Quote:
Originally Posted by team1203 4life
even if the refs do have to take the internet coursethers a few problems still
1. anyone can go and pass an internet course
2. there refs they will still be blind just because they are certified dosent mean anything
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But its a step in the right direction, most refs are unbiased and very proffesional volunteers. They arguably have the toughest position of any Volunteer and certainly the most scrutinized. They do the best job they can to run a fair and just competition, if it doesn't work out in your favor you have to roll with the punches, eventually it likely will work in your favor.
The certification is an excellent step the right direction. FIRST's goal is always to make sure the same game is played at all Regionals so it is absolutely fair to all teams competing. They have to have a high level of standardization to do this. Only in extreme cases ie. last year's match pairing algorithm do they make significant changes.
Last year there were many cases of referee's just calling or not calling penalties based on their interpretations, and often referee's did not make the right call, it happens every year. Mind you I fully believe in most cases their intentions were good, just their interpretations were inaccurate. Last year I can remember a very specific case where a rule was broken repeatedly and drastically changed the outcome of one of our matches. The penalty flags were thrown but the Head ref over ruled it because he had misinterpreted the rule. When the rules and all updates refering to the rules were brought to his attention, in a respectful manner mind you, he sought clarification from FIRST HQ. We knew that it would not change the outcome of that match but the next day the rule was changed and he quietly apologized to the affected parties. I tell you that takes courage to do, as a Head Ref your ruling is final, whether it be right or wrong, and I promise you they want to get it right.
This taught me a lot about Ref's, they have to be steadfast in their decsision because otherwise the competition ( especially during qualifying ) could go to chaos, but they want to get it right. If they are forced to take a test so that they know how to call each penalty, I believe it will significantly increase accuracy in judgement calls. Some of the best ref's won't get every call right, but they'll get it the next time, and if you harp on a Bad call for a long time your obviously missing the point of this competition.
If you can call about 150 perfect matches in a 2 day period I'm gonna lobby FIRST to suit you up in the ZEBRA stripes and get you to as many competitions as possible.