Officiating
by omsooner on Apr 5, 2010 10:16 AM CDT
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I would enjoy comments relevant to the "state" of officiating. IMO it is unbelievably BAD. Where do they get these people? How do they "earn" the right to call the games, especially in the NCAA tournament? If they are the "best of the best" then this game is in DEEP trouble.
I thought that referee's were supposed to be objective, impartial, and apply the rules of the game to both teams.
Can anyone explain the "unwritten" rule that "the home team gets the calls"; "stars get the calls"; or why, at the end of the game, "the refs swallow the whistle" and let the players decide the outcome"? Why not let the players decide the outcome for the WHOLE game. The best officiating anyone can ever hope for is when, at the end of the game, you realize that the players decided the outcome, and not the officials.
It doesn't make sense to me that bodies can "fly" under the boards during a rebound and there is no call, but when there is a "touch" on the perimeter, the whistle blows. Players dive on the floor going for a loose ball and no foul is called, but let a player "bump" another one on a drive to the basket and "tweet, FOUL. Totally inconsistent.
Players can adjust to how a game is being called, all they need (my self included) is consistency. That is not happening. The officiating fluctuates so much during a game, players have no idea what to expect, except the unexpected when they least expect it.
How can coaches and players be required to do post-game interviews and NOT the officials? Coaches are fined and/or sanctioned when they comment on bad officiating. If the NCAA is truly concerned with the integrity of their game(s), and that's a subject for another discussion, then referee's should be held accountable for the calls they make during a game.
Officials stop the game all the time to check the shot clock. Why can't the same thing happen when a controversial call is made? And no, that does not mean every time the whistle is blown, but there are obvious questionable calls in every game. I thought the point was to "get it right". I have seen an official "over rule" the call of another official enough times to know it is possible.
Is officiating easy? NO, but this has been pathetic. Argue if you want, but IMO it is easier to officiate a women's game because they are generally not as big, not as fast, and they are usually not as physical as the men. When is the last time you saw a guy help his opponent off the floor after a foul? Happens a lot in the women's game. It is extremely rare for someone pull a Griner in the women's game. It may not be in the future, if the officiating doesn't improve. Women can become just a frustrated as men, especially when trying to figure out how a game is going to be called.
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Im confused.
What are you referring to? Officiating in all sports in general? Is there a specific example?
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i'm confused
specifically basketball based on the rebounding example, and also because the basketball season will be over in the next two days.
Team FIRST, Effort SECOND, Talent THIRD, Selfish NEVER
Wait, what?
Didn’t you write that?
The Ralphie Report - University of Colorado Athletics
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Speaking as an official...
I COMPLETELY concur. I have umpired baseball for 8 years now, and that has made me love the game all the more. I have officiated football for 3 years, and that has made me love the game all the more. However, after only 2 years of officiating basketball, I have not only quit officiating basketball, but quit WATCHING IT ALTOGETHER. OU’s games are the only ones I watch, and even then I only catch about 2-3 games a year.
IMHO, basketball, as it is currently played, is impossible to officiate consistently and fairly. Basketball as written in the rules (and as originally conceived) is a non-contact sport (read Naismith’s original rules). Chew on that for a few minutes next time you watch a basketball game at any level. Second, now that contact has proliferated, read discussions online about how best to call fouls; there are lots to be found online. The key factor now for all foul calls is advantage/disadvantage, i.e., if a player gains an advantage/puts an opposing player at a disadvantage by the foul, it should be called. A/D is actually a very common concept in officiating all sports, with slightly different spins. However, with so much constant contact, and at such high speed as the game is played at today, it becomes EXTREMELY difficult to apply advantage/disadvantage and in a way that everyone can agree on. Even with slow-motion replay, you can generally find lots of disagreement on lots of foul calls.
Let me give you examples from the three major sports. In baseball, nothing happens until I call it. I can usually take an second or two an chew on what I see in my mind before I make a call. And it’s much easier for me to rectify a situation if we let it play out one way, then realize later we need to enforce a rule. In football, I also use A/D, for example, on a holding call, but I also have the luxury of throwing a flag, then picking it up if I decide a call is unnecessary…AND I still can usually take an extra second or two to think about a play I see before I even pull the flag out of my pocket. Finally, the best part…in neither baseball nor football does a foul/infraction ALWAYS stop play. So in baseball, I can fix something I saw so it’s still as correct/fair as I can make it. In football, I can throw a late flag or pick one up, whatever I need so the call is as correct/fair as I can make it.
Basketball, on the other hand, is always fast, the whistle always means playing action stops and can’t be restarted, and so because of this, the pressure is even greater not only for quick calls, but for CORRECT quick calls. Combine that with my previous point regarding the inability to call fouls consistently in all that contact, even with later review, and…well, you have a recipe for disaster, from an officiating standpoint. (Again, IMHO.)
Oh, and don’t even get me started on traveling calls and the like…
Basketball officiating is tough
But which games in the tournament can you honestly say the outcome has been definitively affected by the officials? I can’t think of one example.
Honestly, the officials are too often the scapegoat for other imperfections in a team’s game (inability to rebound, turning the ball over, sloppy play, etc.). More often than not, you can say something like, “well if we hadn’t turned the ball over 15 times, we might have won”.
For how difficult basketball officiating is, I think the majority of the time they get it right.
The Villanova game in the first round
Is a pretty good example
"We call him The Hammer." - Bob Stoops on Ronnell Lewis
basketball officiating is tough
jtesooner noted a good example; ironically, the following may be at least as good, if not better.
last night – okc v utah; game is in overtime with about 2 seconds left. kevin durant takes a 3-point shot that might win the game and is clearly fouled. watch the replay. the official did not blow the whistle. durant should have been given three free throws. is it possible he misses all three? yes. is it likely? no. end result is okc loses the game because of bad officiating and/or lack of an obvious call.
Team FIRST, Effort SECOND, Talent THIRD, Selfish NEVER
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