If you had the power to do away with one of the following, which would you choose?

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There’s No ‘I’ in Crew

“Perception is reality.” When it comes to officiating team sports, that’s often the absolute truth. It doesn’t matter what sport you’re officiating, crew cohesion is a must if your crew is to be perceived positively. Another absolute truth is that when everyone isn’t on the same page, it doesn’t take players, coaches and fans long to recognize that “tonight’s officials are struggling.”

The best officiating crews take the field or floor as one official. They know that the only philosophy that matters is the crew’s philosophy. They’ve invested time together away from the sport. They know each other, respect each other’s judgment and approach the game with confidence. Because there is no room for “the individual,” they’ve worked hard to create a team approach.

No crew establishes a quality reputation quickly. It takes time. Only after working many games together, suffering through mistakes and sharing the highs and lows of several seasons, can a crew establish itself as one that can be counted upon to work the big games consistently.                 

We’ve all seen the football crews that have one official who throws many more flags than his partners. His definition of fouls is different from that of the other officials. Then there’s the basketball ref who calls a close game while her partners “let them play.” The perception those officials are sending is that not only are they not on the same page, they haven’t even entered the library together. It’s a recipe for disaster.

If you’re not in that situation and never have been, don’t get cocky because it’s only a replacement official away! As you work toward cohesion, thorough pregame sessions are essential. But even with plenty of game preparation and years of experience, every crew and official eventually runs into a situation in which there is disagreement. It’s how the team handles it that makes the difference. If you disagree with a call a crewmember makes during the game, discuss it at halftime or after the game. Let each member of the crew weigh in.

Confrontation leads to expression and allows officials to develop a closer understanding of each other’s priorities — get a better idea of what makes each other tick. Knowing how and why your fellow officials may react to situations allows you to relate to each other instinctively. Any psychiatrist will tell you that understanding others is key to effective communication! Even if you don’t build a campfire and sing Kumbaya together, those situations can serve as defining moments in the development of your crew’s ability to relate to one another more effectively.

It’s important to know that the other officials on the field or court are with you in every sense of the word. It’s not enough to just wear the same clothes, you’ve got to take the time and make sure everything fits! Your performance and your crew’s reputation will benefit from the extra effort.

Written by John Jay Stone, a high school football official from Swanton, Ohio. A 13-year veteran, he works as a nursing home administrator. This article originally appeared in the 2/04 issue of Referee.

Pull Up a Chair ...

Everyone who’s ever stepped onto a field, court or rink to officiate a game has a story to tell. Here’s a story about how one umpire learned why there is a mercy rule. We know you have a story to tell. Write it down and e-mail to lastcall@referee.com.

Mercy, Mercy

By Doug Lindt

Sometimes doing the wrong thing is absolutely right.

In 1999, I was umpiring a fast-pitch girls’ softball 10-and-under tournament that drew teams from all over the Midwest. During one early round match-up, one team was experienced and the players were very good. In fact, it’s not giving anything away to say that team eventually went on to win the tournament. The other team was from a nearby town just a few miles away. The coach told me he just grabbed a bunch of girls and entered the tournament to have some fun. In effect, it was a pickup team with no travel experience.

In the tourney, the mercy rule was 15 runs after three innings or one-and-a-half hours, whichever came first. There was nothing in the rules regarding a winning spread, nor total number of runs scored. It was open.

In the first inning, the experienced team scored 23 runs, including lot of home runs and, of course, a lot of errors by the defense. And don’t forget the infamous “infield home run,” with errors at first, second and third resulting in the batter-runner scoring in what would normally be an out at first. I felt sorry for the inexperienced team, but what could I do? I had to let the girls play.

In the first inning it was three up, three down for the pickup team with mostly swinging strikes. They looked a little lost, and certainly out of their league. I knew I was in for a long afternoon, glad we had the mercy rule in effect. I just didn’t know how long until I could invoke it.

Second inning, the experienced team scored about 20 runs from pitching that was basically batting practice. And then it was three up, three down again for the other team.

The coach for the experienced team stopped stealing and would hold up his girls whenever possible. Nothing helped. They just kept scoring.

Finally, we went through much of the top of the third inning with the experienced team batting. There were two outs and I recognized the next batter. She had already gone eight for eight — all home runs! The first pitch came in like a basketball alley-oop. The batter set up; you could see the fire in her eyes. She reached back and whack! — a 100-foot foul ball by just inches, down the right-field line. There were a lot of oohs and aahs from both sides of the field.

The pitcher, knowing what the batter liked (actually, anything within reach of the bat, the batter liked), got ready for the second pitch. She was determined not to serve up a home run. The pitch came in but the ball went about 20 feet, hit the dirt and finally dribbled over the plate on the ground. I seized my opportunity, and with all the composure and authority I could muster, yelled out, “Strike two!” The batter snapped her head toward me with a surprised look.

Now it was two outs, two strikes. The pitcher wound up but the ball slipped as she threw, sailing about 40 feet in the air. At home, the batter could only look up, as the ball was about 15 feet over her head. I watched as the catcher finally grabbed the ball. And in honor of great umpires everywhere, I screamed at the top of my voice, “Strike three, batter is out!”

The batter looked at me wide-eyed, mouth agape. As she was standing in the batter’s box, her coach yelled from the dugout, “Good call, blue!” The batter whipped her head toward the coach, dropped the bat and screamed in a very high tone, “Ahhhhhh!” Her coach raced out, put his arm around her and talked softly in her ear. Everyone in the stands was applauding. We had to finish the inning, but as you would expect, it was three up, three down. Final score was 52-0, third inning, game over.