worst game of our crews life

[concordref]

Guys,
 I am asking for help on what to say to my crew when  we had the worst game since we have been together, for over 9 years.  We just could not get it going,plus we had two ejections for fighting.  Both the A.D's and assigner have chimed in to us.  All of the crew did not do well at all.  Just a bad night.  What do I say as a crewchief to get my crew ready for another game this Friday night.  Please, I am asking for good advice, from experienced officials/ crew chiefs, and I know this site has them out here.  This has not been a good week at all and we are going into  Week 4.  Thank You!
Colin Powell had a sheet of rules that he kept on his desk and near the top one of the rules was get a good nights sleep, it will look better in the morning.  Well guess what , it didn't!
Thank Youi
Concord Ref

[TXMike]

"Get over it" is easier said than done.  But the reality of sports psychology is that elite athletes have developed mindsets that allow them to easily put failure behind them and move on.  What happened happened. You can't erase the past but you can prevent the past from repeating itself.

Do you know any root causes behind the problems? Did some or all of you allow events in your personal or professional lives to take you out of your officiating skin and mind?

First thing you need to do is find out what caused the problems.  Ask each guy to independently write a list of things that went wrong and why they think they went wrong.  Then go through all the lists together and talk through them to identify how those failures could be prevented in the future. 

Based on what you identify as the root causes, develop some goals that you can all work towards.  Each guy has to take ownership for a piece of the pie. 

Each week as the season progresses, each guy speaks to his progress on the goals established for himself or for the team.

(Just wondering...what was your pregame conference like for this game?  Any different than normal?)

[TxSkyBolt]

As Mike says FIDO (forget it, drive on) is harder to do than it sounds. Do you get to view film of your games? I've found that many many problems during a game are a result of mechanical breakdowns. Being in the right place watching the correct keys solves a lot of problems. Might want to emphasize basics during the next pregame.

[HLinNC]

Perhaps you have gotten into a rut in your routine and don't realize it.  I am assuming you are in a permanent type crew.  Maybe everything has become such "old hat" to you guys that something out of the ordinary threw one or more of you off and then it just cascaded.

Try shaking things up for a game.  Change your pre-game, change your meeting place.  Flip your wings around.  Eat somewhere different.

[Etref]

One thing we do on our crew is on the drive to the next weeks game each official gives a mea culpa of something he did wrong the previous week.

Example:

On th play in the second quarter near the goal line, I should have seen the late action behind the runner.

It really works if you have guys who want to do well and improve.

[JasonTX]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned, "Just have fun".  I have a fun crew.  We find time, without anybody else knowing, to crack jokes.  We keep the game fun.  My game this past Friday night was with two teams that were over aggressive.  We had multiple late hits, unsportsmanlike conduct fouls.  Then during an injury timeout both teams were on a knee by each other and I just casually walked up there and told them, "You guys are sure making us work tonight with all these personals fouls."  Both teams laughed and the game was clean after that.  It was fun, even through the personal fouls.  How does this help?  Well, far too often officials see the unsportsmanlike acts and personal fouls and we are almost offended by it and we get HACKED off about it.  Why?  We went out there and we just had fun with it.  We just enforced the rules that were broken and had fun.  If your not having fun then your going to have a bad game.  Have fun and be serious about the game at the same time.

[bama_stripes]

As Mike says FIDO (forget it, drive on) is harder to do than it sounds. Do you get to view film of your games? I've found that many many problems during a game are a result of mechanical breakdowns. Being in the right place watching the correct keys solves a lot of problems. Might want to emphasize basics during the next pregame.

Great advice!

Have each member of your crew concentrate on the basics: counting players, down & distance, read keys at the snap.  Officiate one play.  Repeat.

[wlemonnier]

Years back one of my mentors summed it up best... you have two options:  "Blossom and grow or wilt!"  Assume because of your post you want yourself and your crew to "Blossom & Grow!". 

Texas Mike had some excellent advice... identify the problem, take ownership, and move forward. There's a difference between identifying the problem and giving excuses.  Taking ownership shows leadership & responsibility.  Hopefully moving forward is what each crew member will do versus wilting.

Appreciate you sharing and seeking insights.  We've been there and all experienced the lost sleep, emotions, anxiety, etc.  It's part of being the guardians of the game and caring so much about the job we do.  Kudos to you and shame on any official who wouldn't be soul searching after one of these games.  Hang in there!!!

[AlUpstateNY]

We've all been told since we were kids, when you get knocked down, pick YOURSELF up, figure out how and why you got knocked down and avoid repeating what caused it.  Most, if not all, officials know full well when they screw up, so you and each of your crew should know what went wrong, and why.

All that's necessary is remembering we're not quite perfect, and no matter how long we've been doing what we do, it still takes a lot of concentration and focus to do what we do, as right as we expect to do it.

[concordref]

To All who responded to my post,

This is such a great site!!  Where else can a official get such great advice when a  official or crew needs help.  Believe it or not, I incorporated all of replies to my my question over the past several week.  Last weekend because of bad storm that raked over N.E. Ohio my crew worked both Friday and Saturday night.   Before each game, I had each crew member talk about that he did wrong and what he plans to doing better, last night one of my crew  spoke about having fun, but still getting our job done.  We did review the game film in detail, the R changed his pregame talk, we each talked during the pregame how each position can help the other positions on the field.  And we all agreed that we did not get stupid overnight, we are all experienced officials and we all need to concentrate  on every play and do the very best on each play.  We now talk directly after we get back to the locker room after the game on anything any of us saw that we all need to improve on while it is fresh in our minds.  I can not thank everyone enough for all of there suggestions and kind words,so many of you that responded, are those that I and my crew continue to learn from.  I feel privileged that the best and brightest on this Board came to my help when needed.  I and my crew thanks all for the suggestions and needed tips.  We are a better crew because of all of you!  Just this past week  I and another crew member received word that we made the tournament selection playoff of officials.  That and your words helped a lot!  Thanks Again!!

Concordref