Ref's Can't See Anything

A player lost a Contact Lens in a Pre-Season Scrimmage. Naturally everything came to a halt as players & coaches searched for the missing lens......except me and my Referee Partner.

A fan sitting close by us asked, "How come you Ref's aren't helping look for the Contact Lens?"

I turned around & quipped, "No one ever asks us to help look for Contact Lenses. You all know us Ref's can't see anything!"

The fan got a good laugh out of that!

Image by Ken Teegardin via www.AssistedSeniorLiving.net

0

Refereeing Basketball vs Volleyball

Firstly, in 25 years of Refereeing High School Basketball I've been hit in the head ONCE by an errant pass during Warm Ups.

In Volleyball I get hit almost every game!!!

Basketball Warm Ups are right in front of the Referees and tho there may be several balls in use, usually only a couple are in the air at any given moment and almost always aimed at the basket.

But in Volleyball Warm Ups serves, practice spikes, practice bumps & sets fly every where from on the court and unofficial warm up areas behind the score's table.

No one is safe from being hit, even the Score Keepers & Timer sitting as the Score's Table before the games.

And when a kid gives you a silly grin and says "Sorry!" You get the feeling that he / she somehow just won a bet with a team mate that he / she couldn't hit the Referee......

Secondly, only in Volleyball does a Ref climb a ladder and become a target for miss hit balls. Any game that I do not get knocked off the wobbly ladder I consider a success regardless of how many calls I might have missed.

Sometimes when hanging onto the ladder and ducking from missiles I feel like a trick pony rider hanging off the side of the pony trying to aim at a target from under the horse's belly. It's hard to see anything from that position and I'm prone to miss something, Just getting on top is an achievement......

Other than that, I calls 'em as I sees 'em!!

0

Hey Ref! Are You Deaf?!

This was in a game worked this afternoon......

This fellow, a so called "fan", who hollered that absurdity chuckled loudly after saying it......He apparently thought he was being quite humorous and clever, I suppose.

I try not to interact withe the crowd at High School Games, but sometimes circumstances are such that I feel I have no other alternative...... this was one of those times!!

"Dream Shot" by Will Folsom via Flickr.com

I turned to the crowd and said, "As a matter of fact, my Referee partner today IS deaf. He is also Dumb. Literally since childhood! What you are witnessing is one of the most courageous Referees in Arizona Basketball High School. A fellow that cannot hear Coaches yelling for Time Outs and cannot talk to the players or coaches like most Referees do, but he is out here on the court doing what most of you could never do despite your supposed expertise from the stands- Refereeing this game. You can make fun of him all you want, but if you do you'll trying to watch the rest of the game from outside the building......I hope you brought your X-ray vision glasses."

The "fan" had no further comment......

Why so some fans think they have an unlimited right to yell any a all abusive comments at Ref's they want? And why so do many fans from that person's team tolerate such behavior?

Last year my partner and I ejected 2 fans in a game. A husband and wife combo and a friend of theirs who were all sitting together

After the game as I walked to my car a woman walked quickly past me. When I glanced at her she quickly said, "I wasn't one of them!"

"One of them what?" I asked.

"One of the ones you ejected," was the reply.

I asked if those fans were from her team and she said they were. So I asked if they behaved like that often and she replied, "YES. Every game. We are SO embarrassed by them!"

I asked if they get ejected often and she said, "No. I wish more Refs would toss them out and several of us were very happy you DID toss them out tonite. THANK YOU!"

And so I re-ask the question- Why do fans, fellow team parents, put up with their own team fans acting in such obnoxious ways.

Perhaps the more poignant question is why do the Coaches and School Administrators, who see this fan behavior at their home games, tolerate it?

0

No One Prays for the Refs

I refereed at a Church affiliated High School tonight and, appropriate for a Church affiliated School, there was a prayer before the National Anthem and Tip Off.

All the Church affiliated schools pray before their games. They pray for their school, their players, their coaches, the opposing teams, the fans that support them and their parents. They pray for everyone's welfare EXCEPT the Referee's......and then wonder why they get "bad calls"!

I mentioned that one day to a school official when Refereeing at a Christian High School and she said " I'll have that fixed by the next time you come here to Referee a game!!" Sure enough, the next time I was at that school the prayer included the Referees! Not sure it resulted in any fewer bad calls, tho......

I do suspect a few coaches when they see me walk into the gym are thinking, "Oh Lord, not him again!!!" Which isn't quite the same thing as a prayer, I don't suppose.......

Image "clasp hands" by Stephen Platt via Flickr.com

0

Halloween Nite At The HS Volleyball Match

200 students showed up last night for "Senior Nite" and the last Volleyball Home Game of the season on Halloween nite.

At least half were in costume......

Image by Katie Morrow via Flickr.com

The funniest to me, was a kid in black shoes, black pants, dark sunglasses & a "blind person's cane"...... and a black & white Referee shirt.

He was "escorted" into the gym by a kid dressed as a slice of Pumpkin Pie holding the Blind Ref's elbow, typical of escorting a blind person. Very clever histrionics, indeed!

One of the really fun things about Refereeing High School Sports is the Student Section antics, Basketball and Volleyball puts the kids almost right on the court!

They can really be entertaining and crazy!!

Occasionally they can get a bit out of line (like at this basketball game) and someone needs to be invited to leave ("Tossed" in more vernacular terms).

Can you guess which student I would have "tossed" first if that Student Section had gotten out of control............? Yeah & the Pumpkin Pie would not have been far behind!

0