Officiating 101: What you need to know; Or want to know.

[IUfanBorden]

I’ve been around youth sports for a few years. My son has played elite level travel baseball & AAU basketball.
I know more than few teams that I dread playing against because of the other teams parents or coaches. Some of them act like total assholes.

Do you ever let a close play go against a team because of the way their parents or coach acts?

My son used to play with a kid that was VERY emotional. He acted a fool on the pitchers mound. The worse he acted, the smaller the strike zone would get.

No. I'm not "punishing" or rewardig a team, or other kids because of the actions of others.

I worked a 12U tourney this weekend; actually just Sunday. First two games were great. Parents from one of the winning teams approached me afterward, and said how much they appreciated my hard work, how I interacted with the kids, etc, etc...

Fast forward to the Championship game. We are in the 1st inning. Kid hits a shot down the 1st base line, and I signaled it fair. Right fielder is beside himself...Pitcher throws his arms up. Coach is yelling. No biggie. Next two pitches are close. I call them balls. Pitcher throws his arms up---again. I tell the catcher, "call time, walk out there, and tell him to stop that".

He does....Pitcher apparently didn't listen. Does it again. SO I walk out, and tell him---"Cut that out---Like, now". Coach gets chirpy. I tell him, "Not gonna have that". Blah, blah and balh..We get a close call. GOes against them.....And here we go again. Parents are screaming---"You suck...You are terrible....Etc, etc...Guy behind the backstop says to me---"You are just awful"..So I ask---"Aren't you t he same guy who just an hour ago told me how good I was"?

Crickets.

Anyways.....Another close pitch, pitcher AGAIN flails his arms. OK, dude. I've had enough. SO I raise my voice, very sternly and say---"THAT is enough". Oh, boy. He starts to cry. Here comes the coach. Fans are ready to kill me. Coach says, "C'mon, man. He's only 12". Ok. Why does that matter? I have told him 3 times now, and very professionally , to stop. That didn't work. By this time, those same parents who LOVED me, are now ready to hang me.

Point being-------Its amazing how winning and losing effect parents.

Travel ball parents are awful. SOme of the worst.

 

[uncfan in ky]

No. I'm not "punishing" or rewardig a team, or other kids because of the actions of others.

I worked a 12U tourney this weekend; actually just Sunday. First two games were great. Parents from one of the winning teams approached me afterward, and said how much they appreciated my hard work, how I interacted with the kids, etc, etc...

Fast forward to the Championship game. We are in the 1st inning. Kid hits a shot down the 1st base line, and I signaled it fair. Right fielder is beside himself...Pitcher throws his arms up. Coach is yelling. No biggie. Next two pitches are close. I call them balls. Pitcher throws his arms up---again. I tell the catcher, "call time, walk out there, and tell him to stop that".

He does....Pitcher apparently didn't listen. Does it again. SO I walk out, and tell him---"Cut that out---Like, now". Coach gets chirpy. I tell him, "Not gonna have that". Blah, blah and balh..We get a close call. GOes against them.....And here we go again. Parents are screaming---"You suck...You are terrible....Etc, etc...Guy behind the backstop says to me---"You are just awful"..So I ask---"Aren't you t he same guy who just an hour ago told me how good I was"?

Crickets.

Anyways.....Another close pitch, pitcher AGAIN flails his arms. OK, dude. I've had enough. SO I raise my voice, very sternly and say---"THAT is enough". Oh, boy. He starts to cry. Here comes the coach. Fans are ready to kill me. Coach says, "C'mon, man. He's only 12". Ok. Why does that matter? I have told him 3 times now, and very professionally , to stop. That didn't work. By this time, those same parents who LOVED me, are now ready to hang me.

Point being-------Its amazing how winning and losing effect parents.

Travel ball parents are awful. SOme of the worst.

What’s odd to me is that the younger they are, the worst they act. My nephew is 9 & just started travel ball. I can hardly stand to go watch because of the way the parents act.

 

[Bert Higginbotha]

why are all officials blind?
why do most officials do roofing?
why are officials habitual gamblers?

why are officials called the same name?

"you stupid .. _______"

 

[IUfanBorden]

What’s odd to me is that the younger they are, the worst they act. My nephew is 9 & just started travel ball. I can hardly stand to go watch because of the way the parents act.

It's terrible. I usually don't have many issues. I mean sometimes it just inevitable . This group this past Sunday were great in the semi's. MOF, both semi-final games were great.

But you get to Championship Sunday, and Oh boy. I've told coaches/parents-----"There is no reason to wonder why your kid, or others kids, disrespect authority". I mean when I hear(from the dugout), "I know, we had to get 4 outs....He was out the first time. Don't worry about it, he(umpire ) sucks". Well it tells me all I need to know.

When my son played, and he did that---I took his ass home. Right, then and there. Told him---"You don't do that. I understand the game has emotions. But you never show an official up. That's what your coach is for.."Winking

 

[IUfanBorden]

why are officials called the same name?

"you stupid .. _______"

LOL....My youngest gtanddaughter calls me "PaPa BLUE". Its adorable.

 

[hailtoyourvictor]

Tell me about the first time you gave someone a technical

 

[Mgkcbb]

No wonder refs always suck

 

[bobby elvis]

Are you licensed to officiate varsity level sports? I've always seen you at elementary level, middle school and little league.

 

[IUfanBorden]

Tell me about the first time you gave someone a technical

@ Quincy. First year in Division 2. Coach from Quincy. Called me a "HS ref".Laughing

 

[IUfanBorden]

Are you licensed to officiate varsity level sports? I've always seen you at elementary level, middle school and little league.

Ummm, yeah. You must be from my hometown then. I only work locally for MS, and little league. I work roughly 30-35 varsity games a year. Only elementary I do is Saturday league games at the local HS.

Is this a serious question? Or you just trying to be funny?

 

[IUfanBorden]

No wonder refs always suck

At least none of them think Ethan Happ is possibly the GOAT..Laughing

 

[Blue_White_KY]

How come the ncaa doesn’t have conference specific officials like they do in Football? I’ve wondered that for a few years.

 

[IUfanBorden]

How come the ncaa doesn’t have conference specific officials like they do in Football? I’ve wondered that for a few years.

TBH, I am not sure. I'd say it has to do with CFB having the same crew each weekend. PLus the lack of games. NCAA has no control over officials.

 

[kyjeff1]

The one that gets me is when a guard drives the lane, jumps into a big that's just standing there and it's a foul on the big guy because he brought his hands down.
Big guys are only allowed to stand there like statues.
I get it, if they were allowed to patrol the paint and man up with a driving guard, scoring would be down, but having your big guys riding the pine 10 minutes into the game, due to foul trouble, really hurts a team.
This is not so much a question, just a statement more or less.

 

[IUfanBorden]

The one that gets me is when a guard drives the lane, jumps into a big that's just standing there and it's a foul on the big guy because he brought his hands down.
Big guys are only allowed to stand there like statues.
I get it, if they were allowed to patrol the paint and man up with a driving guard, scoring would be down, but having your big guys riding the pine 10 minutes into the game, due to foul trouble, really hurts a team.
This is not so much a question, just a statement more or less.

Odds are, if you bring your hands down, you have created contact. Simply bringing your hands down isn't a foul. Its the contact it creates that is. Even if its with the body. Stay vertical.

 

[kyjeff1]

Odds are, if you bring your hands down, you have created contact. Simply bringing your hands down isn't a foul. Its the contact it creates that is. Even if its with the body. Stay vertical.

Who created more contact, the guard with the ball that collides with the big, or the Big that brings his hands down to try to get the ball?
My point is it's damn near impossible for big guys to play defense without picking up a foul, but a guard can bowling ball himself into the paint knowing he's going to get the call if he jumps into a big.

 

[IUfanBorden]

Who created more contact, the guard with the ball that collides with the big, or the Big that brings his hands down to try to get the ball?
My point is it's damn near impossible for big guys to play defense without picking up a foul, but a guard can bowling ball himself into the paint knowing he's going to get the call if he jumps into a big.

The big has defensive criteria that he has to meet. If he's standing there, stays vertical and doesn't step into the offenisve player, he should be good. If he does all this, and then decides to bring his arms down, now he's in trouble. The onus is on the defense to follow such criteria.
Contact is going to happen

Now, with that being said---The offense CANNOT create the contact If they do, they are vulnerable to an offensive foul.. IF the contact is simple basketball contact, a lot of the times, you'll see a no call. Its when the defensive player brings his arms down that gets him in trouble.

A POE last year was to watch for the offensive player "jumping into" the defense. I think there were something like 32% more offensive fouls called due to this. Not for sure. WOuld need to check.

 

[kyjeff1]

The big has defensive criteria that he has to meet. If he's standing there, stays vertical and doesn't step into the offenisve player, he should be good. If he does all this, and then decides to bring his arms down, now he's in trouble. The onus is on the defense to follow such criteria.
Contact is going to happen

Now, with that being said---The offense CANNOT create the contact If they do, they are vulnerable to an offensive foul.. IF the contact is simple basketball contact, a lot of the times, you'll see a no call. Its when the defensive player brings his arms down that gets him in trouble.

A POE last year was to watch for the offensive player "jumping into" the defense. I think there were something like 32% more offensive fouls called due to this. Not for sure. WOuld need to check.

Correct, I get the rules, but god forbid a big actually gets in a defensive stance and moves an eyelash, nobody else has to abide by that.
Also, it certainly looks to me like guards creating the contact (jumping into a defender/big) happens 10 times a game, but the big gets the foul damn near every time.
UK guards get away with this quite a bit too, it's an easy way to get to the line.

 

[IUfanBorden]

Correct, I get the rules, but god forbid a big actually gets in a defensive stance and moves an eyelash, nobody else has to abide by that.
Also, it certainly looks to me like guards creating the contact (jumping into a defender/big) happens 10 times a game, but the big gets the foul damn near every time.
UK guards get away with this quite a bit too, it's an easy way to get to the line.

Its a game where no matter what gets called, 50% of the people will be happy------50% won't.
Post play is different than perimeter play. And TBH, I don't think many fans understand that concept. And I agree, bigs very seldom get the benefit of the doubt. And its a part of the game that needs fixed.

 

[I am stupid]

30% of the extra offensive fouls were called against UK. #UCFacts