This is a great piece written by one of our local journalists.
Violet's demeanor on the court is admirable. Remember last year when she T'd up Steve Nash--maybe even sent him packing, can't rightly remember-- with authority? She wasn't quite anonymous at that point. But normally, she blends in with ease and obvious comfort, despite her being the odd woman out.
Here's an excerpt and a link. The piece is quite long, and unfortunately registering is required by the site to view the content. But the read is worth the trouble.
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/143810.html
"Violet Palmer, though she had sensed it for a few years, had officially, finally, become anonymous. It was settled once and for all two weeks ago in that ascending car. One female referee in the entire NBA, heading to her room after working a Cavaliers-Pacers game at Quicken Loans Arena, right next to a passenger jabbering on about how he just came back from the game and had nice seats and blah-blah-blah, and he makes no connection to the lady in the business attire a few feet away."
and...
"They'll come at you, but it's almost like they go, 'Better leave mom alone. Let me just let her cool off.' Is that to my advantage? Absolutely. One hundred percent.
"I've had guys who would curse or (say), 'What the . ... ' Just the regular stuff. I think I've only had one player that I honestly thought he called me the 'B' word. I thought I heard it. This was maybe four years ago. I turned around, and I said, 'Did you call me a ... ? And he said, 'Oh, my God. No, Violet. I would never, ever. I would never, ever say anything like that. No way.' It was like I ran him up against the wall like I was his mother or something. That's how I felt. He came back and said, 'I would never, ever. Ever.' I said, 'No problem.' I do believe him."
Perhaps (to be unreasonably generous) it speaks more her uniqueness than to the lingering misogyny of sport fans, but she is loathed more by fans than any number of equally bad officials, and by a sizeable margin.
She wouldn't think she goes unnoticed if she browsed the internets.
Which begs the question: Do players/coaches/refs actually read the crap we spew out towards them?
Because Violet is a female, she had to overcome many more obstacles to become a referee in the NBA, to me that's the point. And now, after ten years doing her job, she goes largely unnoticed both on the court and in public, a seeming victory in the art of TRULY making it in a mans world.
She's been in the NBA for ten freaking years already?
...
Referee bootcamp teaches that one doesn't learn the fine art of obeying others' belief systems, but your own belief system. So even if she is loathed, she does her job and has been rewarded for it.
It seems strange to me that she is so happy about players viewing her as an " angry mama".
To me " angry mamas" refers to someone who is being unreasonable.... someone who makes your life miserable just because she is in charge and she can.
That's not the reputation I would want, even as a ref, where obviously I couldn't be buddy, buddy with people.
She's a horrible ref. It makes me pissed off that they keep her around just to have a token female. If there's not a better female ref out there, just don't have one. There's no rule that you have to have a female just to have one.
I checked the piece but didn't find mention of "angry mama", but this:
Was that just a perception on your part?"They'll come at you, but it's almost like they go, 'Better leave mom alone. Let me just let her cool off.' Is that to my advantage? Absolutely.
What she says here was perceived by myself to be quite naive, take a look:
Granted, she needs to display some semblence of courage to be out there competing with men in a mans sport, but I've not noticed her to be any angrier than others. However, since she flies so low under the radar these days, maybe I'll pay more attention next time.Several players are like, 'God, you just smell good. You're sexy, smell good. Here, take my cell-phone number.'
"I'm like, 'Tshhh, I don't want your cell-phone number. You've got a ton of girls.' I'm being myself. 'You've got too many women. I can't think about you.' That's the end of it. It's a very nice compliment.
What makes her a terrible ref? Pure inquisition here and not sarcastic...
Spurs & Mavs fans have are easily upset over officiating in the NBA, at least during my short experience with message boards. Maybe it's just the compe ion level--maybe not. But Kori, for you to equate being female with the reason Violet is able to referee NBA games, I'm shocked! Especially because your own personal success in sports is the total sum of your own effort, despite the fact that you are female.
I call reverse discrimination!
This:
If she has to cool off... that implies she is ticked off or displeased. She was the one who made the mom reference. Combine the two and there you go."They'll come at you, but it's almost like they go, 'Better leave mom alone. Let me just let her cool off.' Is that to my advantage? Absolutely.
Several players are like, 'God, you just smell good. You're sexy, smell good. Here, take my cell-phone number.'I want names.
It's okay- you can admire Violet if you like.
I don't think she calls games well.
Furthermore, her comments to me are the ones of a person with at ude and someone who wants attention.
But whatever.
It's not like I am qualified to be a referee so I can't tell her how to do her job.
I only admire her ability to be OUT THERE! I know very little about her personally.This:
If she has to cool off... that implies she is ticked off or displeased. She was the one who made the mom reference. Combine the two and there you go.
It's okay- you can admire Violet if you like.
I don't think she calls games well.
Furthermore, her comments to me are the ones of a person with at ude and someone who wants attention.
But whatever.
It's not like I am qualified to be a referee so I can't tell her how to do her job.
I think it's great to have a female ref BUT not Violet, I agree with Kori-she's horrible. It makes the likelihood of more females in the league fairly remote. There's got to be better women refs out there.
It is a sad statement to how dull my day is when I am actually carrying on a conversation about Violet Palmer.
Violet Palmer is easily one of the worst officials in the NBA. And, she doesn't go unnoticed because she is a woman. Being a woman in a predominantly male profession, of course she's not going to go unnoticed. But, it's not the reason why she's a bad official.
I'll tell you right now - I've noticed that sweet ass a lot of times out there... been trying to get her to smoke out of my water bottle and give her herpes for years.
Who ARE you?
Haha - but seriously, Violet Palmer doesn't fly under the radar... I think everyone knows she one of the worst officials in the league
she is a bad ref
it has nothing to do with her s
She should be coaching at the high school level nothing higher.
She'd still be a bad ref
unnoticed my ass, who doesn't groan when they see her as a listed official.
I am one of the last people to about officiating. I make fun of other fans for doing it. However, she's horrible. She misses so many calls it's ridiculous. To me, she's the worst ref in the league.What makes her a terrible ref? Pure inquisition here and not sarcastic...
Spurs & Mavs fans have are easily upset over officiating in the NBA, at least during my short experience with message boards. Maybe it's just the compe ion level--maybe not. But Kori, for you to equate being female with the reason Violet is able to referee NBA games, I'm shocked! Especially because your own personal success in sports is the total sum of your own effort, despite the fact that you are female.
I call reverse discrimination!
I consider her a token female ref. And as a female who does a "man's job" (90%+ of sports writers are male) I hate that. If they can't find a competent woman, just don't have a woman.
I don't about officiating either usually, maybe that's a woman thing...or just that we take responsibility for our own .
So it's the non-calls that make her horrible? Because I couldn't recall any one time that she was consistantly calling erroneous fouls. Although, I'd be hard pressed to remember any that did that simply because I don't pay attention to the refs much. Although, the sight of Bavetta still makes me wanna throw something.
Looks like the general consensus is she's not very good, I'll pay more attention to her officiating (or lack thereof) next time she's working a game I'm watching.
Until then, she's doing something very desirable from where I sit, and she's obviously staying.
Definitely not an attractive woman, I'll give you that.
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