Advantage Disadvantage by Yale Jaffe

the baseline in order to
get a proper angle on the play.
    “What do you do if you are trying to get in
position, and one of those cute young cheerleaders isn’t yielding
to let you pass by?”
    The wily veteran on the panel answered, “What you
should do is ask her if her mom is single!”
    ***
    Several seasons followed. By then, IIAA required
attendance at a camp at least one out of every three years for all
officials. An assignment chairperson, who had worked Big Ten and
other D1 college games, observed Billy at a certain camp. At
halftime of one of the games, Billy listened to some very confusing
advice:
    “Billy, everything you called was correct by the
rule book. As far as I know, you did not miss a call.”
    Rechter felt great hearing this compliment. He
prided himself on knowing the rulebook cover to cover.
    “But”, continued the observer, “you ruined the first
half.”
    He went on to explain this philosophy of
officiating. First, any time the referee blows the whistle he is
interrupting the game. If a referee was going to stop the play and
spoil the game’s flow, it was insufficient to do so unless the
offender was gaining an undeserved advantage or was forcing his
opponent into an unfair disadvantage. Experienced officials, he
explained, often developed the judgment to exercise
advantage/disadvantage logic on the fly during the game. In other
words, often the spirit of rulebook should trump the letter of the
law. Parents generally did not understand this principal,
particularly when their son’s opponent avoided penalty for a touch
foul. As an example, many varsity officials would not call
three-second violations in the lane unless the ball moved to that
player. Some camp observers called this a “perfect late call”.
    Not subscribing to this understanding, many parents
screamed at the top of their lungs, “One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
What are you guys are looking at? Three-second violation! Can’t you
count?”
    Experienced officials believed that freshman games
were often tougher to call because the lower skill level meant more
advantage/disadvantage decisions. Too many of these games turned
into free throw shootouts, doubling the clock time to complete the
game. The learning curve of good basketball officiating was long
and those lucky enough to be mentored at a good camp or by their
association elders often advanced past others.
    ***
    Over the years, William “Billy” Rechter became more
and more committed to the avocation of basketball refereeing. He
had demonstrated great judgment and was progressing toward an
all-varsity schedule and state playoff assignments. During this
period, the real estate market collapsed because of the sub-prime
mortgage problems. Housing was overpriced and the bubble burst.
Billy’s business contracted significantly. Against his elite
attitude about officiating as a challenging avocation (not for
income), he began working summer ball for pay, along with men’s
leagues and park district boy’s games. Coming full circle, he was
an “officiating whore”.
    Detective T.J. Battle, the NAU coach, called Rechter
one summer day, “Billy, I’ve got a game that’s tailored to you.
It’s in Garfield Park tomorrow in the city.”
    “T.J., you know I go anywhere. However, why would
you send a white boy like me to Garfield Park? Are you trying to
get me killed?”
    “Look Billy, they want you assigned to this game because you are white. We started the Chicago Neighborhood
Police summer basketball league this year to foster a dialogue
between gang members and the police. Each participant has signed a
pledge for no “ crippin ’” in the park. Yes, these young men
are gang bangers, but this is a sanctioned wholesome activity. The
game tomorrow will have a couple hundred spectators and we want to
go out of our way to have the game called in a fair, unbiased
manner. I thought of you right away, you are an honest, excellent
official and impartial – you do not know these