It's All About The Mental Attitude

It's been a while since I posted but I'm back with a brief post tonight.  The past few years have been a frustrating one when it came to officiating.

Due to some personal things, I had decided to take a leave of absence for 2012-2013 season.  It was a difficult decision but the right thing for me to do.  When the 2013-2014 season came around, my original set of personal issues were in the rear view mirror.  However, I had a new set of issues that I had to take into consideration.   I considering taking a second leave of absence but ultimately chose to remain "active" but informed the high school assignors that I would have limited availability.

I managed to work a few games during the early part of the season and even had a game or two in 2014.  I wasn't expecting much more than that.   However, my schedule unexpectedly opened up late January.  I informed my assignors that I would be available to fill in for any games on an emergency basis.  It worked out as I ended up working several games when people had to cancel at the last minute.  I even had two fairly competitive varsity games that I would not have expected.

It was due to one of the varsity games that I realized I still had a love for officiating.  My partner and I went through a a tough game (which I may have blogged about).  It was a grueling affair physically and mentally but I survived it.

Somewhere along this time frame, I had met with a guy from our group for lunch (he is the current vice president).  We had talked about officiating and one thing he said stuck with me:  "If you are going to remain officiating, you need to work on improving all the time or you'll be going backwards".  His question to me was whether or not I was going to make the commitment.

I will admit that officiating had become a bit of an afterthought.  It may have been a mix of my personal stuff or just an attitude I picked up from my friends (some of whom thought I officiated too much).   I was just coasting through my youth games and working whatever high school games I got (some competitive, some not, but they weren't always high level).

After my talk with the other official, I thought about my situation.  Ultimately, I decided to commit to being better.   I worked on little things first (stronger presence, stronger whistle, talking to coaches, among others).  I can't judge how well I did but it was on top of mind for me to just get better.  If I got opportunities to work with better officials, I took advantage of it.

Lastly, my association is running a 3-person officiating camp for a couple of weeks.  The first week has already past.  I had a great time learning and absorbing what I could.  I don't know how I am doing but feel alright though there is room for improvement.

The main lesson is that if you change your mental attitude for things, you can change in positive ways.   This doesn't have to be for officiating!

Reviving The Passion

Just like anything in life, things tend to come and go in cycles.  Something new piques our interest and we go "all in".  Then over time, the new thing becomes boring and we move onto other things.

For me basketball officiating was somewhat like that.  There are two differences though.  Unlike many of my basketball PLAYING friends, I actually have an interest in officiating and like being on the court.  I like getting paid like anyone else but the money is a secondary thing if I can work some good games.

The problem with me is that officiating has always seemed to conflict with LIFE.  My high school officiating career has been one of "starts and stops".  My first year was derailed due to my work schedule.  I finally got a chance to work more games in my second and third years culminating in working a league semi-final playoff game (my highest level game thus far).  But since then, work, personal and family matters have all gotten in the way.

At one point, I was ready to step away from high school officiating.  I was juggling work, playing basketball and personal stuff.  However, after thinking about things, I stuck around this past season (2013-2014).  I didn't work too much until late in the season when I suddenly worked a few tough games.

It was after those games that I realized that "I still had the passion".  After so many years, I'm still a bit raw but I think the ability is there.  I just had to focus.  I met up for lunch with another referee in my group.  He works close by and we talked a few times.  We discussed my future and one thing he said to me was:  "If you're going to officiate, you might as well work on improving.  Treading water actually means you will just get worse".

It was after that time that I made a decision.  I was going to give officiating another shot.  But I wasn't going to "just officiate".  I wanted to put some time into getting better.  Interestingly enough, I think my plan is working.  I haven't done anything magical.  I just tried some different things and talked to folks after games to get feedback.  I'm not perfect.  No one is.  But I think I've grown in the past few months and I really haven't worked all that much.

While my time officiating may be tough next year (still have to contend with work a bit), I am going to enjoy as much of it as I can.  I'm solely focused on improving myself and not worried about the quality of the games.  That will take care of itself.

Cutting The "Rope" Short

It's been a while but getting back into blogging a bit.  Thanks to a discussion I was having with someone, I was inspired to write this post.

Late in the high school season, I was available and picked up a couple of high school games for a fellow referee who had to turn them back.  The first game was not easy but fun and went off relatively smoothly.

The second one was probably the most difficult one I had to deal with in years.  Considering how little I worked this season, I was happy to work a few games.  However, I was not expecting the situation I went into.

Essentially, one of the coaches (home team) was a known complainer.  My partner and I knew each other and I thought we had a good handle on the game.  However, the game was a tough one with a lot of physical play and the home team coach was complaining.  Unfortunately, I personally didn't take care of business and issue a technical which could have mitigated some of the craziness that came later.

Because I didn't, the fans (300 to 500 of them) were booing us and we had to deal with a very negative atmosphere for the rest of the game.  There is a lot more I could talk about but my partner and I agreed things could have gone better.

What I learned from the game is that I need to "shorten" up my rope.  I tend to be low key and let people do their thing with the hope they straighten themselves out.   However, since the game, I have noticed my rope has shortened in both officiating and other things I work with.  If I sense things are not going the way I want to, I take quick action.

Overall, the game in question was tough but it was a good learning experience. :)

NBA Instant Replay

I haven't blogged in a while but a thought occurred to me that I wanted to share.  In high school (and sometimes college), let's say there is a shot by the black team that misses and the white team has is attempting to secure the rebound.  However, a black player fighting for the rebound also makes minor contact with the white player that causes the ball to go out of bounds.

What does an official do in this situation?  A foul call is the easy answer.  However, in marginal foul situations, the official may choose not to call the foul on the black team and just give the ball back to the white team.

Unfortunately, with the NBA's new instant replay situation, that is no longer possible toward the end of the game.  The NBA apologized for a "missed foul call" on Chris Paul toward the end of the Warriors / Clippers game.  The lack of a foul call caused Paul to push the ball out of bounds.  The official had given the ball back to the Clippers but the calls as overturned on the replay.

I'm not sure if the official was trying to do what I suggested above.  Regardless though, using instant replay will prevent officials from making what is fairly smart officiating.  To be fair though, the NBA is a business and I understand why instant replay was needed.

But it does put the NBA officials in the spotlight and magnifies every little error that occurs.  I'm not sure that is a good or bad thing.

Quality Not Quantity

The 2013-2014 high school basketball season has been a bit of a wash for me.  Due to some personal things, I chose not to officiate much this season.  However, I was surprised that I even got to do the few games I worked.  I worked a few JV games and one varsity girls game about 3 weeks ago.  The odd thing is that while the number of games have been low, all of them have been fairly competitive.

Tonight, I got a chance to work yet another fairly competitive game.  This was a fortuitous one.  My partner from a few weeks ago had to give up her games and she decided to email me first before anyone else.  From the game times she told me about, I figured the game were varsity games and confirmed it.

I told the other officials I would take the games if the assignor was ok with it.  After all, I had not worked much this season and I was walking to a very competitive situation.  Fortunately, the assignor was agreeable and I got to work tonight.

I worked with a good partner and the final score was 40-36.  Overall, I think my partner and I were on the same page.  There was not much controversy except for a missed foul where my partner and I crossed signals in our coverage.  I thought my partner was following a play as the trail official so I turned to the key to watch the post.  Alas, my partner was expecting me to watch the play and a girl got hit and fell.    I had zero visibility to what happened.  My partner and I talked afterwards about this.  He saw the play but he was on the other side of court and decided to pass.  The coach from one of the teams was upset but he got over it fairly quick.

Overall, it was a fun night.  The game was intense and the crowd was into it a bit.  But it wasn't a difficult game to officiate. It was great to get into the action again.  I actually have two more games which people gave away to work which I am looking forward to!

Feeling Good!

This might sound like a repeat of my last post but it isn't.  Last week, I was asked to fill in for a frosh-soph boys basketball game.  Because of some personal things, I hadn't work much in the past few months.  But since the game fit my schedule relatively well, I took the game.

I was working with a relatively new partner too but we hit it off.  I told him that our goal was just to have fun on the court and we did just that.  The home team took an early lead but stumbled in the second half.  The visiting team hit a three point buzzer beater to tie the game and send it to overtime.  The visiting team ended up winning 44-42.

I was surprised that I was relatively sharp on the court.  I was a little out of shape but the tempo of the game wasn't so great that I couldn't keep up.  Nothing major happened that was worth discussing.  My partner and I were on the same page and worked well together.

I will say that I discussed the situation where the home team might foul the visiting team before they shot the game tying three pointer.  I told my partner that if a foul was coming, he'd better get it fast before the shooter got into the act.  Alas, the home team didn't foul and they had a chance to.

All in all, I'm not going to work too many games this year in high school but at least I had a fun one!

Getting Back Into The Saddle (at least for a day........)

Due to various personal things, I had not planned to officiate any high school basketball games this year.   However, I was pressed into officiating a game this past Saturday.  I had missed a mandatory meeting with my officials group back in October.  I had a choice of paying the $25 fine OR working a scrimmage for free to pay off the fine.

Despite it was a holiday weekend, I chose to work off the fine.  I took an 8:30 AM freshman scrimmage.  The timing was tough but it actually went ok.  I got to work early and leave early so I get back to doing the stuff I needed to take care of.

I could write a lot of things, but Saturday was probably one of the most interesting in a while.  I had not BEEN on a basketball court in several months.  Due to a hand injury, I had not played any basketball nor officiated any basketball as well.  I figured I was a bit out of shape but I was able to get up and down reasonably well.

I was surprised my judgement was fairly sharp.  Yes, it was a bunch of freshman and not varsity level guys but I felt good on the court.

Lastly, even though I don't plan to be working much this year, I did have fun on the court.  I realize that I do enjoy my time on the court.  I may not be officiating much high school but will remain involved through youth and other tournaments if time permits.  Sacrificing high school basketball was a personal choice.

Tough Volleyball Officiating Day

Been a while since I posted but that's because I haven't been super active.  In fact, I was supposed to officiate a basketball tournament a week ago.  However, due to a hand fracture, i was given a splint and instructed to not do any heavy physical activity.  Thus I had to cancel out of the tournament a few days before which sucked.  Since my injury I haven't done a lot of exercise except for walking.

I did get a check up a week later with the orthopedic surgeon.  The surgeon said I was lucky my injury was relatively minor and would heal in time without surgery.  He told me to drop the splint BUT I still could not play sports.  I could do cardio workout but I still have not done so.

What I did do was officiate some volleyball.  Volleyball doesn't exert a lot of effort and all I have to do is avoid flying volleyballs to my hand.

However, this past Saturday was a bit of a tough day.  Thanks to the BART strike, I was rushing around on Friday.  I had to rush home from work, get my car and get out to officiate.  It didn't help the week was a little long so I was knocked out after officiating a couple of games on Friday.  I fell asleep for a few hours, woke up, took a shower and went back to bed.

Alas, I OVERSLEPT a bit on Saturday and was late to my first game at 9 AM.  Fortunately, the gym director took care of the first game and I worked the last two games at 10 AM / 11 AM.  The two games were pretty good considering some of these youth volleyball games can be yawners at times.

There were a few plays in both games that I had to deal with.  One involved a coach was a little loud and that bled over to the another team while serving.  I had warn him before he finally understood to keep quiet.   If I recalled correctly, there were a couple of close plays where girls positioned themselves to hit balls that were out of bounds.  I believe one of them did hit a girl.  The other play was a tough one.  It was one my side of the court but opposite the net where the line judge was located.  I quickly looked over and saw the girl running and the ball dropped.  The girl's back was too me and the ball dropped IN FRONT of the girl.

I knew I had to make a snap decision and I called the BALL OUT and said there was no touch.  In looking back, I may have down things a little differently.  I could have asked the line judge on that side of the court to see if they had seen the play.  Or I could have called for a replay.  I only mention this as a coach questioned my call.  My answer to her was "there was no touch before the ball hit the ground".

That was a tough play but I find volleyball an interesting sport.  Basketball may be more exciting but when volleyball is played between two relatively equal teams, volleyball officials can have a lot of work to do.

Why I Love Officiating

After not officiating for a while, I snuck in a couple of nights of officiating this week including tonight (Friday).  The first game was a consolation game followed by two playoff semi-finals games in an adult league that I play in.  The league is divided by divisions and I was working the "Bronze" (aka "4th Division") tonight with my friend.  

My friend is a former high school official.  In fact, it was him and other friend that encouraged me to join the high school officiating group back in 2002.  Alas, while I stuck around for the past decade, both my friends dropped out after a couple of years. 

The first game tonight was a consolation game followed by two playoff semi-final games.  The consolation game was relatively laid back.  In fact, it was two teams from the same organization that were playing each other.  The teams did not play each other in the regular season (there are two divisions) but were obviously familiar with each other.  

The second game was a battle of the top seed in the division versus what looked like the lowest seed.   The top seed was HUGE (three kids topping 6'2") with some quick guards.  The lower seed wasn't anywhere close in terms of height and athletic ability.  But they knew how to play and they gave the top seed all the could handle for 40 minutes.  In the end, the top seed had just a little bit more and pulled away for the victory.  

An interesting situation happened during this game which I will need to look into more.  A player from the top seed took a shot and MISSED horribly.  In fact, the player shot from the baseline and the ball cleared but landed on the floor without touching anything.  My friend called a violation but I wasn't 100% sure so I chose not to overrule him.  We talked about this afterward.  I told my friend that since the ball went right over the backboard and didn't touch anything before hitting the floor, it was likely ok.  I personally would have let it go.   Overall, it didn't impact the game though it was an interesting lesson to take in. 

The third and final game of the night was the best game I've seen in this summer league this year.  It seemed like a battle of the 2nd / 3rd seeds (though I don't think the setup was this way).  Both teams had some good guard play though one team had a little more size.  The game was even throughout and went into TWO OVERTIMES before the bigger team prevailed 52-48.  Lots of intensity and I had to calm the players and coaches a bit during the game.  

While this was the "Bronze" division, it didn't mean the games were not good.  It was fun to work and a reminder of why I stay involved in officiating.  It's not about the money but a chance to see and work some good basketball games. 

Some Universal Truths About Officiating

Early this past Saturday, I hoped over to a local softball field for a softball rules and umpiring clinic.   Am I becoming a baseball or softball umpire?  Hardly.  However, I am participating in a adult softball league for the first time.  The league is run by the same group that runs a summer basketball league that I also participate in during the summer.  Both softball and basketball have players from all the teams umpire / officiate games throughout the season.  

The plus is players get to see both sides.  The minus is that many people are NOT trained officials.   I was asked to drop by the softball clinic today as another guy on my team couldn't make it.  I didn't mind as it was close to home plus I was curious about softball rules.  I watch enough baseball to know the basics but I'm sure there are details I didn't know about. 

However, I didn't learn a ton about detailed softball rules.  Most of the stuff focused on how the league runs things and some discussion on specific situations like the infield fly rule among a few other things. That was actually fine as it is almost impossible to learn "EVERYTHING" in 1 1/2 hours of talking. 

The most interesting part was when the softball league coordinators discussed the basic of umpiring a game.  There was talk about confidence, positioning and communication.  That sounds a lot like just about any other sport you would officiate out there.  

The softball league coordinators points:

FOCUS / BE ENGAGED:  Officiating is sometimes seen as a chore in these self officiated sports leagues.  But if you are working any sporting event,  you need to be engaged and look like you care.  Even if you're not getting paid, the teams deserve a good effort from everyone involed.  

POSITIONING:   The engagement discussion leads to positioning.  Just like basketball, you need to see the play and position yourself to see everything you need to see.  In softball, you need to be able to see the runner, fielder AND the ball on mostly every play.  This means you have to move as every play will be different.  One spot will not do it.  

COMMUNICATION:  Just with any sports, you have to communicate (loudly as noted early).  You need to communicate with your other umpires and the teams as well on situations.  

I don't know if I will umpire any games for my team this season.  If I do, I feel comfortable in working the games.  I'm sure that unusual situation will throw me off.  However, as a long time basketball official, the basic principles of focus, positioning and communication are something that can be easily adapted to softball.  The rest is learned through experience and reading rules more.  

"Ball Don't Lie"

Maybe I'm showing my age but it's only been recently that I've been hearing the term "Ball Don't Lie" thrown around.    I read online that the term originated in the NBA and has filtered down to the lower levels.

The term is a reference to a foul called by an official that people feel is unwarranted.   It is used in situations when the offended player shoots and misses their free throws.   It is an insult to the offended player shooting because he didn't deserve the foul.  Additionally, it is bit of a snide remark to officials for making what some people felt was a unwarranted foul call.

Personally, I find it a bit annoying.  It's not the fault of the player that got fouled.  If there is a questionable foul call, it is what it is.  From an officials perspective, It's a way of making a snide remark to the official without directly confronting the official.

I'm not sure what happened to good sportsmanship and respecting an officials call.  NBA players and coaches tend to complain a lot to officials.  A lot of that is shown on TV and thus influences the behavior of many people when they play basketball.   I see it on the courts as a player and an official.

Unfortunately, not a lot you can do about it.  I would ask that people enjoy the NBA game as entertainment but not emulate some of the antics out there.

It's A Matter Of Perspective

I play in quite a few adult basketball leagues throughout the year.  In most of the leagues, there are NO paid officials.  Most of the games are officiated by teams on their bye weeks.   If you're a basketball official reading this, you can imagine how inconsistent the officiating can get.   Fortunately, while the leagues are competitive, the games never get out of hand.

As I am generally the most experienced official in these leagues, I volunteer a lot of time officiating when there aren't enough people from the teams to work certain games.   I don't mind helping out but occasionally my bad side comes out.

Something I wondered for a long time is why players complain even when I am officiating.  I always hear people say they are "glad" I am officiating.  I can understand because the players in the league don't officiate regularly.  So there will be inconsistency and that leads to frustration.   I generally feel I am consistent in what I call. Yet, some level of complaining still persists.

After officiating Monday evening and being slightly annoyed, I had some ideas:

1.
Players are competitive and if they feel there should have been a whistle, they will complain no matter who it is that is officiating.  This part I actually have no problems with.  It's just a fact of life that all basketball officials face.

2.
Inexperienced officials could swing toward blowing the whistle TOO MANY times or NOT ENOUGH times.  More experienced officials will tend to fall somewhere in between.  The reason is the experienced officials are constantly analyzing plays and see if a whistle is needed.

Unfortunately players don't understand that officials are there to make a judgement call.  So if they are used to an official calling a lot of fouls, then the more experienced officials is seemingly calling LESS.  If players are used to NOT ENOUGH fouls, the experienced official is seemingly calling MORE.

3.
I realized I need to not hold players to my own standards.    I always remind myself that I will do my best to minimize my complaining when I am coaching or playing in leagues.  In general, I am pretty good though I will express my frustration at times.  In essence, I am not perfect just like everyone else.

At the end of the day, it's a matter of perspective.    Even though I have a ton of basketball experience, I'm still learning every day I am on the court.

You Have Questions, We Have Answers

I had lunch with a fellow basketball official in late November and he mentioned that he had heard about my blog. While he hadn't read it too much, he liked what I was doing and had a suggestion.  He asked me to write something along the lines regarding "officials and communication".

This particular post will focus a little bit on communication though not all of the items I will write about eventually.  Consider this a precursor and/or a complaint session!  

I am pretty sure I posted about this before but one of the lessons I learned about sports officiating is that you don't just "blow the whistle".    I've been told many times by other officials that I "blow the whistle" good.  In layman's terms, I have fairly good judgement on game situations.

While it is great that fellow officials support your judgement, 50% of your calls will not be favorable to a certain team.  Even if you are 100% sure you are right, there will be people (mainly coaches, sometimes players) that will question your calls. 

In years past, if someone questioned my call, I would either get defensive or angry (depending on the type of league and the situation).  Occasionally, I would also wonder if maybe "I got the call wrong".  That type of attitude really drains you of your confidence. 

Yet in the past few years, two things have changed.  One, I am more confident in my calls.  I don't question myself.  It doesn't mean I get things wrong but I don't get down on myself.  You just acknowledge that "maybe you could have done better" and just move on. The second part is most important though.  If someone DOES question you, then you have to give a good answer:   Coaches may not like your answer but they will respect you if you talk to them. 

I used to NOT like dealing with coaches.  Yet for some reason, I welcome coaches questioning me these days.  A part of it may be that my job requires me to talk to customers in a sales capacity.  I get questions (or objections) about our products on a daily basis.  In sales, you have to stay calm, be relaxed and deal with objections in a very factual manner.  Good practice for officiating!  

Now, onto the "complaint" section.   For some reason, especially in youth and adult leagues, complaining to officials is a given:

"Where's the foul"

"Travel"

"3 seconds"

"Etc"

If people are more polite and "ask" what the officials saw, we will be more inclined to respond more politely.  However, if people just scream at officials about missed calls, we are more likely to ignore them (at best) or give them a technical (at worst). 

As I noted in the subject line, "You Have Questions, We Have Answers".  People are always welcome to ask us a question (well, maybe not EVERY call, but major ones).  Officials will accommodate with answers as best they can. 

Playoff Atmosphere

Coming into this high school season, I had every intention of limiting my schedule a bit.  Work was just too busy.  It was stressful trying to leave work early to make it to gyms in time for games.

However, I did receive a couple games from an assignor fairly early including one tonight.  Given my leave of absence last season, I figured they were non-marquee games and so I just accepted them and moved on. As the preseason wore on in 2012, something interesting happened.   The two teams I had tonight had established themselves as potentially the top two teams in the league.

My non-marquee game had suddenly turned into first meeting of the season between two teams who might meet again in the playoffs and/or championship.  The visiting team was the defending league champion and favorite to win the championship game.  The home team had established themselves as a solid team but was it enough to dethrone the defending champs? In an up and down game, the visitors rallied for a late five point deficit and knock off the home team 48-41.

How did the officiating go?  Overall, I think my partner and I did fine.  We faced several frustrating obstacles.  The first was that the gym where the game was played is not regulation length wise (it is wide enough).   It compacted things a bit and the game was a little physical.

My partner and I had discussed during the pre-game to "let the teams play a bit".   Both teams did play and we did let them try to play through things.  In the first half, we didn't have a lot of team fouls.  The second half played out similarly until the end when the home team has to foul to try to get back into the game.

The second obstacle was the scoreboard horn WAS NOT WORKING.  Overall, it wasn't a big deal EXCEPT for a play at the end of the second period.  The visiting team managed to secure the ball for a fast break in the final seconds.  The gym had only one scoreboard.  As the visiting player drove to the basket, I had to sneak peeks at both the player and the clock to see if the player got the shot off in time. In that situation, I wasn't particularly worried about a foul.  My partner told me there wasn't a foul but I learned how to handle it for the future.  If there is a play like that in the future, I would just make sure the shot got off in time and my partner would need to pick up defense and fouls.   We didn't really pre-game it as it's a rare situation for the horn not to work.

The last obstacle was the scorekeepers were not very experienced.  Lots of shot clock resets when it wasn't needed, lots of clocks not starting time and other things.  I corrected the clocks multiple times and know I probably missed a few as I did not want to impede the flow of the game (offensive team rebounded the ball, reset and took a quick shot).

There was also a Chris Webber moment.  The home team was trailing late and had the ball underneath their basket.  The visiting team defended the inbounds well and the home team player inbounding signaled for a timeout.  I remember thinking "Partner, ignore it" but he granted the timeout.  Unfortunately, the home team was OUT OF TIMEOUTS.  My partner noted he forgot that the home team was out of timeouts.   It wasn't really his fault nor the player's fault.  I had informed the home team coach that he has no more timeouts after the last one had been called a few minutes earlier.

Overall, the game itself was great.  The obstacles were a little annoying but overall the game was under control.  I had some fun as well.  Can't complain for a guy who doesn't have a lot of games to get a solid game under the beat.   One can dream, but I'd love to work these two teams again in the playoffs or championship!

Referee's Most Embarrassing Moment

I worked a JV boys basketball tournament this afternoon and overall had a good day.  I had two games which were the semi-finals for this particular bracket of the tournament.  The first game was a bit of a mismatch as one of the teams was just a little bit more athletic and they won by 20.  The second game was a tight and ugly affair.  Both teams struggled to get into their offense though the winning team eventually pulled away for a 39-33 win.

I would normally talk about the game but the second game gave me a "old man" or "referee's most embarrassing" moment.  During a transition, I TRIPPED AND FELL hard to the ground.  Whoops.  I think I got my feet crossed up a bit.  I bounced right back up and get back into the play with no harm done.  Well, except my hamstring is a little tight, my hip is a little sore and I scratched up my left elbow a bit.

I wasn't embarrassed as things happen occasionally.  :)

Long Day Of Officiating

When I first started officiated youth basketball around 1993, I dedicated myself to it.  I would leave my Friday evenings and Saturday's open just so I could officiate.  Whether the gym was near or far, I made the trek out there.

As time as moved on, I realized I didn't want to spend my whole day officiating.  It's tiring.  It can be stressful.  Simply put,  sometimes officiating is something that should be done in moderation.   So for much of the past five years or so, I've cut back and work a few games here and there.  I look at it as a chance to catch up with people around the league, get a little exercise and get paid for it.

Today was a major exception.  Due to a major shortage of officials, I signed up for SEVEN games spread over two gyms.  I'm too tired to write a ton but some highlights and lowlights on the day.

• The first two games of the day (4th grade / 5th grade) were barn burners.  The 4th grade game ended up with one team winning at the buzzer 11-10.  The 5th Grade game had a final score of 24-22.  It was a fun / intense way to begin a game.  
• At the first gym, I was officiating solo.   It was fine for the 4th grade game but the 5th grade / 6th grade games I had were challenges to work due to the teams pressing.  I made it through but it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do. 
• During the fourth grade game, an interesting situation occurred.  The wining team actually had TWO players with the game uniform numbers.  I was not aware of this when the game started but heard the coach mention to someone.  As the third quarter started, I issued a technical the protest of the coach.  The coach said "The school issued the uniforms like this and the other teams they had played in the weeks prior were ok with the jersey situation".  I politely disagreed with the coach and strongly suggested he take up the issue with the school.   The coach actually disagreed with me on this. 
• After working my first three games, it was time to get some food.  The area I was in had good food but parking was difficult.   After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided to try and park at a nearby gym where an adult basketball tournament was going on.  I was going to be working the tournament tomorrow but wanted to take a look at the games happening.  PLUS, I knew they had some food there for players, coaches and officials.  I was fortunate to find a parking space near the gym.  I managed to watch a game, talk to a few folks, have a "pre-game" with one of the officials tomorrow (he was working today as well), and of course get some food. 
• After getting my food, I went off to officiate my second set of games.  Parking around this gym was a pain.  I looked around for some 20 minutes before settling on a stop 2 blocks (including one hill) away. This second set of games had higher caliber of teams but there wasn't anything too eventful. 
• The one exception was from a 5th grade team.  The visiting team was losing.  In the fourth quarter, a home team player set a pretty bad screen.  Both my partner and I had the foul called.  However, the assistant coach of the visiting team was complaining about the foul being flagrant or intentional.  It was just a BAD SCREEN.  I had to tell the assistant to calm down as I understood they were losing and maybe frustrated.   After the game, the assistant coach told me he was offended that I had mentioned they were losing.  He told me he was going to report me to the league for my comments (sure, go on ahead).  
• On the flip side, a parent of the home team also talked to me and my partner after the game.  The parent mentioned that a coach of the visiting team had made some comment to his son.  The coach had said something about the son being a "dirty player" or something.  I was a little shocked but not entirely surprised given the assistant coach's attitude toward me earlier.    I informed the home team parent that I would mention the incident to the league. 

All in all, it was a long day but a good day.  The weirdness aside, the games were competitive for the most part and the coaches were generally ok.

Here, There, Everywhere

A bit of a busy day today.  Originally, it wasn't supposed to be this way but it was fine:

I officiated three light girls basketball scrimmages in the AM.  I was planning to volunteer to begin with when I was asked last week.  However, as I had to also clear a fine for missing a meeting for my officiating group, the scrimmages this morning served a dual purpose.   It was a little odd officiating the scrimmages.  The teams were playing 18 minute games (two 9 minute halves) with no free throws.  The usual rules like backcourt and shot clock were off.  Despite that, one of coaches we had was chirping a bit.  Beyond that, the kids played hard and all the officials working the various games got some good work out of it.

I went to grab some lunch afterward and then played some pick up ball with friends for a few hours.  I didn't really tired but my shot was WAY off most of the day.  Maybe it was the Turkey!  

After playing ball, I grabbed a quick snack and rest a bit before officiating a men's alumni basketball game at another high school.  The game was pretty competitive and went into over time with the varsity men's team prevailing.

All in all, I would never recommend people run around like I do.  But doing it occasionally if ok.  I'm a little tired but some dinner will help and I have one more day of rest before going back to work on Monday.  :)

Alumni Night

A few days ago, I got an email from a fellow official asking if I would work my old high school's BOYS BASKETBALL alumni game.  It was a bit of a surprise as this particular official had worked the boys basketball alumni game with a retired official for the past several years.  Apparently, the retired official was unavailable tonight.  Since I was an alumni of the high school and had worked the girls basketball alumni game in previous years, I was the next logical candidate.   I accepted the invite very quickly.

Interestingly enough,  while I had not officiated the girls basketball alumni game last year, I was surprised the girls basketball coach had not reached out.  I need not have worried.  The coach reached out to me a day or two afterward to work the girls basketball alumni game and I ended up working a double header tonight.

The girls game was pretty low key.  The girls varsity team had only six players due to some player turnover while the alumni had about nine players.  The alumni won the game but the varsity girls worked hard and kept it competitive for much of the game.

On the other hand, the boys game was expected to be a blowout.  The boys varsity team had struggled last season and this season's team was very small of stature.  I didn't remember too many kids who were above 6 feet tall (if any).  On the other hand, the alumni had several big players.

However, the boys varsity team made a good effort and hung tough despite a distinct size advantage.  To be fair, the alumni did take it easy on the boys varsity team.  They didn't exploit the size advantage they had as they wanted to give the boys varsity team a chance to practice their sets.   The alumni did ultimately win but the boys varsity team showed they can play a little bit.

From a learning perspective, the girls alumni game was just a "get back on the court" and get a feel of officiating.  It's been a while since I worked a regulation high school game.

For the boys alumni game, I worked in a three person crew.  While I won't be working three person crews too often during the high school season, it was good to work with the other two guys.  It was pointed out that I was doing some things ("working a little too high as the C") that I hadn't realized.  Just like anything you do in life, you never know you're doing something until it gets pointed out.

Overall, it was a fun night to get back on the court, talk to a lot of folks and hang out a bit afterward.  A great way to begin the Thanksgiving holiday!

Odd Night At The Gym

Something I typically do before officiating my youth basketball and volleyball games is check the standings.   I check the standings to get an idea of the possible competitiveness of a game.

For my slate of four youth volleyball games tonight, I did not do this.  However, the gym director did and here's what I found out:

There were four games (5 PM, 6 PM, 7 PM, 8 PM).  The first game was a 4th grade game and followed by a 7th grade game and two 8th grade games.

Out of the eight teams playing, SEVEN of the teams were WINLESS.  The eighth team had only one win.  Keep in mind, this is the around the 4th week of the season so all the teams were definitely struggling a bit.

But with a slate of struggling teams playing each other, odd things were bound to happen.

In the first game, one of the winless teams (Red) swept Blue 25-12, 25-11.   Both teams may have been winless entering the game but the Red teams looked a lot better than Blue.

The last three games also have a strange vibe to them:  The team that won the first set proceeded to LOSE the final two sets.  However, while the three older teams didn't have great records, all of them played hard and the fans were quite engaged.

At the end of the night, three of the seven winless teams got their first victory.  The one win team had to sweep the last two sets to gain their second win of the season.

Despite the weirdness, it was an entertaining night of officiating volleyball.

Transitions & Setting Priorities

I've been officiating youth basketball since 1993 and high school basketball since 2002.  When I first started officiating youth basketball, it wasn't because I loved it.  Like my high school or college aged kids these days, I was strictly officiating for the money.

I was living at home and going to college nearby.  I wasn't working at the time though I spent a great deal of time as a volunteer basketball coach for my grammar school.  Since I was coaching, doing officiating made a lot of sense.  I could earn a bit of money during the time I was not coaching.  

I kept officiating youth basketball for many years but I found myself getting bored.  The games felt repetitive and I had stagnated a bit.  In was in the Fall of 2002 that I joined my local high school officiating group.  

Jumping into high school games was a change.  Though I thought I was a good official, I found that I had a lot to learn.  While it has taken me a lot of years to feel comfortable, I found that the learning experience renewed my enthusiasm as the youth level as well.  

Unfortunately, I ran into a lot of roadblocks with my high school officiating.  For one, my work schedule never really allowed me to officiate as many high school games as I wanted to.  Yet despite the roadblocks, I had some good years where I managed to work some playoff games.   While there are many who aspire higher, I am happy to have gotten a chance to work in the playoffs. In an ideal world, I would like to get a chance to work any games I wanted to and not worry about work.  But the world is not always ideal.  

Last year was a bit of a transition.  I had some things I wanted to take care of so I took the year off from high school officiating.   I made a decision this past May to return to high school officiating.  Though I decided to return,  I made a quiet decision to reduce my schedule. 

There were many reasons for this.  One was that I was quite settled in my job.  Leaving work early to officiated 4 PM games were just difficult in my position.  In years past, I would MAKE every effort to cut out of work to go officiate.  I wouldn't accept every early game but i would take a few and decline others just so I could go work. 

However, I no longer could leave early consistently.  I have a sales team I need to support.  While they don't need me every day, lots of things come up at the last moment.   I had to set the priority that my job comes first and my hobbies come second. 

But beyond the work situation, I also had been scaling back officiating overall the past few years.  Many times, officiating would get in the way of meeting up with friends or even just playing basketball.  I told myself that my personal life was more important than being an official.  

Thus as I enter the 2012-2012 high school season, my priority is to enjoy the games (even if they are only a limited number) I do get.  I'm not concerned about the quality or the level of the game.  In the past,  I was concerned about the quality of the games I was getting because I hoped I could work my way up.  These days, I'm going to enjoy being at the gym, working with my partner, and a chance to get some exercise.