TJ and Ref

[madguy30]

I’ve always been surprised that fewer people notice, but TJ is constantly in the ear of the ref, but he does so in a way as to not show them up.

He almost never faces them directly when talking, shoulder to shoulder. Lets them keep doing their job, but gets whatever he’s communicating across.

It has seemed that about every other camera shot of TJ is talking to the refs. But since he wasn't going ballistic people thought he took it too easy on them.

 

[BCClone]

It has seemed that about every other camera shot of TJ is talking to the refs. But since he wasn't going ballistic people thought he took it too easy on them.

He talks to them more now then he did the first year. Unless hr talked without his mouth moving, he stood there pretty quiet except for directing the team

 

[Urbandale2013]

I used to be in the ‘coach needs to get T every now and then’ camp or at least chirp at them a bit, but watch how focused this team is with their jobs and not worrying about the refs. They rarely complain about bad calls and just move on to the next play. It’s so impressive how disciplined they are, and TJ exemplifying this same attitude to the officials is leadership by example.

I’ve always been surprised that fewer people notice, but TJ is constantly in the ear of the ref, but he does so in a way as to not show them up.

He almost never faces them directly when talking, shoulder to shoulder. Lets them keep doing their job, but gets whatever he’s communicating across.

This is the key. You cannot just totally ignore the officials and missed calls. That was something Fred struggled with a bit and Prohm did struggle with. TJ seems to have come up with a new way to ride the officials without denigrating them and it seems to pay dividends.

 

[Cycsk]

And right on cue Bill Self gets a double T and ejected. The smug smirk on his face as he walks off is vomit inducing. It's pretty bad when the announcers say he might be trying to get ejected moments before he gets ejected. Just a bad look if you ask me. That behavior may have been beneficial to them over the past 20 years. Now it's looking more childish and non professional. Give me nonchalant TJ any day over that type of temper tantrum.

The timing was interesting. And it did happen right on cue as if the announcers had a script. However, what was the benefit to KU of Self getting tossed in that situation? Was it Self's way of blaming the refs to get the attention off his team's poor performance? Was he putting the refs of the next game on notice? Seriously, I don't see what the benefit was.

 

[Cycsk]

I’ve always been surprised that fewer people notice, but TJ is constantly in the ear of the ref, but he does so in a way as to not show them up.

He almost never faces them directly when talking, shoulder to shoulder. Lets them keep doing their job, but gets whatever he’s communicating across.

Interesting analysis. I hadn't thought about the shoulder to shoulder, but now that you say it, I think it is true. I wonder how intentional it is.

 

[Cy4All]

The timing was interesting. And it did happen right on cue as if the announcers had a script. However, what was the benefit to KU of Self getting tossed in that situation? Was it Self's way of blaming the refs to get the attention off his team's poor performance? Was he putting the refs of the next game on notice? Seriously, I don't see what the benefit was.

The benefit was Bill Self no longer has to sit and watch his failure of a team getting piss pounded for the next 5:30 on national TV cutting to his bright red "mad" embarrassed face.

 

[ISUCY23]

The timing was interesting. And it did happen right on cue as if the announcers had a script. However, what was the benefit to KU of Self getting tossed in that situation? Was it Self's way of blaming the refs to get the attention off his team's poor performance? Was he putting the refs of the next game on notice? Seriously, I don't see what the benefit was.

He doesn’t have to sit and watch the rest of the game.

Also, to show his team how pissed off he is.

 

[BCClone]

Interesting analysis. I hadn't thought about the shoulder to shoulder, but now that you say it, I think it is true. I wonder how intentional it is.

It’s a psychological thing. In confrontation training, you are taught to never go shoulder to shoulder and always be at an angle as shoulder to shoulder is a get in your face move. The side to side or angled makes the one being talked to feel like it’s less fight than a discussion.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Rob was complemented by the ref for not reacting to the fish hook foul. It does make a difference.

 

[Dgilbertson]

It’s a psychological thing. In confrontation training, you are taught to never go shoulder to shoulder and always be at an angle as shoulder to shoulder is a get in your face move. The side to side or angled makes the one being talked to feel like it’s less fight than a discussion.

FWIW what you describe here is what I meant by shoulder to shoulder. Side by side where shoulders may be closest part of contact. Not squaring up shoulders face to face.

 

[Dgilbertson]

Interesting analysis. I hadn't thought about the shoulder to shoulder, but now that you say it, I think it is true. I wonder how intentional it is.

Very intentional. Now how natural it is for him or if he’s had to train and cultivate that skill I don’t know.

“How you do anything is how you do everything”
“I’ve been in this game a long time and I’ve never seen a coach or a player get angry at an official, and the ref says, ‘ya know, you’re right. I got that one wrong’ and change the call”

 

[VeloClone]

The timing was interesting. And it did happen right on cue as if the announcers had a script. However, what was the benefit to KU of Self getting tossed in that situation? Was it Self's way of blaming the refs to get the attention off his team's poor performance? Was he putting the refs of the next game on notice? Seriously, I don't see what the benefit was.

He had seen enough of his team's terrible play.

 

[3TrueFans]

TJ and The Ref was my favorite 80's buddy comedy.

 

[4theCYcle]

In fairness coaches like Bill Self and Scott Drew who are constantly in the refs ear seem to get "make up" calls or favorable 50/50 calls alot. The past couple of weeks the refs started cracking down on belligerent coaches more, so TJ's calm demeanor has proved beneficial in that aspect. It will be interesting to see if they are more favorable towards ISU going forward.

It was more favorable in the long run for TJ/ISU, but that doesn't stop Self from getting beneficial calls in crucial moments by either getting T'd up or fired up in the refs ear at times. Seems/seemed to work for him over the years. I think he's well respected.

So yeah, I was one initially hoping he'd get a little fired up to get the team going, but I think the last couple years show that the prior teams TJ had are different than this year. This year's team is so balanced and TJs calm demeanor seems to be reflected to the team. They carry a suffocating defense, but don't seem to show aspects of getting out of control either.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

I saw it and I think the ref was Gerry Pollard. Perhaps they were laughing about this incident.

View attachment 123807

Gerry is like that with everybody. He's generally one of the nicest human beings on the planet. Have had a chance to sit down and have a couple beers with him on a few occasions and he's a great storyteller as well. He's an former St Louis Cop as well so he's got some crazy stories from those experiences too.

 

[Jeremy]

TJ and The Ref was my favorite 80's buddy comedy.

The porn of the same name wasn't very good.

 

[3TrueFans]

The porn version wasn't very good.

Says you

 

[Clonefan32]

This. I could care less about the strategy of "working the refs" compared to the team not spending their time complaining and whining after every foul. It has to be a huge advantage.

This has become even more striking to me the more we've seen of TJ's teams. I noticed it a bunch with TCU on Saturday, and of course anytime I watch Iowa there's all kinds of complaining. To me, it's just a sign of mental weakness. It's just excuse making. I don't think there was a better example of it than Tamin on Saturday. He picks up a couple kind of weak ones early and never pouts or hangs his head. Heads to the bench and trusts his teammates can pick up for him. That's what mental toughness and teamwork in sports is all about.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I used to be in the ‘coach needs to get T every now and then’ camp or at least chirp at them a bit, but watch how focused this team is with their jobs and not worrying about the refs. They rarely complain about bad calls and just move on to the next play. It’s so impressive how disciplined they are, and TJ exemplifying this same attitude to the officials is leadership by example.

Yeah, Rob Jones got taken down pretty hard (last game, I think) and didn't even change his expression. Just got back up and went to the line.

 

[ruxCYtable]

Coaches often treat officials as though they are not human. TJ treats them like real people, and trust me they appreciate it. He keeps it real.