs for the 3A game were the worst I've ever seen. #00 from White Station was flopping all night and everytime he did they called a charge. It was really funny one time when he went to flop but the guy stepped back so he had to try to keep his feet and he ended up flopping anyway with nobody around him. But the refs stunk and should never be allowed to ref a game again. I didn't have a team in any of the games so I'm not bias but they called horrible for North Side. In the 1A games the refs went unnoticed and the game had a great flow, the refs totally messed the flow up of the other two games.

[youshouldstay25]

the AAA crew must have been the same one from the grace-CPA game on friday... they were gooch

[jtbase10]

I'm sorry but just from my knowledge I know that officials can not be from the regions that the two teams are from. So what I think, and before anybody jumps on my case it is just my opinion, is that the officials were not bias to either team but against either team. It is either that or it is as simple as the just absolutely were out right pitiful and never should be even able to referee a church basketball game.

[jtbase10]

I agree that the officials were terrible. They were consistant only in that they were never consistant in their calls. What really gripes me is that all those games are on video tape and nothing will be done by the T$$AA. They will never admit the officiating was terrible because it will show that they (T$$AA) has done a poor job with the basic parts of the State Tournament. They have never admitted mistakes. Even though all of us can buy the video and see the nonsense calls that were made throughout the tournament, they will simply say the officials are only human. I question that approach.

Congrats to White Station and NorthSide, I hope the best team won and I hope it was not decided unjustly by the officials.

Just like Official Port_Vol says, we can go sign up to be officials, and I tend to agree. I'm quite sure that their were grandmothers in the stands that could have done a better job.

All i have to say is that we do not know who the best team was. The officials never allowed the players to prove themselves. From what i hear the officials would have done a better job officiating patty-cake or some kiddy game. But i do konw who the worst team was and the team the cost the game, not just for North Side but for White Station and all the fans, and that was the officiating team. If people wanted to hear all the whistles they would have went to a ROTC drill competition.

[Libertyfan]

So, from reading many of the other posts, it seems to be the opinion of most that the officiating in this game, and most of the games was sub standard at best. I have lived in three different states and followed high school basketball in each one. I can honestly say that the basketball officiating in the state of Tennessee is the very worst that I have ever seen.

 

I have officiated before and I know that it is a very tough job. No ref is going to get all the calls right. It's impossible. But, the level of incompetance that I have personally seen and that I have heard about in this state at the high school level, is just unacceptable. The TSSAA, schools, administrators, coaches, and fans should demand better.

[baconbreath]

Without a doubt, this was the worst officiated tournament that I have seen in over 30 years. The inconsistency between crews was just not fair to the players who earned their way to the 'Boro. The only thing consistent was the inconsistency of the calls in all three classifications. Plays that were charging on one play were blocking on the next. The crow hop flop that they allow players to get away with is walking in it's truest form but it's just not called anymore. It seems like the refs have been ill-advised to not make this call. Just as they have been told to make sure that every player has his jersey tucked into his trunks. Have you ever seen as many times when players were forced to the bench because of the "tuck rule"? If you were showing shirt tail, then you weren't allowed to stay on the court or even allowed to check into the game! When did this become such a life-or-death matter? Does it change a players drive to the basket or give him an advantage when defending? It's absolutely ludicrous to remove players from the game for this so-called violation. For Pete's sake, let them stay in the game and play. Make them put their tails back in but dont' force them out.

 

But, I have to admit, there's an old saying about referees no matter how bad they are. You shouldn't let the game be close enough that a call by an official determines the outcome of the game. After all, these guys are just human and subject to screw up just as much as the players.

 

And about the radio announcers commenting about the officiating. There is no rule that says that their credentials will be pulled by the TSSAA. They don't even have credentials to get pulled. Sounds like "Port Vol" is a thin-skinned official who can't handle criticism. Criticsm should be given fairly and factually. Whether it's a dumb officiating call, dumb play, dumb coaching move or dumb radio announcing. Everyone makes mistakes. It's just that some are more glaring than others.

 

Have a great spring!

[Port_Vol]

not an official....

 

But bash the officials badly, and personally on the air.........and it could and for high profile games will more than likely be reported by someone.

 

I know of a football game a couple years back where the on-air guys just kept bashing the officials, with the ECO official two spots down from them.

 

the on air guys were reprimanded sometime in the week following the game and were told to tone it down.

 

the incident in which someone was unable to radio TSSAA games was an isolated one (and probably for his comments to officials off the air)......but the TSSAA office issues credentials for the State Tournament. If someone who had a reputation applied for credentials, the TSSAA is not required to automatically issue the credentials just because they are requested