Be the Referee: Primary Areas

February 11, 2016

This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains how angle is the most important factor when determining which basketball official should make a call.

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Below is this week's segment - Primary Areas - Listen

In just about every single basketball game ever played, there are times where fans will turn to each other and wonder, “Why did that official make the call when there was another member of the crew that was a whole lot closer to the play?”

The most important thing in all of officiating and especially basketball officiating is angle is the most important element for an official.

There will be many times during the game that the official that is closest to the play actually has the worst look or the worst angle. Many times the player is going up in the lane for that shot, and the whistle will come from one of the two outside officials because they had the perfect angle to see all the elements of the play and can rule correctly.

Past editions:
Feb. 4: Block/Charge Calls - Listen
Jan. 28: Dive on the Floor - Listen
Jan. 21: Hockey Officials' Options - Listen
Jan. 14: Recruiting Officials - Listen
Jan. 7: Wrestling Weight Monitoring - Listen
Dec. 31: Respect for Referees - Listen
Dec. 24: Basketball Instant Replay - Listen
Dec. 17: Basketball Communication - Listen
Dec. 10: Basketball Excessive Contact - Listen
Nov. 26: Pregame Communication - Listen
Nov. 19: Trick Plays - Listen
Nov. 12: 7-Person Football Mechanics - Listen
Nov. 5: Make the Call: Personal Fouls - Listen
Oct. 29: Officials Demographics - Listen
Oct. 15: Make the Call: Intentional Grounding - Listen
Oct. 8: Playoff Selection - Listen
Oct. 1: Kick Returns - Listen
Sept. 24: Concussions - Listen
Sept. 17: Automatic First Downs - Listen
Sept. 10: Correcting a Down - Listen
Sept 3:
Spearing - Listen
Aug. 27: Missed Field Goal - Listen

Be the Referee: Wrestling Technology

By Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials

January 24, 2024

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Below is this week's segment – Wrestling Technology - Listen

You see the use of technology in football quite frequently. A quarterback throws an incomplete pass on third down and when he comes to the sidelines, coaches are able to show him on a tablet or TV screen what went wrong.

But can that same technology be used in wrestling? It can.

Current National Federation playing rules allow coaches in the wrestler’s corner to use video or still photographs to instruct wrestlers during any timeout or dead clock situations. Just like in the football example, a wrestler could view footage from earlier in their match during a timeout and use that information going forward. However, that video cannot be used to dispute a call.

One thing coaches can’t do is transmit audio to a wrestler through an earpiece.

Previous Editions

Jan. 9: 3 Seconds - Listen
Dec. 19: Unsuspecting Hockey Hits - Listen
Dec. 12: No More One-And-Ones - Listen
Nov. 21: Football Finals Replay - Listen
Nov. 14: Volleyball Unplayable Areas - Listen
Nov. 7: Pass/Kick Off Crossbar - Listen
Oct. 31: Cross Country Interference - Listen
Oct. 24: Soccer Overtime - Listen
Oct. 17: Tennis Spin - Listen
Oct. 10: Blocked Kick - Listen
Oct. 3: Volleyball Double & Lift - Listen
Sept. 26: Registration Process - Listen
Sept. 20: Animal Interference - Listen
Sept. 13: Feet Rule on Soccer Throw-In - Listen
Sept. 6: Volleyball Jewelry - Listen
Aug. 30: Football Rules Similarities - Listen
Aug. 23: Football Rules Differences - Listen