2004/2005 officiating comments

[nashdude]

I think it's good for coaches, athletes and officials to get to converse about rules, calls, and why judgments go certain ways during the matches that we all love to watch and talk about for days on end once they've concluded. Perhaps it'd be good to mention a few outstanding calls I witnessed this weekend. I saw some outstanding officiating from Faircloth (an old timer from nashville). He seems to have the out of bounds call down to a science, and you rarely see him questioned. Hats off to him for his years of dedication to our sport!

[nashdude]

I think it's good for coaches, athletes and officials to get to converse about rules, calls, and why judgments go certain ways during the matches that we all love to watch and talk about for days on end once they've concluded.  Perhaps it'd be good to mention a few outstanding calls I witnessed this weekend.  I saw some outstanding officiating from Faircloth (an old timer from nashville).  He seems to have the out of bounds call down to a science, and you rarely see him questioned.  Hats off to him for his years of dedication to our sport!

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Alrighty, I'll get the ball roling by asking who's doing great this year and who's not (among the refs)? Any opinions?

[CoachDelgado]

Jack is an official that I have always admired. Next time you see him look at his hands. They are always ready to do something. They are held in a position of anticipation waiting to be called upon by his brain to signal one thing or another. His long years of dedication, along with numerous others, often times go unappreciated.

 

Everybody, next time you run into an official you admire or respect, let them know or just say thank you. It will go a long a way to keeping our quality guys where they belong, involoved with the sport we all love.

[irishdad]

I agree that you should tell a ref thanks when he does a good job. At Helias we had a veteran ref that was outstanding I made apoint to thanks him for his skills and fairness. His reply was "in 15 year of reffing no one has ever thanked me'. So if you let a good ref know he is good maybe he can help influence those that are not. Just a theory...

[nashdude]

I agree that you should tell a ref thanks when he does a good job. At Helias we had a veteran ref that was outstanding I made apoint to thanks him for his skills and fairness. His reply was "in 15 year of reffing no one has ever thanked me'. So if you let a good ref know he is good maybe he can help influence those that are not. Just a theory...

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I've seen so many talented young officials (in the 5-10 year experience range) who left the sport for a variety of reasons (some family, some to coaching, some to out of state moves), but a thank you goes a very long way to keeping some of the ones who might otherwise get burnt out or run out by booing fans, etc. Amen to you fellas for having the right attitude. The day is coming when Faircloth, Mara, Jim Simpson, Paul Simpson, etc. will be too old/too blind/too scenile to run around out there and we need guys coming in behind them to fill the veteran role. Experience and a patient coach who discusses calls after/before the match in a non-confrontational manner, will make these guys better year in and year out.

[sundancer]

AMEN - let the officials know that you appreciate them! They are out there for the love of the sport, because they don't make a ton of money doing this job.

 

Each year we have a new group come in to officiating and we all have to be patient and work with them, they are learning their new jobs. If you have an official that you feel is consistently not doing a good job, you need to contact the head of your regional official's organization. They have to follow certain protocols to fix their issues.

 

Tell you officials when they do a good job! For the most part they are a great group of folks and will do most anything for your event to be a succes.

[PUMMELKING]

The officiating associations are always in need of new refs. A good way for dads or brothers to stay envolved in the sport after their sons/daughters, siblings are thru competeing is to give back and become an offical.

Nothing like raking an official until you have been one yourself.

[KJF31]

A favorite official of mine would have to be Mr. Craft. He is one of the best officials in the state, in my opinion. There is also a new official who is in East Tennessee from Pennsylvania who is excellent, and I would like to see him at as many events as possible.

[nashdude]

Shifting gears a bit, but what do you guys think of the "controversial" stall call that resulted in Bond Davis from Franklin losing his first match of the season on Tuesday night. I wasn't there, but from all descriptions, here's how it went down... 30 secs to go in 3rd period, stalemate is called... On the restart, Clarksville's Hebda shows some moxy and reverses to tie the match 3-3. Davis thinks he's up by 1 point, so he flattens out like it's a freestyle match and refuses to base up or make an escape attempt. With 3 seconds remaining, the ref calls stalling (Davis had been warned earlier in the match) and awarded Hebda the point to give him the win 4-3. I think (assuming the stories I've been reading on here are accurate) that the call was right on target. Too many wrestlers think they don't have to work hard, and our sport is too precious to let stallers win. What do you guys think?

[Sommers]

A favorite official of mine would have to be Mr. Craft.  He is one of the best officials in the state, in my opinion.  There is also a new official who is in East Tennessee from Pennsylvania who is excellent, and I would like to see him at as many events as possible.

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I agree. Mike Craft and Donnie Elsie are tops, always consistent, and let the match flow without interfering much, They are about as close to perfection as refs can get, as long as the score keepers are allowed to do their jobs (ask Steve Henry about that one at state in Feb '04). Heck, they were both always fair, even back when I once wrestled.

[michael.geasley]

Shifting gears a bit, but what do you guys think of the "controversial" stall call that resulted in Bond Davis from Franklin losing his first match of the season on Tuesday night....  What do you guys think?

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Nashdude- For what it's worth - I think that was actually Bond's 2nd loss this year. I think he lost to Max Gessler (sp?) from Tullahoma and then avenged the loss in a subsequent match.

 

-Stalling is the most controversial call every year. In the few matches I've seen this year, one ref called the top guy for stalling because he was hanging on the hips, then in a different match, a ref called the bottom guy for stalling because he would not get up from his table while the top wrestler rode the hips. One big defense of the refs is that the first stalling call on a wrestler is just a warning. Once a wrestler knows what the ref is going to call, he shouldn't put himself in that situation again.

[nashdude]

I agree. Mike Craft and Donnie Elsie are tops, always consistent, and let the match flow without interfering much, They are about as close to perfection as refs can get, as long as the score keepers are allowed to do their jobs (ask Steve Henry about that one at state in Feb '04).  Heck, they were both always fair, even back when I once wrestled.

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Additionally, I think Tim Abel is top notch. He catches some flak for being so tough on stalling, but I think he really knows his stuff and is reliable to call a fair match every time. A few others from Middle TN who're out there doing well you may or may not have heard of: Jon Swindle, Paul Douglas, Rick Lowry, Bowler, Hudgens, and not to forget the young guy who got a lot of attention last year or year before last, Steve Craig.

 

All of these guys are great officials, and even Steve now has 5+ years of calling under his belt (not sure if 5 or 6 years since he graduated).