He's back from China now, and the Daily Pilot caught up with Chaney on Saturday afternoon at the CdM pool deck to ask him about his latest adventure.
Question: What was it like officiating at the Olympics for the second time?
Answer: I was more seasoned, so I had a better understanding what was going on. Last time [in 2004], I was a little upset because I didn't get as many games as I thought I might get. I don't think I really knew how the system worked, and this time around, I think I knew how the system worked. When there were days when I didn't get games, I could understand why. There's politics involved in the way assignments are made. This time, I was a little more relaxed. I wouldn't say I was better, but I thought I refereed really well, actually, just because I was more relaxed in that sense. I wasn't thinking about "Why aren't I getting this game or that game?"
Q: So, do you have a schedule of what games you'll be doing when you're over there, or is it more day by day?
A: It's day by day; they schedule it the night before. I didn't get any women's games, and that's their decision. I did get a really good game the very first day, Australia vs. Greece, then the next men's day I didn't referee at all. I realized why, because I couldn't referee anything in the United States bracket. If [the United States] is in the "A" bracket, I could only referee games in the "B" bracket. It's a political decision; they don't want any perception that there's anything going on behind the scenes. I had to re-referee Australia and Greece, and it made sense to me, the politics of it.
... There's 24 refs, and on the men's days, only 12 can ref, so 12 sit. It's a waiting game.
Q: As someone who got to see a lot of games, what would you say was the atmosphere, maybe compared to four years ago in Athens or even some of the big games here in the States?
