A little call and response...

[I_am_a_Blue_Devil]

I live in southwest Virginia, about 20 mins from VT. All i ever here about around here is the dang Hokies. After todays game i get on facebook and see this status update....

"does duke ever play away? I think they've played away from home 4 times... all 4 time they lost ironic? Nope just obvious how they get all the calls at home"

and i felt the need to respond

"listen here you hokie homer. Duke's road record is 5-4. losses to #13 Wisconsin, #20 Georgia Tech, #8 Georgetown, and a poor loss to NC State. VT is 5-3 on the road with losses to (unranked) Miami, (unranked) Florida State, and quite possibly one of the worst teams in the country, UNC. UNC has only won 2 out of the last 10, one of those ... See Morewins coming over your Hokies. Also, the officiating has been atrocious in Duke's games, in favor of our opponents. If you watched, you would know. But you don't go undefeated at home or beat the number 2 team in the ACC by 21 on officiating alone. So do a little research, watch a little basketball, and come talk to me. :D"

[cspan37421]

You did well while sticking to facts; I would have left the officiating complaints out, because that's not only a matter of opinion, but our own biases are that most fans tend to feel their favorite team is jobbed by officials in losses. It's just not a strong argument, and not at all likely to be accepted.

That said, is there a process in place for grading officials after a game? Do officials get to see what they missed calling, and mistakes they committed on calls they made? Just wondering. I suppose each ACC team could send clips of bad calls that went against them, weekly. Do they ever learn from mistakes, or is officiating not really a full-time job even at this level?

[theAlaskanBear]

You did well while sticking to facts; I would have left the officiating complaints out, because that's not only a matter of opinion, but our own biases are that most fans tend to feel their favorite team is jobbed by officials in losses. It's just not a strong argument, and not at all likely to be accepted.

That said, is there a process in place for grading officials after a game? Do officials get to see what they missed calling, and mistakes they committed on calls they made? Just wondering. I suppose each ACC team could send clips of bad calls that went against them, weekly. Do they ever learn from mistakes, or is officiating not really a full-time job even at this level?

Officiating is a full time job...I remember the discussion after that ref blew the call in the Syracuse game....it was something like his 7th or 8th game in as many days...think about the travel!

[CarterTheGreat]

Officiating is not a full time job, at least in the traditional sense that an official only does that for income. Most officials hold full time jobs and are employed on contract basis. It would be much more beneficial to the game if they were because I feel maybe would have more consistency and less bad games. The worst problem I see, not only in Duke games, but overall, is consistency. Refs should realize that means for all officials for all games, not simpy being "spot on" for the game they are currently calling. The Maryland game had some of the worst no calls on fouls I have seen in a long time. And not just going our way, b/c I thought Miles and Zoubs got away with quite a lot. Officiating crews need to do more homework. I don't do any basketball officiating but do dabble in some fast pitch softball and one thing I know is that consistency is probably the most important aspect of calling. And in my opinion, less often humble than it should be, it is seriously lacking in college basketball.