I recently started reffing dodgeball outwardly with the excuse of "helping out," but selfishly trying to "rid the world of cheating and bring justice to those who have been afflicted by the evils of people not taking their outs." I realized pretty quickly that this is way too unrealistic, and I've come to gain recognition for what referees do.
審判員 = shinpanin is referee in Japanese.
1.) Play the sport a bit. Sure it's more of a visual/ observational thing, but playing the sport and having experience, in my opinion, does factor in. While playing, one sees other plays happen and who might be cheating/ not cheating so that it's facilitated as a referee: I was already looking for people who didn't take their outs and wanted to call them out, now I can! (probably actually a bad attitude)
2.) Be firm in one's calls. Sometimes in dodgeball people who are whistled out will just calmly accept their fate (these are the kind-of honest types), but then there are people who insist that they weren't out, that it was an optical illusion the refs saw, that they never felt anything, etc. That's when a ref's resolve is tested, that they question everything they ever held to be true, and you're the only one on an island, it seems.
3.) Accept the fact a ref is not 100% right. Can't get every single call right, probably impossible. So instead of acting like players are dumb or ignoring anything they say, I listen and don't try to argue back, and if I think I might have gotten a call wrong I acknowledge that I could be wrong. It's possible. Just as a ballplayer makes mistakes, so too do refs. It's an imperfect science, if you want perfection, you should get machines to do it (actually that's probably what sports is moving towards, which goes into a whole nuther issue of machines replacing humans that I'm probably not ready to accept yet.)
4.) Accept that no one likes a ref. Being a ref is a sacrifice of one's social relationships; good people will give the ref a nod after the game's over and/or thank them quickly before moving on, bad people will give the ref a earful and hold grudges for the rest of time (I admit to sort of being one of the latter people). It's a no-win situation; someone's going to get upset, and it's a thankless job.
5.) Review videotape if there is videotape. Nothing like visual evidence to "review" what a ref got right and got wrong. Sometimes slowing it down doesn't even totally make it clear one way or another; that's how tough a ref's job is.
6.) Use audio, not just visual. I can think of many sports where sound can aid in the visual: the sound of hand hitting hand in basketball instead of hand hitting ball, the sound of a player's foot hitting the base before the ball hits the mitt in baseball, the sound of a ball hitting someone's body/ shirt in dodgeball. It's good to always get the visual confirmation, but the sounds sometimes confirms the call.
7.) consult with other referees. When a patient isn't sure, they get a second opinion. Referees getting a 2nd opinion shows some accountability in making sure they didn't miss something; there's been plenty of times I reffed where I was convinced of something but less sure after the other ref saw it from a different angle; getting "fresh eyes" is a valuable tool.
8.) Get a good night's sleep before reffing. Seriously helps to think clearly, watch multiple things going on at the same time, along with focusing. Also shouldn't be hung over, inebriated, or otherwise disturbed/ in an altered state.
9.) Not emotional. I've seen some refs give out yellow cards just due to a personal vendetta or personal grudge towards a certain player. Perhaps that was what Joey Crawford was doing to Tim Duncan way in the NBA?
10.) Let the players play. Don't make the game about the refs, make it about the players. If not sure, just play on, usually the bounces balance out. Call the obvious calls, let some things slide if not sure, and don't make calls just to get attention.
Now if only there were a fantasy referees league......
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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