Astoria City League Basketball teams,
I have enjoyed writing about the news in Astoria City League
Basketball through this blog for the last three years but now it’s time to
suspend the service. I wanted to provide our local basketball players somewhere
online to see Records, Points per game, and even some nifty little write-ups that
highlight the sometimes great basketball this community has to offer. As you know, I’m also one of 4 non-OSAA
officials that call all the city league games.
I have been officiating for you guys for almost 7 years now and have at
times enjoyed the connection I have to my community when the league’s players
are having fun and competing on the basketball court. I’m also a veteran of playing in many city
league seasons back in the days when we had nearly 35 teams year in and year
out. Though some of you may understand
what I’m saying here, there are some of you who will not understand the countless
hours I put into making sure the blog is something fun and accurate for you
guys. My aim was to try and add a small
value marker to help stem what I viewed as a loss of interest in city league
basketball from both players and the sponsors.
I figured; let’s get the players and the businesses back in the paper
and now online and watch the league grow again.
I often officiated 3 games and would then run home and update the blog
until 1am in the morning while the action was still fresh in my head. It was sometimes a very big challenge to
officiate and then write about the game in a positive manner. What do I mean by my last sentence?
I know that it take a tough skin to be an effective official
that can keep the playing court fair and safe for the players. I also know that it’s VERY difficult to find
many people willing to officiate the Astoria City League for a variety of
reason not the least of which is the attitude of the players. In fact; I officiated league one year completely
by myself destroying my knees in the process, writing over one hundred articles
for the blog and witnessing some truly amazing games. I also know that officials are human beings
and make mistakes during the course of a week, we do have bad games just as
some of you have had in your basketball careers. Most
of you may not believe this, but I officiate for the love of the game and the
enjoyment I get out of watching some of you guys grow and mature into some truly
fine basketball players. I enjoy
watching veteran teams stay together and eventually work their way up into the
more challenging games and I even enjoy watching some teams that never win
games go out and simply have some fun.
Sure, I get paid to officiate you guys but please know that it’s been a privilege
and an honor some nights to count myself as a part of a league of teams playing
a great game and then getting to write about it – most of my writings have been
printed in the Daily A and I’m very proud of that and happy you all gave me the material to make the post interesting!!
So when I tell you all that I’m going to stop the SportZoneJ’s
coverage of Astoria City League basketball, I do so with a heavy heart. I cannot continue to allow myself to be
depleted mentally after officiating some players and even teams that simply
want to argue, berate, demean, threaten and even openly accuse me of fixing
games. LET ME BE CLEAR, FAVORITISM DOES
NOT AND WILL NEVER HAPPEN AS LONG AS I OFFICIATE!!! I have tried to speak to
individuals and teams to alert them to the fact that we will be calling more
Technical fouls if certain behaviors continue, but this has fallen on deaf
ears. As officials we expect a certain
degree of criticism and understand in most cases to you guys being frustrated
at times but some of this recent rubbish has been way out of line and not acceptable. I don’t feel I need to discuss how to behave
on a basketball court, seeing as that most of you have been playing for quite a
while and know better. I can also point
to the fact that I usually give a pregame warning as well in an attempt to
control the game early. I will continue to post the calendar with WINS and LOSSES.
I’m sorry guys, but officiating City League Basketball is
feeling more and more like a job and I feel that all my efforts to help make
this community better by being there for those who choose to compete in City
League is not bearing any fruit. Part of
the reason I officiate is to provide you all with an official since that is
what the teams vote in every year. Maybe
a season with no officials or a rule that forces teams to provide a
player/official would do you guys good?
Maybe understanding how to treat others is something that some teams
need to learn before other qualified officials choose to come back to
league? Or, maybe some teams would
realize that if they just treated others at least with professional courtesy
that officials might view officiating a city league game as better than getting
your teeth pulled.
All joking aside, City League can be fun, entertaining,
healthy and competitive all rolled up into one if simple respect to those that
try to help put the league into action each year would be practiced. I look forward to a better end to this
regular season and a good playoff run in which I don’t leave the gym in disgust. If this can happen, perhaps I can look
forward to next year and maybe even a tournament or two during the summer.
Take care all of you and please remember this little
passage: A basketball coach/captain who
is respectful benefits his team and the sport, but a team who is lacking in
sportsmanship and respect hurts their chances.
Sincerely, respectively,
Jason Jones
For: SportzoneJ
