Discussion of WCLL officials

[Sonny]

Fellas -

Please end all discussion and critiques of WCLL game officials immediately. As I've stated in the past, there are official methods & procedures to address/critique WCLL/MDIA game officials and the public forums of USLIA.com are not one of them.

Most of you old time USLIA.com posters should know better.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[WaterBoy]

Now, I have never been, nor will I probably ever be a lacrosse official.

I was however, a soccer referee for about 8 years.

In defense of referees across the globe, I can honestly say that they do their best. That doesn't mean they are the best.

Especially in an area like the WCLL, you have to consider that most of the state is not "booming and bustling" in lacrosse. It's certainly growing, but it's not the number one sport.

These officials are not on the field for the money. I assure you. They're there becase they love the game and (sometimes I wonder why and how) enjoy officiating it. NO official is perfect, nor is it fair for us to expect them to be.

As an official, I can tell you the only thing that would ever effect my game calling would be the conduct and attitude of the teams I was dealing with. The #1 thing you can do as a player, coach, or fan that will help the officiating be as fair for your team as possible, is to treat the officials with the respect they deserve for coming out to do their job.

When you contest a call to an official, just because he doesn't throw a flag does not mean that you got off scott free. Ref's remember. Sometimes you may call into question the eyesight of an official, but never question his memory when it comes to players on his naughty list. Best course of action- don't get there.

Wow... this turned into a rant, and I didn't intend for it to do so, but just keep in mind that every thing you do to an official may have some effect later on in the fourth quarter when there is a judgment call to be made. If you're the guy that "politely pointed out a flaw" in one of his calls earlier, don't expect to get the call every time.

[peanut21]

Absolutely, Sonny is correct. If you want to post a complaint post it in the proper place and format. As for what Waterboy said though, at NO TIME should an official of any sport allow a snide remark made by a bystander or a fan determine what call to make on the field or court of play. As a paid official it is expected that that person come to the game ready to umpire, referee, etc and to act in a professional manner and make the calls to the best of his/her professional ability in a objective manner without allowing any outside influence. If an official does "take it out" on a a team, player or coach for something a fan did or said, then that official need not be an official. Sometimes players and coaches get into it with the officials, and for the most part the official handles that appropriately, with a technical, etc., but then that should be the end of it, after the penalty is assessed and served. If an official carries that remark or action throughout the game, then again that official needs to be reevaluated as to his/her objectiveness and professionalism. It is a tough job being an official and again for the most part, they all try to do their best and sometimes have bad days, just so long as it is a bad day and not a witch hunt for a certain team, coach or player. Enough said.

[WaterBoy]

Let me clarify- I may have sounded harsher than I meant for it to sound.

I don't think it is a referee's responsibility to make each call independently.

I DO think it is the referee's job to show up to the field with a clean slate for both teams. No one can (should) disagree with that.

What I meant though, was that the moment the ref is on the field, every experience he has with a player or coach can be used as context for the game. The mark of a truly great official is one that knows what's going on in as many aspects of the game as possible. This does not merely mean the physical play and the rules, but also includes player attitude. It is an officials responsibilty to make him or herself as aware as possible to what's going on, and that includes conduct away from the ball.

I know that as an official, if I heard a player trash talking other players or coaches, and then saw a very questionable shoulder (keep in mind, I was soccer, not lax) or slide tackle, I would call that penalty more times against that individual, where for others a warning might be issued. The conduct of players and coaches reveals to a referee the mindset of the individual that they are dealing with. I will agree with you that an official should not bring a predisposed idea of individuals to a game; but once they enter the field is their right and responsibility to take into account people's demeanor as a context towards their actions throughout the game.

[peanut21]

Granted, it is the job of an official to keep the game under control. But, still I think an official should not make "questionable" calls because he has a problem with someone's attitude. Some players and coaches have very compassionate attitudes that bleed over into their game and for that you are going to make questionable calls. If those attitudes don't affect or hurt anyone, those calls should not be made. Officials are supposed to be objective and make calls based on the rules of the game. If an official can't do that without letting his/her personal feelings influence the call then they shouldn't be officials. Perhaps because you did that, they didn't want you to officiate anymore? A good umpire for lacrosse wouldn't have a problem because that umpire would control the game from the start, mostly by being consistent on both sides of the field. Teams respect umpires who make good consistent calls. Fans, players and coaches know when an umpire is wrong or being arbitrary, playing favorites and is using his striped shirt to let everyone know who is boss and that's wrong. The players and the coaches in the game should decide who wins or loses, not an umpire.

[sdsuspect4L]

This year I have seen officials from three different leagues. The WCLL, PNCLL, and SELC. I have to say our guys are doing the best. The games I have seen in the other two leagues were horrible. The refs were a factor in each one. They were either inexperienced or just had big egos. But, it seems that our refs let the game play out more than the others. For that I have to give them credit. We tend to look only at the bad calls when we are at home, but when away are refs are tops. I'll play in the WCLL any day.

[WCLLPREZ]

Santa Clara just returned from a trip to Boston and we were very impressed with the officals doing two of our games. The first game at Northeastern, the crew there seemed to show some bias against us- Northeastern had a lot of loose ball pushes and SCU had a lot of time serving fouls, or at least it seemed that way. Our games again Bridgewater and Stonehill were probably two of the best officiated games I have seen in a long time. The officials called the personal fouls and not the b/s little stuff and kept the game moving. No loose ball pushes, offsides that had no bearing on the play, etc. After arriving back home this weekend, I go to a Stealth game and there is one of the officals from Boston working that game in San Jose.

What a difference from the officials we had the last two seasons in the PNCLL, LSA and SELC.

[Sonny]

Fellas -

PLease save any discussion (good, bad, or indifferent) about game officiating for the proper channels.

Thanks.