In the Bible we are told to avoid even the appearance of impropriety--and I think that is a standard that should hold true in all of life--and specifically in the world of tennis officiating.
I am not going to personally comment on these points but will simply state them for your comments. AT NO POINT are we questioning an official and their integrity but these points seem to suggest some improvements need to be made in APPEARANCES.
These are the major points that I have been sent:
* In the Baylor vs Nebraska men's match, the head referee was a former Baylor coach. This referee also chaired the #1 doubles match which is a violation of Big 12 policy.
* In the Baylor vs Texas A&M men's match, the referee is the Texas A&M coordinator.
* In the Baylor vs Texas A&M men's match, one of the officials is a former A&M player and one is the parent of a former A&M player.
* In the Texas A&M vs Texas men's match, the referee is a former A&M player.
* In the Texas A&M vs Texas men's match the above mentioned three officials were assigned again to an A&M match.
* In the Baylor vs Texas women's final, the Baylor player was denied a medical timeout in the 3rd set tiebreak by the chair (who is the Texas women's coordinator.)
* In the Baylor vs Texas women's final, the Texas player was allowed to take a medical timeout when she was trailing down a set and 5-1. The chair who granted the medical timeout is the Texas men's coordinator.
My only thought would be that when there are other matches at the same time and matches where there would be no conflict of interest, then those officials should have been assigned to those matches. Its not fair to put our quality officials in questionable positions.
We would welcome your thoughts and comments...
20 comments:
From my observations, there were no problems whatsoever during the Men's finals. The same, however, could not be said about the Women's finals. I believe the issues have more to do with the pedigry of officials assigned to both matches.
Like you say, it's all about appearances. My only questions are, what the hell was the Supervisor of Officials thinking? Are these the only officials in her stable qualified to handle such matches?
Randy, being a man of the cloth, you certainly understand what is meant by 'preaching to the choir' which is what you are doing.
Absolutely nobody is questioning the integrity of the officials in the matches you have listed. Nobody is suggesting that any favoritism was demonstrated. In fact, some of them may have tried so hard to not show favoritism that they may have gone too far the other direction!
The problem lies squarely with the conference by continuing to allow the coordinator to do whatever she wants - absolute authority and power. No accountability to anyone at anytime about anything!
In all of the time this blog has been up and running, this is the first time I can remember posts questioning the competence of the coordinator - despite all of the whispers behind the scene that we all know have gone on for years. I wonder if this is the beginning of a more vocal, out in the open dialogue about the rampant frustration that officials, coaches and players have had for years. A large number of folks finally coming together to make the Big 12 officiating the best in the country.
I certainly hope it is. Because it is time for a change in leadership - or rather lack of leadership!
I was watching the men's final, and only caught the end of the the women's final. It sure appeared as tho the Baylor #1 girl, after falling behind 4-0 in the 3rd set tiebreak, tried to ask for either a bathroom break or a medical time out. Vey suspicious since one of the deciding matches on the court next to her was almost over. After what seemed like a 5 minute interuption with calling for the ref, and ref and umpire and Baylor coach discussing the situation, the Baylor girl went back out to play, got set to receive serve, and right then...MATCH OVER as the Baylor #2 (or #3) won her match. Baylor #1 sprinted over to her bench, having achieved what many in the stands felt was purely bad sportsmanship...delaying her match so she would not face a loss and protecting her #5 national ranking.
It doesn't really matter when a player requests a medical timeout. They should be given one regardless of the score.
The #3 UT girl however also took a medical time out when she down 5-1 in the 3rd set and was granted one. We can also begin to speculate why she took one, so lets not compare unsportsmanlike conduct when a rule is a rule.
Please keep in mind, the Baylor #1 was not the only one asking for a medical time out. UT's #2 asked for one in the 3rd set when Baylor's girl was getting ready to serve for the match at 5-1....what is the difference? UT was granted the medical time-out!! How is one more wrong than the other?
So, should it be "back to the drawing board" for the ITA coaches as it relates to medical time outs and bothroom (look at me, I just invented a word: bothroom- gender non-specific bathroom)breaks? Or, will the tactical use of both continue to be an issue for tennis? Couldn't agree more with a previous blogger....it is past time for a change in the Big 12 Officials Coordinator position. Or will she not leave without a knockdown, dragout because of her "share" of the handle?
Being a new Big 12 official, I watched matches each day of the tournament in an effort to pick up some pointers from the best officials the Big 12 has to offer. Yikes was I surprised at some of the situations which occurred on court. I noticed numerous times where the chair umpire would not look at players requesting overrules. It appeared they were burying their head in their cards while sticking up their finger signifying an out call. Is this really the protocol to use?
I agree, the UT #1 player should have got a win in this match. She played hard and good and deserved to win the match. It's only a reflection on Baylor that they took the MTO down 0-4 in the 3rd set tiebreaker. Since the Baylor asst. coach (Matt) was on this bank of courts you could understand where this MTO came from. I have to believe Joey, who was on the 3 back courts would have let this match play out on it's own. Except for the win at #2 on Sunday, the top 3 Baylor women were actually dominated over the weekend by the Ags and the Hornetes. If things don't change quick, they will be hard pressed to advance too deep in the NCAA's.
Why does one assume that the conference tournament used "the best officials the Big 12 has to offer"? Some happen to be the best friends of the coordinator. Skill isn't always a factor. And there isn't anything anyone can do about this problem.
You are just mad since you didn't get selected to work the later stages of the tournament. Get over it
Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not mad at all. I didn't even sign up for the Big 12 tournament and Cheryl called at the last minute and asked me to come.
The issue has nothing to do with me at all--it has everything to do with officials that were assigned to matches when they shouldn't have been.
Ask the coaches...
Jimmy Robinson (former BU coach you mentioned and Vickie Wright (UT coordinator) are two very good officials they call matches for these schools all the time. Why raise a fuss - did your team not win? The players OR the officials did NOTHING wrong - I was there too and I saw every match! EVERYONE STOP CRYING!
Why do the coaches put up with it?
The issue is not whether or not they did a good job--its all about APPEARANCES. Re-read the post please.
I was there too and Robinson screwed up royally. Maybe you just missed it.
The reason RM missed the Robinson screw-up is because Mr. Robinson was brought in the last two days to take over for RM.
Randy didn't miss the screw ups by Jim Robinson because I was calling lines on the match. I left on Friday evening and Jim came in on Friday morning. Sorry to disappoint you.
We all make mistakes, sometimes big ones in the chair and in life. It's not whether you make them or not, even though we really wish we hadn't. It really is about what you learn from them and how you move forward that really tells something about the true character of a person. I must have a lot of character, cause I've sure made a bunch of mistakes. I find I'm harder on myself than anyone else could or would ever be.
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