How does a league discipline an official?

[White Pelican]

In Stu Durando's article and elsewhere, it is stated that the A10 will discipline the game officials for their part in the VCU/Welders mess. My understanding is that the refs are private contractors hired by leagues for individual games. So what do they do, stop the checks and write new, smaller ones? Tell them they'll never work in this town again? What?

Anyone know?

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/slu-faces-bonnies-team-coming-off-crazy-loss/article_ff0b9f03-c3b8-5ae6-8c59-15dc7d0ab4b6.html

[bonwich]

They put a mark on their permanent record, of course. 

[juniorbill76]

Double secret probation?

[slufan13]

They have to ref Mizzou games

[White Pelican]

Ok, I'll play. Send them to Bob Ramsey Referee School?

 

[DeSmetBilliken]

I think at least some refs officiate more in some conferences than others. Assuming these refs are typical A-10 refs, the league can just take away their next assignment or more. 

[Cowboy]

-per the VCU site  - Officials: Gary Prager, Larry Scirotto, Anthony Franklin

[slufanskip]

I'm pretty sure they taunt them

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=monty+python+taunting+frenchman&view=detail&mid=7A78411AE0A6BF9727E57A78411AE0A6BF9727E5&FORM=VIRE

[White Pelican]

14 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

I'm pretty sure they taunt them

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=monty+python+taunting+frenchman&view=detail&mid=7A78411AE0A6BF9727E57A78411AE0A6BF9727E5&FORM=VIRE

Well, just for that, I "taunt" in your general direction.

[slufanskip]

29 minutes ago, White Pelican said:

Well, just for that, I "taunt" in your general direction.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of Elderberries

[Pistol]

I've often wondered the same thing. I'd love for there to be more oversight of officials. My understanding is that all of them are independent contractors and it's all about volume. Most of them are heading to the airport by the time you're on your way home from a game, heading to their next assignment, trying to pack as many games in a season as possible because they get paid by the game. So even though they might work mostly, say, A10 games, they're still filling out their schedules with other conferences' games when possible. They don't work for the conference, they don't work for the NCAA - Who watches The Watchmen?!

My biggest gripe is that rules aren't applied consistently. There has to be a way to hold them accountable for that. And when the order comes down from the NCAA to the officials to focus on this or that, sometimes we see it and sometimes we don't. These are hundreds and hundreds of independent contractors used to doing things their own way for years and years; if they're not going to be held accountable, why do they care? They just have to be good enough to keep getting work.

[Cowboy]

-my understanding and questions are very similar to Pistol's, there's a website that I can't find right now that details the officials, how many games they officiate, their call biases, etc

-I have wondered for years how a guy like Ted Valentine, who thinks the show is about him, still gets games

 

 

 

[bonwich]

10 minutes ago, Cowboy said:

-I have wondered for years how a guy like Ted Valentine, who thinks the show is about him, still gets games

 

Perhaps for the same reason as Gus. 

[Old guy]

1 hour ago, Pistol said:

I've often wondered the same thing. I'd love for there to be more oversight of officials. My understanding is that all of them are independent contractors and it's all about volume. Most of them are heading to the airport by the time you're on your way home from a game, heading to their next assignment, trying to pack as many games in a season as possible because they get paid by the game. So even though they might work mostly, say, A10 games, they're still filling out their schedules with other conferences' games when possible. They don't work for the conference, they don't work for the NCAA - Who watches The Watchmen?!

My biggest gripe is that rules aren't applied consistently. There has to be a way to hold them accountable for that. And when the order comes down from the NCAA to the officials to focus on this or that, sometimes we see it and sometimes we don't. These are hundreds and hundreds of independent contractors used to doing things their own way for years and years; if they're not going to be held accountable, why do they care? They just have to be good enough to keep getting work.

My wife has a kid that is trying to become a professional umpire (baseball of course but the supply / demand situation is the same in all sports). The problem in trying to be a professional umpire is that there are so many of them fully trained and ready to take any gigs offered. It is like being an aspiring actor in Hollywood, they need to bus tables to make a living while they wait for the jobs to come. Of course the easiest way to discipline officials for the organization that decides who is to get whatever jobs may be available is simply to make them sit idle while others get the limited work available. It may seem to an observer that there are a lot of games that need officials to serve in them, but the truth is that there are many more trained and available officials than there are games to keep them busy. The majority of the officials get high school jobs, only a few get the college and professional jobs that pay better, and these are the old ones with the friends and connections. So who knows how much disciplining they may get out of the VCU  Bonnie snafu, but if they do get disciplined at all, they will just be kept idle while others do the work available.

[HoosierPal]

The A10, ACC, Big East, and Colonial have an alliance where they use the same pool of officials.  I was also under the belief that a 'reprimand' was - you go into time out for awhile.  The A10 could put an official on the sideline, yet the Alliance would have to do the same for any reprimand to mean anything.