Referee, pick one

[hpfencing]

Imagine it, you are fencing the semi-final bout at Div 1 nationals (some of us will be in deep sleep to see this happening but....) the bout committee calls you up and asks you this simply question:

Who would you like for us to call on to referee this final bout?

You can pick any referee that you'd like from anywhere. Who would you pick and why?

[keith]

david blunkett,

he has all the qualifications and needs a new career.

[AndrewH]

My coach.

[fencerontheline]

Garret from washington...

He sees everything, and he's the man....

Actually, I'd be happy witha almost any of the usfa's bald-super ref cadre

[Ryne]

Bah, I've been out of the game too long... Probably let my opponent pick.

[kalivor]

Whoever had been making the most favourable calls towards me earlier that day. I'd want someone who was seeing things my way ...

[whtouche]

Greg Dillworth. Hands down my favorite referee. I like the way he calls things, have seen him make few mistakes, and he enjoys it so much.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Prolly Ouiyt or FOTL.

[Mr Epee]

Epee - Ed Richards!

Of course, my selection will make everyone extremely confused and a little nervous, especially my opponent. I will use this to my advantage.

[CvilleFencer]

Allen Evans. I know that he will be able to explain to me afterwards why I did not get the call on any touches, he is very fair and even no matter who is fencing and we generally see things the same way. Plus he is just a good ref, although I do not know if he is rated high enough to do the finals at a Div 1A (that would take a 2 right?) but by the time I am good enough to worry about it I am sure he will be! :-)

[veeco]

Epee: Bruno Goossens - Couple of months ago it would have been Christian Vidosa...

[RebelFencer]

Epee' -- David Hasslehoff

[DangerMouse]

I'd be scared that Bruno was going to make my toe bloody even though he's just directing.

[Peach]

Pascal Cantin. I will know exactly what happened, exactly why it was called the way it was, and I will have a sense of humor about it--even though he hasn't said a word.

[edew]

In foil, Scaggs, Cotton, Washburn. I feel very confident that they won't call simultaneous when it isn't simultaneous. Sometimes, it's simultaneous. Sometimes, it's attack, counter-attack. They're willing to make that call. Others just brush off any "simultaneous" actions off the on guard line as, well, simultaneous.

[Lemberg]

Manuel Belmonte, but I don't think he is a big fan of NACs although is undoubtedly fully qualified.....

[germanguy]

.....

[fixxmyweapon]

edew! he's a solid ref [and i felt like giving him some props]

[dekko]

Dont worry 'fixx', edew is just pissed no one has mentioned him yet.

[oiuyt]

Plus he is just a good ref, although I do not know if he is rated high enough to do the finals at a Div 1A (that would take a 2 right?) but by the time I am good enough to worry about it I am sure he will be! :-)

The question was actually about Div I, not IA. That said, the referee needs to be good enough to have the convidence of the FOC assigner. There isn't a specific rating that is required (just because a "2" theoretically corresponds with a demonstrated capability of refereeing the round of 8 of a D1 event doesn't mean that having a 2 would be required or necessary to referee a particular bout). Just as an example, last season, as a 5, I refereed a rd of 4 D1 bout in epee (I'm currently a 4). Refereeing bouts above the referee's current rating is (theoretically, again) the only way for a referee to demonstrate a higher skill level and have an opportunity to improve his/her rating. Given that it generally requires at least two such demonstrations at the new level (or so I've been told), it should be clear that referees are frequently in bouts above what their rating would otherwise indicate. It ends up being much more about the referee's acutal ability, and the faith that the assigner has in the referee's ability to handle a given bout, then the referee's rating.

It's also unclear whether the original question meant rd of 4 or rd of 16 (given the overloading of the term "finals" (and then, by derivation, semi-finals, etc.) in fencing).

-B :)