MVC Officiating

[Bluethunder]

I know we have talked about this issue many times in the past, but has anyone noticed that there seems to be a concerted effort on behalf of the MVC to "prop up" the officials. Every MVC tourny game I have watched so far (I missed the UNI Drake game, was at work) the announcer has made a comment about how great the MVC officials are, how the league gets the "best of the best", people that have worked Final Fours, etc. Several times, it has seemed like he is almost reading from a script, because I would swear that the same comments he made last night during the ISU game he just made in the UNI Bradley game. I know the officials have sucked in the past, and this is not meant to start a thread about how good or bad the officials have been this year, just wondering if anyone else has picked up on the comments near the start of every game so far (before the first media timeout) about how well the MVC does with officiating. If the announcer does it again within the first five minutes of the WSU-isu game this afternoon, then I will think it is a memo handed to him from the MVC.

By the way, do they have to show Ben Jacobs wife every five minutes during a UNI game? Yea, she is excited because the made a 3, .....we get it,.....show the game please!

 

[BankShot]

Is Jacob's wife one of those "one hot mama's?" Maybe Bally39 has some insight to this issue.

I've watched tidbits of all the Arch Madness games and think the zebras have done a fair job...they've let 'em play, which is far better than perpetuating a FT contest.

 

[Callmedoc]

The Zebras last night were ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE....worst i have ever seen in any game...at one point Rashad Reed took a shot when it was quiet and everyone heard the slap on his arm as the shot went out and it was no call...and there as a free throw contest it was just for illinois State they shot WAY more thanwe did....

 

[sycamorefanatic]

I was at the whole tourney and I think the officiating was overall bad even when I was watching two teams I could care less about it was bad. It is ok to miss a few calls here and there it happens but at the rate they were going it could of cost teams games .... Kind of like it cost msu a loss to wsu in my opinion or at least cost them from having a chance in the end, but you can't blame a loss on officiating b/c so many other things factor into it as we all know

 

[4Q_iu]

College Officiating

as a whole has gotten worse; I don't know if it was advent of the third official or that the game has gotten even quicker and more athletic...

Game in, Game out -- officials CONSISTENTLY miss obvious calls; two bigs can beat the hell outta each other on the blocks and there's no call, OK I can live with that BUT for a wing to be called for a foul on a 3-pt shot just because the shooter flops worse than a bass on a grassy bank - Puh-Leeze!!

I think the biggest part of the problem is how old some of these officials are; how in the hell can Fat Teddy Valentine or Stevie The Whale Walmer move up and down the court at their age when the players are young enough to be their grandchildren???

 

[egc1985]

i agree with everyone that the game has change and the officiating has slacked in the last few years, but i watch every game Hightower
refs waiting for him to make his charge call. It is a thing of beauty to see him kick his leg up then get into a squat position....

 

[Sycamore Proud]

I think the biggest part of the problem is how old some of these officials are; how in the hell can Fat Teddy Valentine or Stevie The Whale Walmer move up and down the court at their age when the players are young enough to be their grandchildren???

The scary thing is that there are very few young officials coming up the ranks. I work with middle school and high school basketball on an almost daily basis. They aren't out there. I'm not just talking about good young officials; young officials, regardless of competence, just are not to be found. If you are young and love basketball, please consider officiating. You will not start out with MIC varsity games, but you will have plenty of games. Get your name out to middle school ADs and coaches--the games will come.

 

[xfactor9600]

There are bad officials in each conference. There are also really good officials in each conference. The bad ones get all the notice because... well they are bad.

 

[BankShot]

Even "good" officials can have a bad game.

With re: to Welmer, he's lost probably 100 lbs. of his UE "beer gut" from the early 70's when he 1st gathered that nickname. He hasn't been a "Whale" for three (3) decades.

With re: to the development and recruiting of officials @ the HS level, maybe if the schools would reasonably compensate officials, they'd see an increase in #'s. When I started in '70, they were paying $35/gm for JV & $50 for varsity. Forty years later, have we yet seen a doubling of these rates?

Another issue, is the small-time "politics" involved while evolving thru "IHSAA Certification" and thus, having the opportunity to gain exposure in state tournament. As in everything in life, it's not WHAT you know but WHO you know (or suck up to). In Florida, they used three (3) factors in assigning post-season games: Exam score, years of service and local association rating/critique. So what happens? In '96 we had a major test cheating scandal, where the "old guard" was allowed to use open rule books, notepads, etc. during a CLOSED BOOK exam supervised by a HS Principal (FHSAA proxy)...who was "one of the boyz" as an FHSAA hoop official! Why did they cheat? Well, they had to get at least a 90% on the 100 T/F test to maintain their elite "status" and an upper hand in the LOCAL association. By maintaining this status, they were guaranteed a continued monopoly of the primary HS games.

Finally, the issue of "fan behavior." How many people can put up with the $#%&$ from the stands in today's game? There's a cost-benefit to being a HS official, and the inability of schools to pay a reasonable fee for the service has undoubtedly deterred many prospective officials.