[jamie_1930]

Originally Posted by alicen

"tell them to do their job" is a rude thing to say. all of these refs are volunteers. i know a lot of people get caught up in the heat of things, but these refs have lives outside of FIRST.

per say, my mom's a head ref. while at our regional i was talking with another team and they started bashing the refs. after telling them one was my mother they all felt horrible.

it really shouldn't matter though, the refs can't be expected to be absolutely perfect, and the best way to get things fixed is to approach in a kind and forgiving manner.

i'm not trying to say that the refs are right, i'm just saying show some GP. that's what we're really here to do

I still see nothing wrong with what I stated and feel it is fully in line with FIRST's policy of Gracious Professionalism. I understand that to others, especially someone within your situation, may find this a rude way of putting it, but in all honesty it is more blunt than rude. I thank all of the volunteers for all of their work on those days because it makes what we do possible, but on the other side of things, what about us. We students have worked tirelessly and obsessively for the past 6 weeks, and for many of us we have read the rule book over several times and have kept up with the updates on a daily basis. So when competition day comes and a ref makes an inaccurate call it undermines the work of all those students and makes the game unfair to those teams. I feel it is more than fair for those of us in FIRST who continue to follow the virtues of Gracious Professionalism to ask the same of our volunteers, and part of being Graciously Professional is knowing what your job is and how to perform the duties of it accurately.