At least three or four nights a week these guys put on a zebra shirt, run up and down a basketball court in some high school or middle school gym somewhere. They never take a shot, don’t grab a rebound, don’t lead a fast break and don’t set any screens - not on purpose, anyway.
Even so, their job performance is scrutinized from every corner, every sideline and every loft of the gym.
Some coaches “work the officials,” often in an attempt to dictate the style of the game to their desire. In the bleachers, otherwise mild-mannered, hard-working, church-going, family-loving adults who paid $4 at the gate suddenly morph into leather-lunged, vein-bulging, tomato-faced maniacs firing verbal torpedoes at them with every stride you take.
Nevertheless, the Temple chapter of the Texas Association of Basketball Officials is enjoying one of the highest participation booms in its history. The chapter has 120 members, with 26 new officials this season.
“Some say it’s the economy as to why we’re getting a lot of new officials,” said Gary Ehler, vice-president in charge of training chapter officials. “It’s a good problem to have.”
Just like the coaches and the players, the officials study, prepare and train for the season. There are rule changes to remember and particular areas of concern that are stressed with each new year.
While most people’s minds are on football, these guys start in September with “chalk talks” before training in unsupervised intrasquad scrimmages at a local school. The trainees typically are the ones you’ll see calling middle school games.
As for rules, this season’s new tweak is along the free-throw lane. The defending players closest to the goal have moved up the lane on the high side of the low block closer to the shooter. Through the years, the scrum for errant free throws has gotten increasingly rugged.
“It’s thought that this will clean up the rough play and gives the defending team a higher-percentage chance at the rebound,” Ehler said. “They had been coaching hard to get after those shots and it was about a 50-50 chance of either team getting the rebound.”
One of the perennial “points of interest” that officials are looking at is the hand-check that forces an offensive player to go in a direction that he or she doesn’t want to.
“They want us to call that early in the game,” Ehler said.
Officials also will be on the lookout to stifle rough play in the low post.
Those issues are routine. What officials would rather not be is the critic for the latest fashion trends, or lack thereof.
“We don’t want to be the wardrobe police,” Ehler said.
The rave of the low-slung shorts - a style that refuses to join the ranks of the leisure suit in whatever place bad-ideas-that-catch-on-for-awhile reside - won’t be considered hip in the gym.
Also, headbands worn purposefully crooked do not meet the standard for gym attire, either.
Officials met with area coaches recently to ask that they get these matters reinforced before players get on the court.
“They need to get their drawstring tied,” Ehler said. “A player will not be in the game until he figures out how to pull his shorts up.
“Coaches will say, ‘You need to worry about the game,’” he said. “They’re not helping by allowing that.”
Part of the purpose is to keep the dignity of the game intact and not have it devolve into little more than a Sunday afternoon shirts-and-skins match at the recreation center.
As College Station A&M Consolidated boys coach Rusty Segler proclaimed at a recent media luncheon, “It’s time to get back old school.” Ehler said that’s what officials want “inside the lines.”
The relationship between officials and coaches is a curious one, typically dependent on the personality of a given coach. Some coaches harp on officials from the opening tip onward, while others pay little attention until provoked by perceived mistakes. Ehler is proud of the fact that the Temple chapter has not ejected a coach from a game in the last two years.
“The Temple chapter has a reputation of being fair and cooperating with them,” he said. “If they have a question we are obligated to answer. If they have a comment we are only obligated to listen.”
It seems that every crowd at every level always seems to have one, two, a dozen or a section of spectators that appear less interested in the game than they are critiquing the officiating. The proverbial screams for three seconds in the lane, moving screens, “call it both ways” and the mocking concern for the refs’ optometry needs reverberate amongst the gym acoustics.
“We tell our officials not to have rabbit ears,” Ehler said. “Just block those things out.”
Sadly, while it hasn’t had any coach ejections recently, the Temple chapter had three fan ejections last season. Ehler said that profanity or a racial slur usually will lead to an escort out the door by an administrator or security officer.
Yes, it’s worth it to these officials. They love the game. Their objective is to enforce the rules and maintain the integrity, the fun and the spirit of the sport. Most of the zebras would just as soon blend into the background.
Said Ehler: “What we don’t want is for people to go home talking about the officials."
twaits@temple-telegram.com
