You Don't Know What You Don't Know

You know what is the most FRUSTRATING part of being a high level referee?

You don't know what you don't know.

You know what is the most OBLIVIOUS part of being an amateur, beginner, status quo ref?


You don't know what you don't know.

Trust me...they are very different feelings.

Let's start with the upper level referee.  This is the guy who has "made it" or is on his way to hopefully making it (in my case, I "made it" when I worked the WCHA and the IIHF.  This was also the case when I was reffing a lot of USHL, working my way towards the WCHA/IIHF).

You wonder if your penalty selection is still good?  Does that need improvements?  How about your communication choices with coaches?  I am not talking about your communication skills overall (because they tend to be what they tend be - you wouldn't have gotten this far if you weren't able to communicate).  I am talking about handling different situations, the ones that tend to be difficult, like when a coach gives you the "choke" sign, or when a line brawl occurs.

You see...you always wonder, you always think, "Am I getting it right?"  You sure do wish someone would tell you, because...no one usually does.  The supervision at these levels can be few and far between.  You don't know what you don't know, and it could just eat you up inside.

There have been referees who work the minor pros who have "cracked".  Seriously, this is stuff that has caused ulcers, stress, loss of sleep, even more serious mental conditions.  Why?  If you take your job with the utmost importance and you pour your 'heart and soul' into reffing, you really want to know if you made the right decisions (which aren't always the correct ones...know what I mean?).

These guys in the minors, they spend soooo much time in their car, driving all over creation, all alone with their thoughts.  No one to bounce ideas off of, and feeling...well...on an island.  And I am not talking about an island with a tropical drink melting in your hand.

Now for the "inexperienced" referee.  This is the guy who is just starting to learn that he wants to do something cool with his life (err, something cool with his reffing).  In my case, this was when I started to go to camps (MHOA and then Western Regional).  This was when I first started to work junior games (MJHL and USHL), and definitely when I first started to work high school.

I have been watching these "types" of guys very, very closely for the past three seasons.  Here are some findings:

• They just do what everyone else is doing, which may include being lazy at whistles, skating around with facial hair or an unkempt look, not working the goal line correctly, simply calling 'black and white' penalties, and basically showing up and just being there.
  

• They get advice from people who are NOT above them in the food chain, therefore, they get poor, sometimes downright neglectful advice, and think nothing of it.
  

• They have the same mental mindset when working games, which, can be, "how do I get more of the good, high paying games?"  They are typically not following any type of philosophy.

I call this type of officiating "incestual".  You could say, "the blind leading the blind," but I say incestual, because, after awhile, everyone looks the same, more and more like each other, and they get dumber and dumber.  Incestual.

Ever care to find out "what you don't know"?

There are over 20 guys in the [Ultimate Officials Referee Camp] doing just that.  I am kind of scared/frustrated/upset that they could have been following someone else's lead.  Gulp.