• Officially out of Control

  Filed under Sports
  Jan 29

  

  During basketball season, referees deal with pressure from coaches, parents, players and fans.

  Montana refs share their stories

  by Meg Smith

  With their black and white stripes it seems the prey becomes the predator. These zebras don’t run away from the pack; they dive right in and keep the game from turning into a tooth and nail fight. They are the referees.

  One such referee is Cory Cromwell. After 16 years of refereeing, Cromwell knows the ups and downs of keeping the game under control.

  Cromwell says that watching the coach is one of the most important parts of refereeing because the referees need to have open communication with them. He also stresses that refs have to have patience with the coaches because there are two main types of coaches:

  There is the coach who “talks a little bit then blows up.” This is the coach who can remain quiet the whole game and then go off about one particular call.

  Or there is the coach who yells the whole game about every step the referee takes. Cromwell calls this the “cry wolf syndrome.” When the coach doesn’t know how to control his temper then it’s up to the referee to decide when enough is enough.

   “You don’t just go out throwing around technicals.”

  And Shawn Schroeder, a referee coming from a coaching background in basketball himself, always tries to see from the coaches’ perspective before making any calls on them.

  “They are all just competing; trying to win a game,” Schroeder said.

  However, the coaches aren’t the only ones the referees have to worry about. The players can lose control during a heated game as well.

  “Some schools are more known for it than others,” Cromwell said. But a referee will never take any unsportsmanlike conduct from a player. On the court, he expects the high schoolers to remain in control with their head in the game. Schroeder expects them to remain in control as well and keep their heads in the game.

  Cromwell is reluctant to say which schools are the worst to handle, but he admitted, “players with bad reputations come and leave.” Cromwell knows he just has to be ready to handle whatever happens during the game.

  The games can be harder to handle when cross-town comes around. “There is certainly more excitement.” The excitement can cause the student bodies and players of both schools to get rowdier.

  Schroeder, who has three cross-town games under his belt, agrees with Cromwell. “There is more energy in the air. It’s a more exciting game.”

            But no matter the game, the referees keep it controlled and make it a fair game to the end.

  Tagged as: meg, meg smith, montana, referee, refs, smith, Sports
  
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