Originally Posted by rollo
They have a different angle and perspective that MUST be respected. It's this way with every sport.
Have you ever seen a 2nd base umpire call a player 'safe' at 1st base? NO! It's not his call.
Or a home plate ump call a base stealer out at 2nd? No...it's not his call.
|
I hear ya, and I agree in theory. You definitely don't want a rogue official trying to call the whole game. I'm not talking about a responsibility for making every call. I'm talking about correcting a
clear mistake.
Just because one official is responsible for the call and it's in his area, doesn't alway mean he has the best position. Other players get in the way, etc.
Let's say it's a 3 official situation. The 2 officials who are not responsible for the call see a clear violation. Basically, one guy in the building missed the call and it's the guy responsible for the call.
Are the other 2 officials really instructed just to look the other way because it's not their call?
The bottom line question is this...
Are officials taught that the end goal is to call your area and nothing else or is the end goal to get the call right, regardless of who calls it?
As a fan, I want the latter.
One of the things I appreciate is when officials huddle up to talk about what they saw and make sure they get the call right. Seems to happen more in football and even baseball more so than basketball for some reason.
While I don't watch anywhere near as much NBA as college ball, it feels like NBA refs are more open to having an official overrule another's call. They usually run over to the in-area official to share what they saw first, then overrule the call if the in-area guy isn't adamant his call is correct.