Well, well, well…I write again! I’ve had my first varsity game, and it went smoothly with coaches thanking myself and my partner afterwards. There has been a moment where a kid shot a three from beyond the NBA range and nailed it at the buzzer. There was another buzzer beater last night in a town in the middle of nowhere Oregon. It’s those moments I live for as an official, but I want to talk about applying officiating to real life and real situations.
Last night, I had to give a girl in my life her second technical foul and throw her out of the game and off my court. Now, most won’t know the situation and circumstances surrounding this ejection, but it was warranted believe me. As officials, we hear so many excuses from players, coaches, and fans that listening to them in our personal lives are the last thing we need. Now, I have been dealing with this girl and her excuses for almost a full month, and the sick part is I’d never met her in person. Modern day technology has given us the opportunity to have relationships with people through the internet, and cell phones that seems to have screwed up the younger generation’s idea of health and happiness. Why I even made it a month is laughable!
Every time we went to meet, this girl had a new excuse, yesterday she said she was sick which may even be the truth, but I really don’t care anymore. There is a breaking point to us all isn’t there? We take so much from people and then we have that certain point that we will not take any more. With players and coaches, we give them a little leeway to complain and moan about calls we have made. In relationships, we give room for excuses and alibis but we trust that they are truthful. Now I have no proof that this girl is a liar, I wish I did. The only facts I have are, she showed me pictures of herself, we had talked on the phone, and that’s about it. What kind of proof is that? It’s not real life, it’s not make believe, I guess it’s the internet world of relationships. I do not enjoy it.
I am too used to being an enterprising person of sorts, I have boundless energy thrown into my passions and I guess I can’t understand people who do not give their 110%. Perhaps my standards are too high, I expect too much from people and relationships, but it is the standard I try to live. Sometimes people can push you too far, they like to test your limits just to see what they can and cannot get away with. When this is done on a basketball court with me, it is a simple boundary I observe and when it is crossed, the technical foul occurs. In real life situations, there are certain boundaries that if crossed I will walk away. Too many times people stoop to a level of ensign instead of taking control of their own ship as the Admiral. I am not one of those people, and I hope those reading this are Admirals too, for life is too short to play games with liars and cheats, excuse makers and drama fakers. Indeed, life is meant to be savored and cherished by those who surround you in love and support you in love. I’m afraid the girl in my life has never found love, and as bad as she wants it and needs it, because of her desperate loneliness she may never find it. Putting people to the test is like poking a sleeping rattlesnake with your finger and bare arms with no antidote. I feel sorry for people who feel that life is found in other’s suffering. I hope this girl one day finds happiness, I’m just glad that I had a chance to know her briefly and learn quickly that the snake needs to be left alone. When I T’d her up, I got angry and took it a little personally, but that happens in a game too. When I calmed down later, I learned a lot about myself, what I have taken away from this I know will help me to find a good person in time.
Set your boundaries on the court, set your boundaries in life and stick to them. When they are crossed, try to be calmer than I was, but certainly let that person know with clear communication that they have crossed the line. Stand firmly on the fact that you know yourself and you know what you want in life, let no one get in the way of that because they have their own path to follow. It’s good to be writing again.
David
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
141 OSAA Sanctioned Games This Year!!!
This past season was a blur, it took a huge toll on me. It seemed like one day we were sitting in the classroom gearing up for the beginning, and the next it was done. I wanted to keep this blog up every week, making an entry to keep people up to speed with the inner workings of a referee. However, truthfully, it just was not a priority as much as basketball was.
141 games is not the record for a high school season, but it’s up there! I just turned thirty years old and my body has taken three weeks to recover from all of the games. I went directly from refereeing into working as the Team Recruitment Manager for the fundraising organization called Special Olympics Oregon. It’s been none stop and I can’t complain, I just don’t have the time like I used to for completing a journal. Besides, who really cares to read this damn thing anyway?
I’ll be starting my first steps towards college basketball officiating this May. I will be attending several camps and working on the rules and mechanics for the college game. I am nervous, but ready for a new challenge. I had to reject a couple of high school camps to attend these; I detected sour grapes from those individuals, but despite being admitted to the regular membership of the PBOA I won’t see the good games for years to come.
One day, at this rate, I’ll be running a camp of my own but maybe not for just officials. A team here recently hired me in the IBL (International Basketball League) named the Portland Chinooks to do their PA announcing. Doors just keep opening up for me from the connections I have made in officiating, I truly feel blessed and lucky to have gotten to the point now where I can work for myself and not worry about working for “the man.”
Oh, maybe I’ll write something again sometime soon, REFEREE magazine wants another article from me on the Trail Blazers Street Jam…www.blazersstreetjam.com. But don’t hold your breath, I’ve gotten too busy, if it slows down I’ll post here again. Until then my friends, live well and be happy.
Dave
141 games is not the record for a high school season, but it’s up there! I just turned thirty years old and my body has taken three weeks to recover from all of the games. I went directly from refereeing into working as the Team Recruitment Manager for the fundraising organization called Special Olympics Oregon. It’s been none stop and I can’t complain, I just don’t have the time like I used to for completing a journal. Besides, who really cares to read this damn thing anyway?
I’ll be starting my first steps towards college basketball officiating this May. I will be attending several camps and working on the rules and mechanics for the college game. I am nervous, but ready for a new challenge. I had to reject a couple of high school camps to attend these; I detected sour grapes from those individuals, but despite being admitted to the regular membership of the PBOA I won’t see the good games for years to come.
One day, at this rate, I’ll be running a camp of my own but maybe not for just officials. A team here recently hired me in the IBL (International Basketball League) named the Portland Chinooks to do their PA announcing. Doors just keep opening up for me from the connections I have made in officiating, I truly feel blessed and lucky to have gotten to the point now where I can work for myself and not worry about working for “the man.”
Oh, maybe I’ll write something again sometime soon, REFEREE magazine wants another article from me on the Trail Blazers Street Jam…www.blazersstreetjam.com. But don’t hold your breath, I’ve gotten too busy, if it slows down I’ll post here again. Until then my friends, live well and be happy.
Dave
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
It's Been a While
Well, after struggling through these past few weeks with personal dramas, I am finally sitting down to write. I never thought the day would come again. I don’t really know where to begin, so I’ll just share chronologically where events have occurred of significance.
In an inner-city league game near downtown Portland, I worked a double header of girl’s freshman, followed by girl’s JV (Junior Varsity). In the initial game, the crowd was just getting warmed up to me and by the time the second game came around, they just adored me.
I was the R (referee) for both games, and the U (umpire, my partner) was a fellow I had worked with before at a local high school last year. Before the game even started, the home coach approached my partner and talked with him at length. I noticed this immediately while appearing to be busy looking another direction, I purposely did this so the coach would think she was pulling the wool over my eyes.
It was time for us to take up our pre-game positions, opposite the scorer’s table, to observe the players legally warm up. I immediately asked my partner what the coach had said to him.
“She asked me to please call a fair game because you don’t like her from a previous experience,” he explained.
I began to laugh, “Are you kidding me? I had that lady at a Christmas tournament where she spanked the other team and was still complaining. It didn’t bother me and afterwards I wished her a happy holiday and new year and went on my way, going out of my way to be friendly with both coaches in the holiday spirit. I can’t believe she'd even think that way about me.”
My partner just shrugged. I knew we were in for a game that was headed for trouble.
Sure enough, from the opening tip, which we had to re-toss due to two players simultaneously grabbing the ball, she was on me. It’s the same old spiel from coaches, “You gotta call this, you gotta call that!” The excited ones never ask questions, they never show any respect, they just yell at you and tell you how you should call the game exactly as they see it, through their distorted and convoluted eyes.
I just ignored her, it was my best bet I felt, but she just kept things up. My partner was not helping things, he was not calling the game as tightly as I was and so I was touted as the scapegoat. I explained a couple of calls to the home coach, but they did not help anything, she just told me again what to do and I warned her to stop. The crowd started in on me, and I feel this only happened because of the attitude of the coach, being as vocal as she was. My next step, I had no choice.
“That was a horrible call!” yelled the coach, directly at me.
She was not more than five feet behind me, so I promptly turned around, signaled the technical foul and told her, “Sit down coach.”
She apparently did not know the “seatbelt rule,” on the first technical foul the coach must remain seated throughout the rest of the contest. I find it hard to believe that a coach does not know these rules apply directly to them and no one else; it seems like a convenient memory loss at a crucial time.
The crowd began to get worse, and I had to ask the athletic director at halftime to instruct them they would be removed if their comments were not more appropriate in the second half. It was a bloody mess. I did not enjoy my job that day, and it all began because a coach did not have the capacity to talk to me before the game. She not only made herself, in my eyes and the eyes of many officials, look foolish by her lack of communication. She also proved that she is not ready to move up to a varsity level coach. I believe that good coaches are masters of communication; if they have a problem with you, they will talk to you about it and get it out into the open air. Going behind someone’s back never solved anything and never will. I hope to have this coach again in the future so I can talk with her before the game, if she will not air it out, I will have to coach the coach and do some preventative officiating. At least this has been a large learning lesson for me with regard to communication with coaches.
In an inner-city league game near downtown Portland, I worked a double header of girl’s freshman, followed by girl’s JV (Junior Varsity). In the initial game, the crowd was just getting warmed up to me and by the time the second game came around, they just adored me.
I was the R (referee) for both games, and the U (umpire, my partner) was a fellow I had worked with before at a local high school last year. Before the game even started, the home coach approached my partner and talked with him at length. I noticed this immediately while appearing to be busy looking another direction, I purposely did this so the coach would think she was pulling the wool over my eyes.
It was time for us to take up our pre-game positions, opposite the scorer’s table, to observe the players legally warm up. I immediately asked my partner what the coach had said to him.
“She asked me to please call a fair game because you don’t like her from a previous experience,” he explained.
I began to laugh, “Are you kidding me? I had that lady at a Christmas tournament where she spanked the other team and was still complaining. It didn’t bother me and afterwards I wished her a happy holiday and new year and went on my way, going out of my way to be friendly with both coaches in the holiday spirit. I can’t believe she'd even think that way about me.”
My partner just shrugged. I knew we were in for a game that was headed for trouble.
Sure enough, from the opening tip, which we had to re-toss due to two players simultaneously grabbing the ball, she was on me. It’s the same old spiel from coaches, “You gotta call this, you gotta call that!” The excited ones never ask questions, they never show any respect, they just yell at you and tell you how you should call the game exactly as they see it, through their distorted and convoluted eyes.
I just ignored her, it was my best bet I felt, but she just kept things up. My partner was not helping things, he was not calling the game as tightly as I was and so I was touted as the scapegoat. I explained a couple of calls to the home coach, but they did not help anything, she just told me again what to do and I warned her to stop. The crowd started in on me, and I feel this only happened because of the attitude of the coach, being as vocal as she was. My next step, I had no choice.
“That was a horrible call!” yelled the coach, directly at me.
She was not more than five feet behind me, so I promptly turned around, signaled the technical foul and told her, “Sit down coach.”
She apparently did not know the “seatbelt rule,” on the first technical foul the coach must remain seated throughout the rest of the contest. I find it hard to believe that a coach does not know these rules apply directly to them and no one else; it seems like a convenient memory loss at a crucial time.
The crowd began to get worse, and I had to ask the athletic director at halftime to instruct them they would be removed if their comments were not more appropriate in the second half. It was a bloody mess. I did not enjoy my job that day, and it all began because a coach did not have the capacity to talk to me before the game. She not only made herself, in my eyes and the eyes of many officials, look foolish by her lack of communication. She also proved that she is not ready to move up to a varsity level coach. I believe that good coaches are masters of communication; if they have a problem with you, they will talk to you about it and get it out into the open air. Going behind someone’s back never solved anything and never will. I hope to have this coach again in the future so I can talk with her before the game, if she will not air it out, I will have to coach the coach and do some preventative officiating. At least this has been a large learning lesson for me with regard to communication with coaches.
Friday, January 07, 2005
"I'M RICH!!!!"
This was shouted at me today outside a grocery store. The man was riding a bicycle in the cold rain; the bike had two baskets, which he had filled with breads and other groceries. He looked homeless and troubled, but most certainly cold. It made me thankful to think that what I have, though it may not be much, is more than a lot of people who struggle in this world.
I returned home from Canada last week, leaving the cold snows behind for the comparatively warm rains of Oregon. Immediately thrust back into a life, which I needed a fresh perspective on, I ran all of my games lately with a coldness equaled to only that of Darth Vader. No talking back to coaches, fans or otherwise, and it has made a huge difference. I have begun to enter my head for a chuckle, like when a fan who would not be quiet on anything my partner and I did. I just envisioned myself as Darth Vader from Star Wars choking the hell out of the chap for his insolence and it made me smile.
I think of that homeless person riding his bike in a way similar to referees. We are homeless, we root for no one, and no one cheers for us. Yet, we scream that we are rich, full of knowledge of the game and how it needs to be played. Is that arrogance on our part or are we really so all knowing?
I returned home from Canada last week, leaving the cold snows behind for the comparatively warm rains of Oregon. Immediately thrust back into a life, which I needed a fresh perspective on, I ran all of my games lately with a coldness equaled to only that of Darth Vader. No talking back to coaches, fans or otherwise, and it has made a huge difference. I have begun to enter my head for a chuckle, like when a fan who would not be quiet on anything my partner and I did. I just envisioned myself as Darth Vader from Star Wars choking the hell out of the chap for his insolence and it made me smile.
I think of that homeless person riding his bike in a way similar to referees. We are homeless, we root for no one, and no one cheers for us. Yet, we scream that we are rich, full of knowledge of the game and how it needs to be played. Is that arrogance on our part or are we really so all knowing?
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