Last night's refs

[Da Coach]

Can't argue that but this is what it will take.

1.) A better league to work (top to bottom)
2.) Not on TV enough (ESPN or major networks CBS)
3.) More money
It will take a combination of all three to improve the quality of officiating in our league. When your a one bid league its hard to get good officiating. Take Baywatch for example,5 to 8 years ago he worked mainly in our league. As he gained experience and became one of the better officials in the country we rarely see him. Now you can see him in the Big -10 or on TV games almost every week. Their goal is to work the final four and you won't get their working a vast majority of your schedule in the Valley. Thats why we should all appreciate when we do get the good ones on our games.

I am not always convinced about the money part. Some of the refs I feel are the worst, are some pretty highly paid guys. I am more in favor of the MVC reviewing the performances of every referee, every game (from videos of games), and ranking them based on their cumulative evaluations. Then select refs based on the MVC's own evaluations. There are services that will do this for conferences, and some conferences already do it.
I'll bet there are a lot of lower tier refs, who would not need to be paid the $1000-$1500 range, who would rank higher than a lot of these higher paid guys. You just need to identify them and go after them.

[wily coyote]

I am not always convinced about the money part. Some of the refs I feel are the worst, are some pretty highly paid guys. I am more in favor of the MVC reviewing the performances of every referee, every game (from videos of games), and ranking them based on their cumulative evaluations. Then select refs based on the MVC's own evaluations. There are services that will do this for conferences, and some conferences already do it.
I'll bet there are a lot of lower tier refs, who would not need to be paid the $1000-$1500 range, who would rank higher than a lot of these higher paid guys. You just need to identify them and go after them.

Can't argue or disagree with anything you said here except I need to explain #3 more money. I'm not saying we need to up the pay. I'm saying bigger conferences pay more then we do.Hence, they get the better officials. Another problem I've failed to mention is the Valley does not pay all 3 officials the same per game. The referee gets more for his game then U1 or U2 unless that was changed this year which I don't think it was. That was the case the last several years and thats just plain wrong.The only benefit I see in that pay scale is maybe they would all strive to get better so they could be the R in each game. I'll do some checking and see if that policy is still in effect.

[canadian]

I am not always convinced about the money part. Some of the refs I feel are the worst, are some pretty highly paid guys. I am more in favor of the MVC reviewing the performances of every referee, every game (from videos of games), and ranking them based on their cumulative evaluations. Then select refs based on the MVC's own evaluations.

Da Coach, I agree 100%. I have some personal insight into getting officials, paying them, etc. and its gotten absolutely ridiculous. I also agree that the guys being paid the most aren't necessarily the best. It just means they have been around a long time.

I don't want to pay officials based on years of work, seniority. I want good ones. Hungry ones. YOUNGER ones. I know I may sound insensitive here but many of the top officials are too old.

The game is becoming more and more athletic. You have 20-21 year old kids flying around the court. Quickness. Leaping ability. Fast play. And we have 55-60 year old men trying to keep up and call the game? It just doesn't make sense, IMO.

Anyone who knows me knows my struggles with Ed Hightower. To me he is the prime example. He still does premo games but is really, really bad now. And he still thinks he needs to make every call. Although I haven't seen much of him this year.

[wily coyote]

Da Coach, I agree 100%. I have some personal insight into getting officials, paying them, etc. and its gotten absolutely ridiculous. I also agree that the guys being paid the most aren't necessarily the best. It just means they have been around a long time.

I don't want to pay officials based on years of work, seniority. I want good ones. Hungry ones. YOUNGER ones. I know I may sound insensitive here but many of the top officials are too old.

The game is becoming more and more athletic. You have 20-21 year old kids flying around the court. Quickness. Leaping ability. Fast play. And we have 55-60 year old men trying to keep up and call the game? It just doesn't make sense, IMO.

Anyone who knows me knows my struggles with Ed Hightower. To me he is the prime example. He still does premo games but is really, really bad now. And he still thinks he needs to make every call. Although I haven't seen much of him this year.

Ed is on the down hill slide. No question about that but he had a great career and was one of the better officials for a long time.

[canadian]

Ed is on the down hill slide. No question about that but he had a great career and was one of the better officials for a long time.

Yep he was. But because he was a great official in 1998 doesn't mean he should be getting the best games and paid top dollar for games in 2011. That's exactly my point. Get paid for what you do now, not what you did 12 years ago.

[Da Coach]

Ed Hightower is still quite active. He is doing a lot of Big Ten and Big East games. I saw him doing the Syracuse-Louisville game last weekend.-

http://statsheet.com/mcb/referees/ed-hightower/schedule

Note that the fan rating for Ed Hightower is really low-- 2 stars out of 5

[wily coyote]

Ed Hightower is still quite active. He is doing a lot of Big Ten and Big East games. I saw him doing the Syracuse-Louisville game last weekend.-

http://statsheet.com/mcb/referees/ed-hightower/schedule

Note that the fan rating for Ed Hightower is really low-- 2 stars out of 5

That rating doesn't surprise me at all. Its to bad Ed should have retired when he was on top or as soon as his ratings started slipping. One thing I need to point out though, you said it was fan ratings. Fortunatly those don't mean to much. Its what the conference assignors rate him that holds the water.He certainly couldn't need the $$$.

[lefty]

Ed Hightower is still quite active. He is doing a lot of Big Ten and Big East games. I saw him doing the Syracuse-Louisville game last weekend.-

http://statsheet.com/mcb/referees/ed-hightower/schedule

Note that the fan rating for Ed Hightower is really low-- 2 stars out of 5

I don't put much into fan ratings. I'm guessing they would be low for any ref they see quite a bit.

I would like to see a coach rating more than a fan rating.

These guys don't ref Final Fours because they were picked out of a hat.

People have always yelled at Hightower,Zetcher, Higgins, more than any ref...other than maybe Pollard now but they always seem to have big games.

[wily coyote]

I don't put much into fan ratings. I'm guessing they would be low for any ref they see quite a bit.

I would like to see a coach rating more than a fan rating.

These guys don't ref Final Fours because they were picked out of a hat.

People have always yelled at Hightower,Zetcher, Higgins, more than any ref...other than maybe Pollard now but they always seem to have big games.

Lefty fan ratings don't mean sh-t. There is or was a reason Hightower and Zetcher get or got the big games. They were very good when they were at the top of their game. Zetcher I think has retired. I haven't seen him in a while so I'm assuming he finally retired. Higgens is just reaching his prime and his schedule shows it.The best officials should get the big games thats just the way the system works and it should work that way.