Officiating, what is happening?

Making the rules easier to find would be helpful IMO. Information is sometimes hard to find on the OHSAA website, rules included.
Have fan/parent education classes so they know the rules and stop badgering officials.
Send out weekly presentations on commonly misunderstood rules to schools, coaches, parents.
I do read through the pinned Ask an official thread. It helps me to understand what is going on in certain scenarios.
 
chs1971 said:
The officials you believe should be doing the games do not exist.

At least not in the seven associations I am familiar with.
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i know they don't exist anymore. they quit or doing college lol. im a hoops ref. im not here just blowing smoke. i see it first hand. i enjoy refereeing. i don't enjoy watching lazy, incompetent refs doing games they shouldn't be doing. jmo

jtk
()
 
Hot_Takes said:
Making the rules easier to find would be helpful IMO. Information is sometimes hard to find on the OHSAA website, rules included.
Have fan/parent education classes so they know the rules and stop badgering officials.
Send out weekly presentations on commonly misunderstood rules to schools, coaches, parents.
I do read through the pinned Ask an official thread. It helps me to understand what is going on in certain scenarios.
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I believe this is already available through NFHS App and most parents and fans would rather piss&moan than actually look up the Rules. Weekly presentations are sent out often to Officials. Some read them some don’t. Don’t think many of the Problem Fans/Parents would read those either.
 
First of all, these are all poor excuses. I am not talking about little ticky tacky misses or misunderstanding of the rules. These refs are horrible beyond belief. I have never once seen a well officiated game where coaches and fans were yelling at the refs. That's because they were doing a great job. We are 3-3 and because of horrible calls should be 5-1. 5 refs on the field missed a fair catch signal that everyone saw from the stands. and before you start saying you saw it from the stands, it was plain and on video as well as on the news that night. Next lost a game in regulation when it was tied and the QB clearly fumbled and we ran it back for a TD. Refs blew it dead and incomplete. Oh by the way we have it on video. Oh and different angles as well. With the day and age of video recall and we can show you what happened makes it even worse. Oh and don't get me started on Offensive line holding. And before you say well if they call those then the game would last longer. I say get it right. I have seen video of a kid (my son) getting ready to tackle the QB and then he gets tackled from behind by a lineman. There is no way you can go through a whole game and not have 1 offensive holding on the line. Not possible. I also believe they need to add video review for the refs. Coach gets a challenge. If he gets it right then he gets another one. if he gets it wrong then you don't have any left.
 
The dozen or so football games I have watched this year haven't been too bad - and then Friday night that all went out the door. I sat with an official who does grading/observation of officials (unfort. he was off duty for this game, but still kept tabs) and he ended the night with a full sheet of paper of mishaps. He wasn't happy. His comment walking out was "and they wonder why people get upset."
 
I officiated basketball for 40 years, didn't get my first varsity game till year 6, Didn't get a good varsity schedule till year 8, I was not ready for varsity until then. Once I got my full schedule I advanced very quickly because all those years of lower levels prepared me. You see situations at the lower levels that prepare you for when they happen at the varsity level(where it really matters)you are ready. To many officials want to advance to quickly and are not prepared for the varsity level, thus they get run out or quit, Not just because of the good old boy network but because they just aren't good enough.
 
Bidenomics said:
1 problem the OHSAA football officiating ranks is there is zero consistency from crew to crew and it cheats the kids across the state.
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It's just a game isn't it? A missed or wrong call might change the outcome of a game, but it doesn't cheat any kids. What cheats kids is the grownups in life not teaching them that life isn't fair, that good & bad luck are both fickle, and that shaking it off and moving on will give you great practice for everything that comes next including the next down.
 
AllSports12 said:
The new guys thought they were ready for Massillon/McKinley, Pick North/Pick Central, Elder/Moeller, St Ed’s/St I’s, Colerain/StX, etc…. After a few years of working……
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A family member who officiated for 30+ years got a call from an assigner before his last game who said you pick it. He said Dover at New Philadelphia Woody Hayes stadium in week 10 was his only unchecked bucket list game. It was the 100th game in the famous series and the Quakers pulled out an overtime win. He said he couldn't have asked for a better game to finish with.
 
LW45036 said:
First of all, these are all poor excuses. I am not talking about little ticky tacky misses or misunderstanding of the rules. These refs are horrible beyond belief. I have never once seen a well officiated game where coaches and fans were yelling at the refs.
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Happens all the time.

We had a game two weeks ago with a head coach who loudly complained many, many times. Video showed he was wrong every time.

Shocker.
LW45036 said:
That's because they were doing a great job. We are 3-3 and because of horrible calls should be 5-1.
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I'll bet not.
 
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sapientia et veritas said:
It's just a game isn't it? A missed or wrong call might change the outcome of a game, but it doesn't cheat any kids. What cheats kids is the grownups in life not teaching them that life isn't fair, that good & bad luck are both fickle, and that shaking it off and moving on will give you great practice for everything that comes next including the next down.
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When it’s blatant you can teach them it’s BS…. That’s ok. And yes it cheats the kids.
 
RollingTrain said:
The dozen or so football games I have watched this year haven't been too bad - and then Friday night that all went out the door. I sat with an official who does grading/observation of officials (unfort. he was off duty for this game, but still kept tabs) and he ended the night with a full sheet of paper of mishaps. He wasn't happy. His comment walking out was "and they wonder why people get upset."
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Sometimes the officials others don't want to work with all end up on the same crew.
 
sapientia et veritas said:
A family member who officiated for 30+ years got a call from an assigner before his last game who said you pick it. He said Dover at New Philadelphia Woody Hayes stadium in week 10 was his only unchecked bucket list game. It was the 100th game in the famous series and the Quakers pulled out an overtime win. He said he couldn't have asked for a better game to finish with.
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What a way to go out.....

Not gonna get an atmposphere better than that.
 
LW45036 said:
First of all, these are all poor excuses. I am not talking about little ticky tacky misses or misunderstanding of the rules. These refs are horrible beyond belief. I have never once seen a well officiated game where coaches and fans were yelling at the refs. That's because they were doing a great job. We are 3-3 and because of horrible calls should be 5-1. 5 refs on the field missed a fair catch signal that everyone saw from the stands. and before you start saying you saw it from the stands, it was plain and on video as well as on the news that night. Next lost a game in regulation when it was tied and the QB clearly fumbled and we ran it back for a TD. Refs blew it dead and incomplete. Oh by the way we have it on video. Oh and different angles as well. With the day and age of video recall and we can show you what happened makes it even worse. Oh and don't get me started on Offensive line holding. And before you say well if they call those then the game would last longer. I say get it right. I have seen video of a kid (my son) getting ready to tackle the QB and then he gets tackled from behind by a lineman. There is no way you can go through a whole game and not have 1 offensive holding on the line. Not possible. I also believe they need to add video review for the refs. Coach gets a challenge. If he gets it right then he gets another one. if he gets it wrong then you don't have any left.
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Good thing it’s just game played by children then.
 
LW45036 said:
First of all, these are all poor excuses. I am not talking about little ticky tacky misses or misunderstanding of the rules. These refs are horrible beyond belief. I have never once seen a well officiated game where coaches and fans were yelling at the refs. That's because they were doing a great job. We are 3-3 and because of horrible calls should be 5-1. 5 refs on the field missed a fair catch signal that everyone saw from the stands. and before you start saying you saw it from the stands, it was plain and on video as well as on the news that night. Next lost a game in regulation when it was tied and the QB clearly fumbled and we ran it back for a TD. Refs blew it dead and incomplete. Oh by the way we have it on video. Oh and different angles as well. With the day and age of video recall and we can show you what happened makes it even worse. Oh and don't get me started on Offensive line holding. And before you say well if they call those then the game would last longer. I say get it right. I have seen video of a kid (my son) getting ready to tackle the QB and then he gets tackled from behind by a lineman. There is no way you can go through a whole game and not have 1 offensive holding on the line. Not possible. I also believe they need to add video review for the refs. Coach gets a challenge. If he gets it right then he gets another one. if he gets it wrong then you don't have any left.
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Basically the philosophy is not to call any holds…. It’s not a secret and clearly seen on tape.

What is wild about this new philosophy is so many more plays are literally run laterally to the boundaries. Jet Sweeps, WR screens, smokes etc etc. and kids get away with it blatantly.
 
Something that I have not seen posted is the lack of control by ADs and school administrators. I've been to several games where fans berated officials endlessly with abusive language. Why are those parents allowed to stay? Why are they not escorted out of the gym/stadium? That's step one in cleaning up the abusive behavior of fans.
 
Damage450 said:
Something that I have not seen posted is the lack of control by ADs and school administrators. I've been to several games where fans berated officials endlessly with abusive language. Why are those parents allowed to stay? Why are they not escorted out of the gym/stadium? That's step one in cleaning up the abusive behavior of fans.
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I definitely agree with this. I have seen this as an Official and a Fan. There must be consequences for bad behavior! I hear a lot these days that Billy Bob or Sally Sue in Management Position is not confrontational. That’s cool but then they probably have the wrong job. There all things we all have to do at work that we don’t like or agree with.
 
jtk said:
if you don't think the good ol boy network exists, then shame on you.
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There are politics in every segment of life.

The "good old boy network: claim is an excuse for officials who aren't good enough to work the games they think they deserve. Assigners would be insane to keep a good official, young or old from working his assignments.
jtk said:
btw, im on the side of the officials for the most part. what im not on the side of is people doing games that have no business doing them.

jtk
()
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If you as a basketball official (a licensed high school official, I presume) think that assigners consipre to keep a group of good officials from working games, then shame on you......

Every Friday night in football and every Tuesday and Friday night in basketball assigners scramble to fill spots. The have been forced to resort to hiring 1st year officials to complete a crew. Yes, there are men and women who 15 years ago would not see a game higher than the freshman level, but that's simply not the case in today's world.
 
simkon said:
I used to do soccer as far back as in the 90s, and officiated varsity games by myself on several occasions. Not sure what the rules are now, at the time I had my Grade 7 Badge which allowed me to do high school games without ever having taken any class, course or test given by the OHSAA.
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Doing them by yourself...good? bad? or don't recommend?
 
Hot_Takes said:
Making the rules easier to find would be helpful IMO. Information is sometimes hard to find on the OHSAA website, rules included.
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The NFHS no longer publishes theri books on line in a PDF format. This is because the primary source of funding is the sale of their books. There are however, older books ( a couple of years old) available using a simple search on line.
Hot_Takes said:
Have fan/parent education classes so they know the rules and stop badgering officials.
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Let me know how that mandate to the parents works out. It's been tried voluntarily, with very little interest.
Hot_Takes said:
Send out weekly presentations on commonly misunderstood rules to schools, coaches, parents.
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See above ;)
Hot_Takes said:
I do read through the pinned Ask an official thread. It helps me to understand what is going on in certain scenarios.
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Great! Please feel free to ask any question that comes to mind. Yappi has provided a great forum for questions and answers. The officials who chime in do a great job in answering the inquiries.
 
scbuckeye99 said:
Doing them by yourself...good? bad? or don't recommend?
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I wouldn't recommend you do it by yourself these days. Also people are much more likely to cause harm or make threats and so forth these days then 20-30 years ago. At the time I agreed to do them because I got paid the complete amount rather than having to split it with anyone else. I made more than I would have with a 2 or 3 man crew. The thing I found humorous is I would often signal for an indirect free kick and even at the high school level kids wouldn't know the difference between the signal for a direct and indirect free kick. Doing that today would really be asking for someone to punch you in the nose or something. There are several reasons I don't ref soccer games anymore or ump baseball games anymore, and one of the reasons is all the crazy people.
 
cone said:
I officiated basketball for 40 years, didn't get my first varsity game till year 6, Didn't get a good varsity schedule till year 8, I was not ready for varsity until then. Once I got my full schedule I advanced very quickly because all those years of lower levels prepared me. You see situations at the lower levels that prepare you for when they happen at the varsity level(where it really matters)you are ready. To many officials want to advance to quickly and are not prepared for the varsity level, thus they get run out or quit, Not just because of the good old boy network but because they just aren't good enough.
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And with all the good veteran officials that we are losing, you'd think that those guys who have been screwed by the "network" would flourish......
 
1) We analyze it closer and closer every year, so it will always feel like its getting worse.
2) Who would want to become an official nowadays when they're just going to get bashed on yappi.
 
AllSports12 said:
There are politics in every segment of life.

The "good old boy network: claim is an excuse for officials who aren't good enough to work the games they think they deserve. Assigners would be insane to keep a good official, young or old from working his assignments.

If you as a basketball official (a licensed high school official, I presume) think that assigners consipre to keep a group of good officials from working games, then shame on you......

Every Friday night in football and every Tuesday and Friday night in basketball assigners scramble to fill spots. The have been forced to resort to hiring 1st year officials to complete a crew. Yes, there are men and women who 15 years ago would not see a game higher than the freshman level, but that's simply not the case in today's world.
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They definitely conspire to keep 60+ year old non moving humans officiating fast athletic sports.

And we are where we are with officals because it’s been a 20 year problem.
 
simkon said:
I wouldn't recommend you do it by yourself these days. Also people are much more likely to cause harm or make threats and so forth these days then 20-30 years ago. At the time I agreed to do them because I got paid the complete amount rather than having to split it with anyone else. I made more than I would have with a 2 or 3 man crew. The thing I found humorous is I would often signal for an indirect free kick and even at the high school level kids wouldn't know the difference between the signal for a direct and indirect free kick. Doing that today would really be asking for someone to punch you in the nose or something. There are several reasons I don't ref soccer games anymore or ump baseball games anymore, and one of the reasons is all the crazy people.
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That would be my concern.

Good exercise though? haha.
 
Pickeringtonsports said:
The crew that did the Pick North/Central game was completely overwhelmed. They looked scared and started to panic. They couldn’t even spot the ball correctly. Several huge game changing calls that were not correct. I think the Pickerington community would be willing to pay extra for qualified officials for that game. Heck, give the refs the 50/50 raffle money, it was ~$650.
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Wait, what?? The 50/50 raffle at a match between two Division I teams was only $650?? Did you forget a zero on the end or a 1 or 2 before the 6??
 
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