Who do you think are some of the best wrestling officials? (current)

This has been done before . . . many times.

I think we've all concluded none of them deserve to live.

. . . that was sarcasm.

There are coaches who love certian officials, and others who hate them. It depends who you are and what team you coach or wrestle for.

Now if your Skutt, you are in luck because the officials will always try and give them the benifit of the doubt....

Let me clarify, Its amazing how a call ALWAYS goes the way of a Skutt wrestler, especially from the Metro officials....

Why hasn't this post been deleted?

Refs in general are bashed

Skutt takes a shot

Walk the Talk HB

or do'nt do at all!

Since when is this communist China or North Korea? The last time I checked, I was given the right to free speech.

In MY OPINION, most refs get a bad rap. If, as a coach/parent/wrestler, you feel a certian REF sucks or "screws" you then maybe you should put on the stripes.

But I also believe some REFS bring this criticism onto themselves!

Lastly about my comment on Skutt and an example. I was at the Boys Town tournament last year as a spectator watching a very good Skutt wrestler lose. A "fan" (lets call him that) from an opposing team said look at this, and then went on to say, but watch this REF, he is in the "good o' boy" network, so I bet he makes it close. Sure enough, these phantom "stalling" were produced and a 2 point lead turned into a tie, then a win by the Skutt wrestler in the final seconds. Now this might not seem unusal, but with about 30 seconds left, 3 stalling calls were made, and the outcome of the match was changed. Now you can argue that "well the wrestler did stall", but what I can say is, the wrestler was still aggressive (maybe not as aggresive as he should have been), but he was far from stalling...

This is my opinion, and if you don't like it "confused", than that is to bad....

HB and the rest of them have been removing post because of remarks like yours. They favor people of choice and let others hang.

your post is ok by me!

1) It's HB's site. He can do what he wants with it, and the only Bill of Rights that applies on this PRIVATE site is the three golden rules you should have read when you arrived here.

2) I've not seen HB or the other moderators take anything off that hasn't deserved it (granted, I haven't seen everything that was taken off).

3) Most of the time when something controversial is left on, it's been posted by a registered user. By registering yourself on the site and backing up your ideas with a name, you're given more flexibility.

That's how it should be. I don't take posts very seriously that don't show that they're a registered user. Anonymous posts can serve a valuable purpose, but don't expect to hear violins from the rest of us when your (sometimes) thoughtless — or heartless — banter gets wiped from viewing.

I don't even use a screen name. I use my real name. I don't expect everyone to do that, and if I could go back, maybe I'd change it. The bottom line is, though, that if I post something that is controversial, everyone knows it was me who did it and I'd expect HB or the other moderators to give me the benefit of the doubt in some situations because of it.

It's really not that hard to register, folks . . . takes about two minutes. Give yourself a true identity.


ONE FINAL THING that really ticks me off . . .
People like HB or NWI put hours and hours into something that only helps the wrestling community. Most people recognize this and are thankful. But there's this percentage of people in the population that can't help but complain.

Yeah, the world's not perfect . . . but what are you doing to make it better — besides a lot of whining?

Here you are, I am posting with my REGISTERED name... I agree with both confused and Why....

All the nonsense that spews out of their mouths is true!

Yes this is a PRIVATE site that ANYBODY can get on and post... kinda sounds like an oxymoron to me...

I guess my feelings are this (for all who get to read this before it gets deleted) Freedom of speech is freedom of speech. I agree you need to repect others on this site (thank god it is not like the nebraska prep report)...oooppps there I go bringing religion into the topic. Anyways, the repect of others is neccessary, but as it is, with us living in a state ruled by Republican conservatives, anything posted that might "go against" what is considered "the norm", will be taken care of, or erased. It is good that people can use a site like this to express their concerns. My only concern is the subjectivity that is used to determine what is okay, and what isnt. As stated before, as long as your in the "good o' boy" network, you have nothing to fear, but fear itself (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) I feel I should give him credit since he first coined the phrase!

I believe that most people who use this site are not cantankerous. I am not cantankerous either, but I just wished all people were treated fairly.

MY MY MY What Controversy! I'm new to huskermat and this forum. I didn't know the question had been asked before. I just thought people might have positive opinion about officials. (not a debate about who is bad) I'm getting quite an education.

Like anywhere else 90 % positive 10% negative , but the negative seems to stick out more than the positive .

There are a lot of good people out there trying to promote wrestlers and wrestling . Just a few that take pleasure in talking down and finding fault with hard working wrestlers,coachs,supporters and yes even the officials .

This sport is not looked on as favorbly as some others but we try to sell all the benifits that we know to exist .

Our bigest enemy is our selves.

I just wish people would measure their words — and their intent both real and as it will be perceived — more carefully sometimes.

When I called this a 'private' site, what I meant was that it is not government owned, i.e. the Bill of Rights don't necessarily apply.

Yes, anybody can post initially, but it's not like you can sue HB for wiping your post.

Finally, I'm about as far from a conservative republican as you're going to find in this state. We probably have much more in common than you think. That said, I know the difference between private and public, and so do you.

I'm glad you registered. And to the new guy on the site, welcome. I didn't mean to make light of your post. Officiating is always a touchy subject with me. I used to dabble in myself, and I know a lot of the guys in this state who still do it.

Pefect men? Of course not. But their love of the sport is so great, yet their respect and loyalty is so rarely appreciated.

I'm not one of those guys who feels that there is no room for criticism on this board. A little tact goes a long way, though. I think we can discuss the issues without the name calling sometimes.

Now . . . for a good ref people should know about -- I think Henry Aschoff who is originally from Osmond is a great up and coming guy who's been at for about five years. He's done a solid job at state the last couple years and he's one of those guys that hates to make mistakes and admits them he does.

Jason thanks for bringing this around to wrestling again. I heard from our music teacher (she lives in Wakefield) that John Torzan had a heart attack a couple of weeks ago. Does any one know how he is doing?

There are many great refs in the NE Nebraska area. I am one of the worst for getting on a ref on what I feel is a bad call (if it hurts my wrestler), but I would not want to put on the stripes. Think I might toss a few coaches that act like me.

Does anyone out there have any word on John Torczon's condition? Hopefully John will make a full recovery and be back on the mats as soon as possible!

refs will almost always get a bad rap, no matter how good they are. I can't count the number of times I've seen posts such as "biggest screw jobs" or "the ref doesn't understand the magnitude of the match".

Yes.. I understand the magnitude of matches, and I DON'T CARE... It's just another match to be called, and no matter who wins, the ref will be blamed by the loser of the match or his supporting fans.

I'll admit, I'm not the sharpest tack in the box, but I don't get too many complaints. I'm working to better myself on the mat, just as coaches and wrestlers should do the same. The best line I picked up from one of the officials' clinics is, "When you're through learning, you're through."

There are always those "shades of grey" (a.k.a. judgement calls) in the rules book that tend to get misinterpreted and read as literal applications ("Illegal" mats, slams, stalling, etc.) The rules book is written to allow for some shades of grey in a black & white world.

ANYONE can call the perfect match from the rafter seats of an auditorium.

I'm not here for the money... I'm giving back to a sport I enjoyed participating in and watching. The REAL reward is hearing, "Good job." at the end of the day. The money is the bonus plan.

I'm done venting now.

Finally, thank you, Norm Mannstadt (sp?), the coaching staff and wrestlers of High Plains HS, for putting on the officials' clinic at Clarks MS last Saturday. I heard nothing but positive feedback from the officials that attended, plus the senior officials who moderated the event. There was some good lively discussion on how some shades of grey get interpreted. I look forward to recieving my critique sheets & video. I hope you will put this on again next year.

bnw

in those shades of grey why can't a coach question about those calls without being hit with a warning. If they are put in the rules book as a judgment call, then why can't a coach question the application of that judgment call like he would argue the application of a rule. I would also like to thank you for the job you and the rest of the refs do, I've tried it and I don't like dealing with coaches, wrestlers, and fans. Those who do need to be applauded.

Who were the officials putting on this clinic?

We need more officals in this state. But as coaches (yes I am a coach) we need to help these younger officials out by telling them they have done a good job, etc... , but you also need to be able to tell(explain) to them when you feel they have made a mistake. Maybe do it after a match or meet in a friendly manner. The worst case scenerio is when you run into the younger ref(sometimes older) who does not like to hear criticism, and takes it personnally

may question calls, and if a rule is misapplied, corrections will be made, and life goes on. If the rule hasn't been misapplied, then the warning, and life still goes on. (Rule 6-6-6)

The worst thing I've experienced is a coach telling me I "have to make a specific call" whatever or "that's a bad call". In my opinion, that is unsportsmanlike conduct.

A lot of times, it's not what is said, but how the coach presents it. If he comes up yelling in my face, "You're wrong!" I'm probably going to tune him out and/or ding him. If he comes and asks me to explain the call, ("I don't understand the call" worked the best with me) I'll explain it to him. If he's satisified with the explaination, life goes on, no harm, no foul. If not, we'll discuss it further, and if I'm wrong, I'll fix it.

Trust me when I say that I'm all for CONSTRUCTIVE criticism (if it's not contstructive, I probably won't listen, either), and will ask for feedback from other officials. Some coaches tend to offer it a little more freely.

As for the clinic... I'd rather not give names. I can tell you there was one from Lincoln, who I have worked with and know is very good, and one from out west, who I have not.

Refing like you do is fine. If you treat every coach the same. To many ref's (metro especially)seem to "favor" some coaches over others. I saw one coach (not from the metro) get dinged unsportsmanlike for questioning a call, then later in the tournament a certian coach from a private school (5 letters long), was standing up screaming at this ref, and throwing a total fit over a call. What happens to him? NOTHING....

There is no room for Favortism in this sport. What you are doing is making yourself look bad, and making the sport look bad.

I am not saying all Metro officials do this. There are many great Metro officials that can ref my matches anytime, any place, but it is the "select few" who are buddies with these coaches that make everyone look bad!

I understand where you're coming from, and I agree with you. There is no room for favoritism. Period.

On the other side of that coin is the favored official, by the "good ol' boy" network and the new guy who hasn't developed credibility yet (this sometimes takes YEARS). Two different refs, same tourney, same call, same situation in different matches. Senior official made a "good call" while a coach/fan (a.k.a., disgruntled parent) runs to the senior official and asks why the new guy called it that way, and that the new guy "screwed up" and/or "sucks".

So it's not just the wrestlers who are affected by methods of favoritism. Unfortunately, not everyone sees this side of the coin.

Here's the rhetorical question of the day: Do you think this could be a reason why new officials don't stick around?