WHAT'S MISSING IN THIS PICTURE? THE GAME SCORE!
One of the hottest topics among tennis officials is the quality of pro chair officials as compared to ITA chair officials--and of course, I've been called biased for ITA officials--and in this case, rightfully so...
Seems that at the 10k Women's Pro Tournament in Ft. Worth this week the pro chair officials can't (or won't) put the individual game scores on the scoreboard. Their excuses are:
* They are not trained to do so.
* Its too much trouble.
* They won't be able to issue code violations if they are busy pushing buttons.
* They are used to having someone do the score boards for them.
I won't even begin to venture into a discussion of those excuses other than to say that in the Texas ITA world we usually allot 5 minutes (maximum) training time for a BRAND NEW OFFICIAL to learn how to use the scoring devices that they are using in Ft. Worth this week.
Actions speak louder than words and in this case, these chair officials wouldn't be permitted to work an ITA event in Texas.
Enough said...
22 comments:
But Randy, several of those highly trained pro chairs I've seen chairing ITA matches are so good that they point their fingers indicating a ball was out every time a ball's out! Just think, those collegiate players don't even have to ask. The call is made for them! Isn't that nice of the pro chairs to bring that type of consideration to the collegiate level?
There was a women's pro event in Ft Worth, this week? I'm sure the stadium was packed with spectators.
WOW not displaying the score in a game is ludicrous, especially in a pro tournament. Wonder what would happen if this was done at the US Open. Isn't score keeping the basic requirement before you can chair a match?
Not only are pro chairs untrained in a lot of areas they are the most arrogant and rude officials I have ever encountered.
Do you have any idea of how it thrills a college coach's heart to see a chair making calls for the players. Its hard to believe that they do it but I've seen it on numerous occasions and it sure ain't a good thing.
There was a pro event in Ft Worth? Who was responsible for hiring the line officials? I would have liked to have been asked!
Well, DIVERSITY is swell, but it doesn't = COMPETENT!!
Hey Randy, why don't you invite these knuckleheads back to the next Plano chair academy?
The Tournament Director is Myron Krueger but he didn't do any of the hiring. That person would be Ms. Sue Pranke.
I would gladly invite some of them to come to the Chair Academy but in their case, there would be a slight charge for the training.
I'm sure Bruce Avery and Joe Buys would have a great time.
This is the reason most ITA coordinators won't hire "badged" officials from working collegiate matches. They have no understanding of the dynamics surrounding ITA matches and are usually overwhelmed on everything they are responsible for being cognizant of. No wonder they can't keep up with live scoring in their pro matches.
Plus they are taught no to associate with their line officials, which means most aren't team players, which is a highly desirable trait for ITA officials.
If that's what they are taught then I would say that they have learned quite well. At least they won't be showing off their "skills" in the ITA world.
Sue Pranke is responsible for selecting the officials... enough said. For those of us that know her, we wouldn't work for her. And she will only hire cronies she can control
Pranke cannot hire you unless you apply on NUCULA. If you don't apply, don't complain about not being hired.
So back to the earlier comments..."There was a pro event in Ft Worth this week?" Asked increduously, as in, "Who knew!?!". Obviously didn't get much publicity. One might think the organizers would've wanted to get the word out to tennis-minded folks, like via this blog. Then again, if it was a USTA event, they probably didn't want the word to get out.
It should be noted that the Referee of the Women's 10K in Fort Worth had to walk onto Pranke's semifinals match this morning and instruct her how to display the server on the scoreboard. A lot of us spectators in the stands had no idea who was winning since the game points weren't being displayed on the scoreboard and we couldn't hear Pranke calling out the score in most cases. Maybe she doesn't exist. That may be the best thing of all come to think of it.
You could file a complaint with Brian Earley of the USTA for the Referee's inept decision for not permitting the chair umpires from recording game points on the scoreboard, but he may have made the correct decision based on how much trouble some of these designated chairs were having fiddling with such high technology.
If you need help remembering, Earley was the inept Referee at the 2011 US Open who told Andy Roddick to play on when water kept seeping through the court in Armstrong Stadium. Roddick did the right thing and walked off the court refusing to play. The video documenting the incident was removed because the USTA threatened copyright infringement lawsuits, since the video clearly showed USTA Officials incompetence. Based on this, I'm almost certain Earley would rule in favor of his fellow inept official in Fort Worth.
The only other alternative would be for a hearing-impaired fan to file a lawsuit against the USTA for discrimination against the deaf. I guarantee the USTA would change their position then, especially if the hearing impaired person is of color.
Are you sure that Bruce Avery & Joe Buys weren't involved in training these officials. They seem to get assigned all over for Evals.
Maybe they got rushed trying to leave and didn't have time to offer constructive feedback at previous events.
How many tie-breakers did this event have? I bet that was a spectacle when that happened!!
Probably the funniest part of this whole scoreboard fiasco was the Referee having to ask the spectators what the score was, especially during the tiebreaks in important matches.
I was working the event as an official member of the tournament director’s staff. On numerous occasions during the first three days of the tournament, I approached the Referee (Steve Reitman) and Chief Umpire (Sue Pranke) asking them to allow the chair officials to keep up with game points on the scoreboards, since quite a few of the spectators were approaching me wondering why points within the games were not being displayed. Mr. Reitman informed me it was his decision not to allow the chair umpires to display the score, his reasoning varying from his chair umpires weren’t familiar with the electronic scoring devices and didn’t know how to use the controllers, to the chair officials NEVER keep up with scoring and rely on scorekeepers to work the scoreboards, finally ending with he would rather have the chairs focusing on “calling code violations for racket abuse rather than pushing buttons on a scoring device.”
Being a certified tennis official with over 30 years of officiating experience, none of these reasons made any sense to me; not then and not now. The scoring controllers used at TCU are common across most, if not all, other tennis facilities which use score boards. Most new officials can gain a working knowledge in how to use the controllers in under 5 minutes of training. Each chair official assigned to work the Fort Worth 10K Futures Tournament was an ITF certified “badged” official, which should mean they have the necessary skills in dealing with scoring devices and observing what is transpiring around the court.
On day three of the tournament, I again approached Pranke asking her to reconsider her position. She was very terse in her response to me and simply stated “I have nothing more to say and I fully support his (Steve Reitman’s) decision.”
Am I wrong in my position in wanting the chair umpires to do what is normally expected from them and keep up with the game scoring? I would like to hear back from anyone with a differing opinion. Being a professional tennis tournament, I expect the chair umpires to BE professional and keep up with the score so the fans can get involved in the matches, and see how certain key points are being played, especially when there are four courts being playing concurrently.
Kudos to Myron Krueger for speaking up. From what I've seen, there are way too many officials, especially at the professional level, that always complain but will never do anything about it, which makes them octopussies.
ATTENTION: LOST USTA OFFICIAL.
DFW TIMES, August 7, 2012.
The DFW Times has reported today, that a USTA assigned official at the recently completed Ft. Worth 10K women event was still sitting on the side shoulder on 635E for the 2nd day while attempting to return home to the Memphis area. Her string broke and she just didn't know what to do now; but she was anxious to get home.
Wow. Those people s**k. If they were really pro chumps they would be able to handle this plus much more. Now there is a new pda in the pros which require much more precision. What would they do with a mic and a net device? They would probably implode as many do anyway without any help from other duties or devices!!!
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