Wednesday, January 30, 2008

High school, college refs are not in same boat

"That's the worst call I've ever seen. Are you blind, ref? What play were you watching? You're missing a great game. Do you need glasses? Do you want my glasses? Even Stevie Wonder could see that was a foul!"

Most of us haven't screamed out an abusive passage like this toward a basketball official, but most of us who watch sports regularly let loose at least an occasional groan or comment about officiating. Baseball and softball umpires and officials in many field sports have some sort of buffer between themselves and fans. But basketball officials are in close quarters with spectators, who are often their fiercest critics.

At the college and pro levels, many sports officials are making a living at their profession, at least part of the year. The level of expertise expected at those levels, combined with soaring ticket and concession prices, leads many fans to believe they're entitled to let fly whatever witty (or not so witty) comment comes to mind.

High school fans are dealing with a totally different type of official. It's not that the refs aren't experienced or talented, or that they aren't used to hearing abuse of the caliber sent toward college and pro officials. There are, however, some important distinctions between New Mexico high school officials and those found at a UNM or NMSU game.

One distinction is the pay. New Mexico Activities Association basketball officials make somewhere in the neighborhood of $55 per game according to Belen Schools athletic coordinator Jim Danner. No matter how much an official loves the sport, that's not much currency when you consider the difficulty of their decisions and the verbal incendiaries thrown their way.

By contrast, many college officials are on the other end of the income scale. Danner, who was a Division I NCAA official himself for more than 25 years, said a D-I ref can pull in between $600 and $900 per game. When considering each team has close to 30 games on its schedule each year, it sounds like we should all quit what we're doing and put on college ref jerseys.

Not so fast. The training is expensive and lengthy, Danner says, and even after attending a camp, it may take years to actually get work once trained. In such a lucrative business, it's not surprising to think there may be veteran officials not eager to walk away, hanging on as long as they can still do the job.

College officials are pulled from the top high school referees, meaning you can't usually jump over high school to get to college officiating. Danner said the speed is "unreal" at the college level, and that's compared to high school, which doesn't exactly happen at molasses rate itself.

Then, according to Danner, it takes about three to five years to really catch up to the speed of the college game. I imagine it also takes a while to learn to make quick decisions at the high school level, with out-of-bounds possession calls, fouls and traveling being just a few of the toughest calls.

Danner said advantage is one of the toughest issues to address, as in, sure, there was contact on a play, but did either player gain an advantage from it? Then there is the Holy Grail question of charging fouls and player control.

I'd love to say let's all give officials a break, but I know the next UNM contest or Redskins or Orioles game, I watch, I'll dispute every call that doesn't go my team's way. I try to yell original things at officials, or at least something related to the rule that applies to the call. I try to avoid making it personal or insulting the referee's ability, though I've lost my head a number of times.

High school refs differ from college in that fans, players and referees are also supposed to be on the same side--the side of fair, safe sportsmanship. High school officials may not live in your community, but they live in your state, so keep in mind the travel, working conditions and their role in player development when you think they've missed a call.

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