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BIg Sky Refs....Are they the worst????

B

bearsden123

Active member
On the this board there are some heated discussions about how the refs were blowing call after call for both teams in the UNC @ WSU game. As the conference schedules come to a close its concerning just how bad the officiating is by the BS refs. I'm just curious if anyone knows how they evaluate the officials either after each game or after the season. As each year passes the refs continue to be the same individuals who blow calls, make up phantom calls, or for that matter don't seem to know the rules at all. So if someone could give some input that would be great.

PS..It seems that refs need to know that a player MUST BE SET for a charge to be a charge! If they are moving its blocking call. That one seems to stump every ref in this league!
 
what you need to know...

big sky refs have always and will always suck. over the yr's wsu students have chanted big sky refs suck and take his whistle.

there is only one good ref, kevin cutler, the more big sky games u see and looking at box scores after the games you get used to who they all are and who the good ones are and who the worst ones are.

i was excited to see cutler, the best ref at our nau game, i thought good, we wont have any issues for the big game vs unc, but of course they went to isu the next day and didnt stay for our game, that was stupid.

you just have to get used to it, takes a while, the unc/wsu game didnt even make my top 20 worst i have seen. that only means ive seen many that were way worse, not that i was thinking it was a good officiated game as the last part sucked. i dont blame boyle for wiggin out as the refs suck. also it was good they didnt give him a tech because htey know they suck.
 
I sat at a club tournament on Oklahoma last summer next to a ref that was there for continued certification for the Missouri Valley Conference. We talked about how much " continuing education" and evaluation the refs go through so they can be certified to work in that conference.

It was very interesting to watch the process during the club games. (Mind you, these were 17 year olds on teams from around the Midwest and Southwest US, not college guys.) The officials worked three man crews worked for a half of the game, then another crew came in. Members of the crews were changed during the days there, so they didn't always work with the same guys.

If you think coaches get on the refs, you should see the "evaluators" from the conference. When there was a timeout, the refs go to mid-court and would get their butts chewed for missed calls, bad calls, etc. They would document who does what. I saw the evaluators up close and they were all business, even saw one remove a ref from a game and sub in someone else, he had blown a couple calls badly. I know some of the guys there were hoping to get certified, so maybe that was that situation. There is also a big event each summer at Univ of Kansas in Lawrence where they do this same kind of certification with hundreds of refs attending. Refs pay $580 to attend, plus their transport and housing, food, etc. to be certified.

Bottom line, officiating is a really tough job. I'm not saying that refs shouldn't do the best that they can, I just know how hard it is to see everything. Heck, I reffed a game of 7 year olds at the YMCA as the teen refs didn't show, and we had an extra dad-coach (me). I got yelled at by the other coach, by parents, etc. for stuff I guess they thought I missed. We all tend to watch the ball, not other stuff that goes on. With the speed of the college game, it is tough.

So, yes, there are a lot of bad calls and I don't know if Big Sky refs are the worst or not, I've seen a lot of high school refs that should have dark glasses and a white cane. BUT....it is a thankless job. So I'll sit an yell at the missed calls, but also understand a little what it is like :D
 
I expect about 6 bad calls each game in the Big Sky (usually about 3 per team so they even out).
So, in the end, it usually evens out. The problem I have with Big Sky refs is when they consistently miss calls in a way that seems to favor one team. I don't blame the refs for the loss at Montana. Weber came to that game "soft" and not ready to play (per coach Rahe).
The problem I had on Saturday night was there were 4 bad calls consecutively against Weber that allowed UNC to get back into the game. On one occasion, the ball went out of bounds, and from my angle, it looked like it clearly went off a UNC player. The three refs all looked at each other to check if any of them saw who last touched the ball. They all had a confused look on their face. One even shrugged his shoulders. It was obvious that nobody saw the play. So, they called the ball out on Weber and awarded the ball to UNC. The rule book calls for a jump ball if the refs are unsure who last touched the ball. But, instead they gave it to UNC. Another bad call was carry by D-Lill. That is a move he has done all year and one that dozens of players in the BSC do all the time. Why call that a carry at that point in the game? Curious.
Was the lack of a call on a Weber player when Bietzel shot the ball at the end of the game a "bad call"? I would say if you are a UNC fan, yes that was a bad call. If you are a Weber fan? no, it was a good "no call." I would like to see the reply before I make judgement, but I did not see any contact until Bietzel fell onto the Weber player's foot (in other words, no contact on the arm or body while in the act of shooting). It was unfortunate he hurt his foot - he killed Weber the first time these two teams met.
So, I think there were a few of bad calls on Weber and a few on UNC. I would tip the scales of this game to UNC having a 2-3 extra bad calls that helped them. In the Big Sky, you always have to count on having a few calls go against you so you just have to play harder and not let it impact your game.
 
As it is with coaches, the Big Sky is a "developmental league" for officials. If you look at the current PAC 10 referee roster, at least 12 of that conference's officials got their start in the Big Sky. Seven current Big Sky officials are working in both the Big Sky and the PAC 10. But as younger officials get better and more experienced, they migrate away from the Big Sky toward the more glamor conferences. That means excellent officials like Scott Thornley of Pocatello, who has worked four Final Fours, now does PAC 10, Mountain West and Big 12 games -- not Big Sky.

Chris Rastatter is probably one of the Big Sky's best current officials. He's also working PAC 10 and Mountain West games, and as he gets seniority in those leagues, he'll draw better and more assignments there -- and probably wind up dropping the Big Sky.

It's the Big Sky's lot in life to train coaches and officials, and then watch them move on to bigger and better things.
 
Some of you may remember that Joe Cravens got suspended by the Big Sky Conference in 2004 for criticizing conference officials on SLC radio. One comment I remember was basically that Big Sky refs are typically either on their way up or on their way down in the profession. The good ones move on to bigger leagues, and the bad ones from bigger leagues move down to the Big Sky (and potentially to smaller conferences or out of the NCAA entirely).

There's no doubt he was completely correct, but the league still had to follow standard procedures and sit him down for a game.

Officiating is a tough gig no doubt about it, which makes me question both the sanity and ego of people who want to get into that line of work. One of the more enjoyable sports books I've read is Calling the Shots by long-time NBA ref Earl Strom. Check it out if you have the opportunity.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,585037915,00.html
 
Our refs may or may not be the worst.

I am going to view it in a possitive light. They are advanced. They have x-ray vision. They can see what happened across the court, through all ten players, even though the ref standing 3 feet from the play did not see anything remotely close to what they saw. They are so smart that they can call an infraction before it happens. They are so far ahead of the rest of the basketball world that they now know all of the rule changes that will happen over the next 50 years and are experimenting with them now. They have total confidence in themselves, to the point that they are able to always make the correct guess on a call when they really did not see it.

We should not be second guessing them. We should be worshipping them.
 
Bengal visitor said:
As it is with coaches, the Big Sky is a "developmental league" for officials. If you look at the current PAC 10 referee roster, at least 12 of that conference's officials got their start in the Big Sky. Seven current Big Sky officials are working in both the Big Sky and the PAC 10. But as younger officials get better and more experienced, they migrate away from the Big Sky toward the more glamor conferences. That means excellent officials like Scott Thornley of Pocatello, who has worked four Final Fours, now does PAC 10, Mountain West and Big 12 games -- not Big Sky.

Chris Rastatter is probably one of the Big Sky's best current officials. He's also working PAC 10 and Mountain West games, and as he gets seniority in those leagues, he'll draw better and more assignments there -- and probably wind up dropping the Big Sky.

It's the Big Sky's lot in life to train coaches and officials, and then watch them move on to bigger and better things.
Click to expand...
so you know if there is an old ref in the big sky who has been there for what seems like forever, he aint that good.
 
[/quote]
so you know if there is an old ref in the big sky who has been there for what seems like forever, he aint that good.[/quote]

Maybe not but Byrne's a good guy.
 
Found this yesterday.....a bit of perspective re: a no-win job.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=4920019

An old coworker of mine used to ref Big Sky football games before moving on to bigger and better things (Pac 10 last I heard). He said he enjoyed it but it was often a tough and thankless job.
 
We all ragged on the refs quite a bit after the PSU game, and deservedly so. It should also be pointed out when they do a good job. Players usually don't play perfect games, coaches make mistakes, refs make mistakes, we all make mistakes. All of that is just being human. The refs did a good job of controlling what could have been a very different game, if done by a less veteran crew. When things got a little chippy, they got it under control quickly. They didn't call every little trifelling thing and they didn't seem to be stepping on each others toes or blowing the whistle before anything actually happened. These are all good things.

Not that any of them need or want my input, but nice game to all three of you and the Big Sky.
 
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