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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Referee Dilemma – Part 2



Back from holidays and a long weekend. Somehow getting stuck in traffic jam all the way to the east coast on Saturday, takes my mind away from the road and in to the paintball field. Although I’m fully aware of my driving, every now and then I’d be thinking about it. It just happened. And somehow, that’s helped me escaped the mundane of driving barely 10km/h on Karak Highway up till Bentong. And pretty much smooth sailing after that.

Looking back at the comments on the previous Referee Dilemma, it’s pretty sad that there are retards who commented on things that had nothing to do with the topic and still trying to sound intelligent. I’m sure they tried very vest to sound very ‘wise’, but the fact is they are NOT. Who do we blame? The society? Their friends? Sounds plausible.

Maybe they are so used to making comments or posts with zero substance in forums, that they are simply couldn’t change the way to express their thoughts. It’s already written at the right column that this blog has its purpose and somewhat very relaxing in moderation. The big plus is, you don’t even have to register to post a comment. You can say whatever that’s on your mind and not be afraid to say it.

It’s been getting out of hand a few times and I take this as a positive sign that VillainPaintball.blogspot.com has been getting a lot of readership although not many will admit it. Fine by me. Blogs attracts all kinds of people, and sadly there are people out there who just can’t follow simple house rules. These people think, they can simply drop by, post a few comments that they think would make them grow and inch or two and never wants to owe it up.

Come on! If you think you have something good to say, by all means, please do. If I keep getting nonsense comments from users with ‘Anonymous’ stamped on their forehead, I may have to enforce user registration. Now, that wouldn’t be ‘nice’ won’t it?

This brings back to my topic. You see these attitude are synonym with paintball. Imagine the referee being me, and the blog is the field. You have players (readers) come over and starts making their own rule and pretty much being an asshole. You as referee or (guardian, admin, arbiter, judge, etc) will take action to preserve the integrity of the game (or blog).

The way to do that is to penalize players, enforcing the rules, protect the game. That’s what referees do. You can refer back Part 1 of this topic, if you’re still in la-la land.

Like I’ve mentioned before, I’ve never ref in a competitive game (only in recreation or practice games) but as an observer and a very concern individual on the refereeing standards, I came to learn a few things and what are their problems on almost every game.

What Referees Hate - Obvious hit, and obviously stupid.
Players who get shot at their body or gear which are considered as obvious hit (You can refer rule 19.2 on the MY-NPL rulebook). Too bad there are no obvious hit ruling in Millennium format. I’ve seen a lot, I mean a lot of players who get shot at the loader or hopper and still continuing shooting. From D3 all the way to D1 players. I know personally some of these players, and it’s pretty sad that they take this matter very lightly. They would continue shooting until a referee comes up to them and pull them out. Come on lah! You get shot! You were sloppy, so get the hell out la. If you’re any good, you won’t get hit in the first place.

A hit in the goggle is as good as out. I’ve seen a few but not as common as the hopper hit. Players snap shooting or whatever and gets clip at the lens. Not at the earpiece or strap, lens. You know what they did? They looked at a referee and point to their googles. Hello? Are you blind or cross-eyed? With paint streaking down near the corner of their lens, they still have the cheek to ask?

So if you’re a newbie. That may ok. But experienced players automatically should know it’s a hit. Some would argue it’s a splash. But splash don’t leave a paint streaking down the sides would they?. You get sprayed all over instead. What I would normally do is take my hand and lightly run my fingers over where I felt I get hit. If I got paint on my fingers, its as good as a hit. I don’t need a referee to tell me that.

Another example, you get shot at the elbow. You can always self check right? Twist your arm a bit, and you have a perfect view of your elbow. I see a lot of players got hit on their elbows and they would just look at the referee and waited to get some reaction. If somehow the referee missed it, they will play on and consequently cheat. Then they would change sides and rub it off the bunker. Yes, we know all about it. If they don’t spot on the field, they are ‘watchers’ outside the field taking down your name.

One of the best classic example I witnessed myself was in Kuantan last year. I think it was one of the semis of the D1 teams. This bugger ran down tape towards the carwash and got shot in the chest. In that split second, he threw himself at the bunker and hope it will rub off. To his horror, the hit stays and he had no choice but to ask the ref to check.

He turned around and point right at his chest. True enough, there’s a big blob of paint right there. The referee called him out. What irked me was that, he can actually turned and ask for a paint check, when he can check himself! I mean, you just look down, pull your jersey a bit to check and you’re done. Is that so hard? To me, the referee should give him a 1-for-1 for that stupid stunt he tried to pull and being a veteran D1 player, that’s not a good example for the young players.

I remembered screaming, “Obvious hit lah! Pandai-pandai la keluar woi!”. I was disgusted on how some players gets away so easily. Coming from this team, it wasn’t a surprise. All the senior referees know they are very good. Good indeed. In cheating.

In some of the instances given, any referee and some spectators would always have that sad, anger, frustration and helpless feeling. To some teams, winning is everything and they would resort to cheating, controversies and anything to get whatever they want. But is that what the Malaysian paintball need? We certainly don’t have world class paintball athletes yet, but do we need world class cheaters?

We have referees that are definitely good, but against players who are good at cheating? What are the chances that they get caught by the referee? Spectators will always be able to spot these cause they can watch one player instead of a referee who has to watch several players at any time. Please la, help the game a bit, you get shot. Pull yourself out. Help keep the game running smoothly.

Meanwhile, referees have already branded or tagged certain teams by their reputation. Who likes to play on a lot, who likes to argue in the field, who likes to wipe, etc. yes, they have and they always share this information with other referees. You can’t blame them. If your team is one of those labeled, ask yourselves why. 20-30 refs cannot be wrong on something right? Think about it.

Let’s see if we can improve the refereeing to cope with these issues.





And sometimes in emergency cases, referees are always the first one to react. Players safety is always top priority.





Note: Photos will be added when I find some. LOL! Before you comment, please read about this blog being our views and our rules. Thanks for your time.

Here’s something related posted long time ago.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

How to against players who are good at cheating? What are the chances that they get caught by the referee? Spectators will always be able to spot these cause they can watch one player instead of a referee who has to watch several players at any time. Please la, help the game a bit, you get shot. Pull yourself out. Help keep the game running smoothly....SEDARla n TOLONGla ke Deathbox kalo da dpt Pallet!! KAMI(Reff) mcm nk trcabut anak tekak panggei OUT...jgnla main paintball kalo takat SYOK SENDIRI konon BAGUS dalam padang.-Referee.

Anonymous said...

well, i personally saw some D1 players during the tournament in Padang Merbok back in 07, how the got shot, tucked into the bunker and hopefully rub it against the bunker so that he can continue playing. wtf, luckily the ref went in and check and pulled him out.

no names needed on this team, they top up D1 as at the moment. :)

Anonymous said...

In reference to your point on players self checking... Thing is (and I'm not trying to sound like a smartass here), there's not enough time. In the half second it takes for a person to paintcheck, their mirror can move up 1-2 bunkers. If you get hit, listen to the ref and get out. Otherwise, keep going. I've gotten bounces at close range before and called myself out by accident, when I could fight back.

badman said...

most argument would usually refer to own disadvantage & opponent's advantage. how abt turning the table around? u shot the opponent, saw it breaks on his chest or arm, great...! it's time to move on to the next bunker... but wait...! he keeps on playing without even bother to check himself after that hit, what would the 1st thing comes up to ur mind...? - "cheaters..! playing on" & the next would most probably "damn bloody slow ref..!" & can go on to "marshal bias..!". the worst part in this scenario is if u got hit during the playing-on & the ref pull both of u out, all bcoz the ref had just noticed the hit during the gun-fight...

things would be much easier if he just walk out after that hit & u can move to ur intended bunker to help ur team win the game, isn't it..?

ok, according to the rules, when a player got hit, he's suppose to do a quick self-check or just call out for a paint-check. this is mentioned in all rulebooks. failing to do so can be considered as playing-on.

reference:
- my-npl official rulebook 2008 (http://www.my-npl.org/document/NPLRB.pdf)
- nppl official rulebook 2008 (http://www.nppl.com/NPPLRuleBooks/2008_NPPL_Rulebook.pdf)
- official millennium series rules (2006)(http://www.millennium-series.com/downloads/rules.pdf)

Caranthir said...

Yes badman, of that's the other side of the play. And is exactly what this post is all about. If you have at least a bit of integrity and self-respect in your game, do a quick checkup. Seriously, it won't hurt you.

I'm not sure about other places, but here in Malaysia, paintball games are still pretty slow. So a few seconds to self-check is doable.

If decided not to self-check and still kept on playing, you will be labeled as cheaters. Besides the individuals in the field, there are other players & the general public watching the game.

So, if you don't mind playing on and cheat to win, why would you care about your reputation?

It all starts in oneself before others.

Anonymous said...

salamz. sangat panas isu ni yek. but i do agree with bro caranthir and bro badman. this kind of playing is at most annoying and unsportsmanlike. syok sendiri would be the best phrase. i even tegur some of my teammates for wiping in the field. i think it's not a trait that should be encouraged and personally for me, it's a dirty way to win. what's to be brag about? we win because we cheat? anyway to the ref, keep up the gud work. sharpen and honed the skills. maybe we should introduce a new rule. maybe a color coded rule for the teams and players. banyak sangat songel letak kaler merah. kureng songel kuning ok hijau. agak2 dah sampai merah 2 bar la from the league. but maybe kijam sgt kot..hehe..just my 2 cents

Anonymous said...

I like to remind us all, that some teams actually forked out their own money to play in tournament in order to win, and some to say, don't have to pay.

so, if they have read the rules, they should hands up and walk out, not tuck in and rub rub.

so please spare us the rule book, it's useless when people don't follow it (and yes, pls tell me the ref are they to enforced it, they're paid to do so.)

Anonymous said...

hahahaha....malu woi letak gambar pengsan...hahahah...thanks to that referee yg pangkukan kepala ku...

Anonymous said...

if you want the world to treat you with integrity and honesty then you should do the same.

i agree with both badman and caranthir. both side have their merits. however i sincerely believe that honesty and respect begins with the individual.

if you get hit do a quick self assesment, if in doubt call for a paint check.

at the end of the day you are only cheating yourself. if you can live with the knowledge that you won by cheating, then i have nothing else to say, except the crowd saw you do it, can you look at them in the eye and say you won fair and square.

respect yourself, respect others, and respect the game.

Anonymous said...

Salam,

Bro, sometimes i dont blame the player,depends on the situation. Masa break out, tengah kelam kabut lari sampai bunker terus continue games, suddenly came the marshall 'you out' then 'one-for-one', why because you didnt notice your loader/barrel/harness or places where its not obviosly noticed ,been hit already. Alamak? camana nak perasan? One-for-one lak tu..baru start 15 second, dah kena macam tu.. it kills the game.

For me, if you suspect the player been hit, check him. Jangan jerit jek, seriusly kekadang mana nak perasan. Ada 5 player kat situ, which one??

I noticed that we are
talking about the cheater more rather than giving suggestion or opinion to better our marshall.I understand the dilema.

As, player plak.. dont cheat laa, malu kalau orang nampak. Segan kat junior2 bawah tu.

I never argue with the marshall, their decision is final.Macam bola gak.. silap2 kena kad merah. BTW, im newbie here, so please dont judge my writing. Hope it can help to better our marshal.

my 1 sen oppinion.

Caranthir said...

D'Man Zealous
hahahaha....malu woi letak gambar pengsan...hahahah...thanks to that referee yg pangkukan kepala ku...


Ko pengsan betul2 ka? Aku ingat macam mamai je. Nih kes blackout terus la yer. Hehehe..

Anonymous said...
if you want the world to treat you with integrity and honesty then you should do the same. respect yourself, respect others, and respect the game.


Well said.

Anonymous said...
Bro, sometimes i dont blame the player,depends on the situation. Masa break out, tengah kelam kabut lari sampai bunker terus continue games, suddenly came the marshall 'you out' then 'one-for-one', why because you didnt notice your loader/barrel/harness or places where its not obviosly noticed ,been hit already. Alamak? camana nak perasan? One-for-one lak tu..baru start 15 second, dah kena macam tu.. it kills the game.


Actually most referees will let the players get into their bunkers first before they starts checking (for those unobvious hits). If you get hit on the break especially on the goggles, loaders, guns, tanks, your chest.. obviously you would know and you have to take yourself out.

Try to look at Russian Legion games on how they do self checking everytime they get hit on the break. Mind you, they are very quick and still they play very fair.

badman said...

ignore/discard the rulebook..? or make our own version of the rules maybe..? if we aim to go international then we need to follow the accepted international rules, which are used by world's top league.

no point arguing with the marshal when got pulled out as u might just hurt ur team more - an opponent might be hitted but still play on, all bcoz u distracted the ref's focus by disputing his call. tak kena 1-4-1 for 'deadman talking' pun dah kira nasib baik..

being strict might kill the game, but only at that time.. the game would be murdered in the long run if nothing is done to 'educate' the players. a born-cheaters would always try to cheat no matter what, even in a friendly game with no prize to grab... they can only go so far, when the reputation becomes bigger, no team would want them as it would only hurt sponsors' image, if they are sponsored lah..

"we pay lah...!" - the usual phrase comes out during a dispute, well, others pay too... FYI, not all teams are sponsored. most still pay on their own..

Anonymous said...

ha'ah...pengsan blackout blank vision trus hitam punye kes....hehehe

Anonymous said...

Obviously this is 'cheating dilemma' rather than referee dilemma.

AngeL BeaR said...

It's funny when players who got hit at their lense with that bright orange splattered right at the middle and turned to me and pointed at the lense and said "paintcheck!!".

Once again, thank you for this entry. To players out there, please understand, we made mistakes, we did bad calls too sometimes, but we had no intention to pull you out for no reason...and yes, we are doing our best in the field to be fair and to ensure the game run smoothly...and its not just about the money we get paid just to do that. For me, I love what I am doing...or else I won't take the trouble to sometimes fly over and do the things I love to do~ =)

"no marshal, no players, no game!"

just my 2 cents from Borneo~ =D