Newswise — Be Stoney grades her foundations and adult education students by day on practicality; how well they do their job in the classroom. By night, Stoney, an associate professor in Kansas State University's College of Education, grades basketball officials based on the same criteria -- how well they do their job on the court.
Stoney evaluates officials for the Big 12 Conference at the nationally-ranked K-State women's basketball team's home games.
Stoney's proficiency in the classroom isn't what qualifies her to evaluate basketball officials; she does know a little about the sport. Stoney played basketball at the University of Texas at El Paso and later served as an assistant women's basketball coach for the Miners. She is still UTEP's all-time leading scorer for women's basketball. She also spent three seasons at the helm of the Texas A&M-Kingsville program. In addition, Stoney, who also formerly evaluated officials for the now-defunct Southwestern Conference, has more than 14 years of experience officiating basketball at all levels.
Stoney grades the three game officials -- the lead, trail and center -- on several areas such as court appearance, judgment, consistency, speed, positioning, decisiveness or game control, the number of fouls called, the position a call was made, etc. Each call is rated on a scale of one to three: A one is a missed call; two is an unsure or questionable call; a three is a good call.
"It's constant movement; like poetry in potion, so to speak," Stoney said of the on-court action. "The ball will dictate what is happening. Even though, for example, the ball is in the trail position, I can look at the lead official immediately because nine out of 10 times the ball will do one of two things -- go into the post or kick back out to the point position."
For a 40-minute game, Stoney spends a scant 10 minutes afterwards with the officials after the game, critiquing the game, watching certain plays on video. Afterwards, she submits her report to the league's coordinator of women's basketball officials
"I have to say, it's very educational watching the video," Stoney said. "The tape sees the game differently than natural time does, so it gives the officials an opportunity to say, 'well I just blew that call' or 'I knew I had the right call.' It's always good to hear them say 'I knew I had the right call. It may have looked funny at that point but it was the right call.'"
Of the fans who themselves critique officials, Stoney offers this advice: "Try taking a whistle and watch a game on TV," Stoney said, "When you think you see something blow the whistle. You'll realize how quick a decision an official needs to make. It is a spontaneous reaction."
Stoney admits that some times an official will miss a call, but more often than not they do make the correct call.
"I can't give you a percentage," Stoney said with a laugh. "But (the fans) are usually mistaken. Often there are several calls that the officials were booed for and I made notations, not according to what the fans did, but based on what the call was. When we looked at it on tape it was the correct call.
"We have room for some mistakes, both in the classroom as well as on the floor. We're all not perfect, although some people think the officials are supposed to be perfect, but we are entitled to a mistake."
Stone's evaluations not only help officials become better in their job, but it also translates into her being a better educator was well.
"It's taught me to be a little bit more patient," Stoney said. "As teachers, we're always telling future teachers when you're working with students to be patient when you're getting responses from students. I'm not judgmental but my students say because of the type of courses I teach, but my ears are a lot bigger. And I listen nonjudgmentally."
There is one downside to the position. Stoney can no longer be a fan of the game -- even when she's not grading referees.
"I don't even know how to watch a game on a relaxing day," she said. "I can't even watch the game because I'm too busy critiquing the officials or watching the play. I really wish I could become a fan again but I don't think I ever will because I'm looking at other entities of the game to see what's next, anticipating the play or watching the ball go from one player to the next."
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