Why So Serious?
Posted by rogueeffect on April 1, 2008
I am not planning on discussing Batman, what I plan on ranting about is completely different. Yes I have to step up and rant about my recent week at Volleyball. Every Tuesday I take in a best of 3 match that realistically is our team losing 3 games and hoping we keep it within 7 points – this is realistically an indicator that we’re in the wrong tier but at the same time we have fun and some teams are real close to us we just have to get over the hump.
This losing behaviour is not what I wish to rant about though. Every several weeks we have the misfortune of reffing. I have a serious dislike of reffing something I have only passing skill at calling especially when you have 2 strong teams play each other. This league is self reffed and I have to say that a few people on the top teams take the game way too seriously – the best part is they don’t even understand the rules. That or they think they can intimidate the refs to giving them calls later…. this may work in the general case and I’m sure that is why one team is as abusive as they are.
The only other explanation is they are just jerks which I already think they are sometimes. So onto the scenario’s I got to deal with: First up – a Block (tip) and 3 hits…. which they proceed to say counts as 4… because a tip is a hit…. let’s not mention I re-read the rules one hour ago and they proceed to do it 3 times in the next 10 minutes themselves. Second: Foot over the line – which is permitted in our league but some teams seem to think its instant loss of point – it is not – only if it affects the play (i.e. I bump other team), so after the same team does this – a spiker lands and realizes he’s over the line looks at me knowing he went over the line and then turns and says nothing…. yeah I’m not going to call that not because your team was whining punks but because the right call is not to call anything since the spiker did not affect a blocker.
The moral of the story is – you’re not going to get any breaks with a good ref – they’ll call it down the middle – even if you are jerks. Now the ref may be bubbling with joy inside that the jerk team is getting trounced but you have to give me something for having to put up with them.
This is the first of a few catch-up posts.
