We like to bash and trash, with most of us not even being officials of any kind. But there has to be some of them out there that you do like, or at least respect? Pity that those who suck get all of the attention. Just something my Dad taught me.

Barry Lee, Mark Devino, Dennis Cook

The rest...

Gary Darson-top notch

the three are from the midstate, where is Darson from?

I am personally not a fan of Dennis.

Barry Lee...always calls a fair game. Totally unbiased. We need more like this guy.

My child plays club and Highschool.She says D. Cook does a good Job.Always calls a fair game and explains his calls if asked in a controled manner.She says the ones from other countries are the worst.

Who is the rather tall, slim gentleman who refs in the midlands. He has short hair with a receding hairline. His name might have already been mentioned, but I do not know it and was just wanting to put a name with the face.

Probably Steve Abbott. He's good and professional IMO.

I also agree on Barry Lee and Dennis Cook. Good officials that admit they're human and not absolute pricks!

heard good things about cook and abbott. how about rock and roll bob? seems to be popular in the lower state. any upstate favorites? these are the guys we should see in columbia at the championships. how can we get these guys there instead of some of the bone heads that we get?

I like Rock and Roll Bob!!! Even with his metro-look. He seems to enjoy himself out there and does a really good job. He admits his mistakes as well and is very personable to approach.

thanks... nice to hear a kind word... I do try...

Jason Sessions....by far is the best referee...does not referee high school games much...but he is very very good!

One of the best things about Bob is the management, both game and man.

I like the majority of the refs in the Pee Dee.
My fave would be Joel Howle. No nonsense, on the move, usually in good position, manages the game well. Never seen him lose his composure. There are others that do a great job too. We have some new guys that are doing a great job as well. Know the game and call it evenly both ways.

jeremy brooks game over

[I also posted this on the "bad ref" page.]
I feel the officials in the Low-Country are good. They are fair and they are good at managing the coaches. The key is we don't expect perfection from coaches, we don't expect perfection from players, but we do expect perfection from officials. We all strive for perfection, but it is hard to reach. Ever consider the officials are also trying for perfection? Regardless, my main concern is the safety of my players. If officials keep the game clean, the balance of the calls is irrelevant to me (my assistant disagrees!). The guys down here do a good job.

After spending three years coaching at Summerville, I would have to agree with Todd and say that the referees in the lowcountry are pretty good. Now coaching at Barnwell and still in the lowcountry, however experiencing Midlands referees, I would have to agree that the Charleston area has better referees.

Darson is from upstate, however he has called several games in the Cola area also does college games. Darson is from Trinidad.

Have always respected Shumpert (never can remember first name) from the Columbia area. His games on the girls' side have always been fair and well called. He is especially good at tournaments. Takes time to defuse a situation(s) before he had to card a player(s). Calls a fair and even game in my book from the games I have seen.

Rock and Roll Bob is probably one of the best I have ever had. Would love to have every game reffed by someone as able as him.

i'd like to add another comment about r&r bob. i stopped him after a club match a couple years ago to ask about a call - which happened sometime in the first half - and how he came to his decision. now, i'm not talking about any spectacular foul that everybody went ooh and ahh over, no card given, just a vanilla-flavored foul - he remembered exactly what i was talking about! and he explained in detail why he made the call he did.

i was probably only 20 yds from where this particular foul happened, and i saw it one way. he was on the other side from me, but closer to the action, and guess what? he saw something completely different. his explanation made perfect sense, though. as close as i was, he was closer and had a better angle. here i was thinking, "man, he screwed that one up" - cause i KNEW that i was right, and as it turns out, i missed something very small, but very important in his making the call he did.

my point being - i think we need to BACK OFF the refs a little sometimes, and give them the benefit of the doubt.

another thread going on right now is a perfect example of why - dozens of posters are watching the slow motion replay, and STILL can't agree on what the correct call is. so what makes you think you can do a better job than the man ON the field with NO slo-mo?

at matches, i hear a LOT of parents screaming at refs over calls, when it's obvious that these people don't even understand the laws of the game. but the funny thing is, they seem to want everyone else to know how much they "know" about the game by screaming loudly and giving a constant commentary, when all it does is make them look worse.

sorry, got off-subject a little...getting back to bob...right after we finished talking about the one foul, he asked another guy who was standing there with us (and who also happens to be a ref) if he had seen a match a week or so earlier that he (bob) had called, and what he thought about his officiating. this other guy said, "well, i didn't think it was your best match" and bob AGREED with him. how often do you see that? i got a whole new respect for the guy right then and there - he was not only asking for opinions on how he did his job, but accepted the criticism graciously.

we need more rock and roll bobs!

**disclaimer - i do not personally know r&r bob, nor was i compensated in ANY way for this post.

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Have always respected Shumpert (never can remember first name) from the Columbia area.

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I believe his first name is Kenny. He is definitely one of the best in the Columbia area. We need more like him but sadly they don't seem to be around.