[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I guess its time for me to throw my two cents into the discussion.

Until 1993 I wore belted pants for basketball officiating. I wore belted pants up to that time not because I thought that belted and not beltless was the way to go, but because I am a belted pants type of guy. I have always worn belted pants, both pleated and non-pleated pants, and I still do, exept for officiating basketball. I changed to beltless pants in 1993, and I do not know why I did not change sooner. I have both pleated and non-pleated basketball pants in my basketball officiating wardrobe. There is no way that I would go back to wearing belted pants for officiating basketball.

As far as officiating H.S. basketball, I believe in going by the NFHS officials manual. Belted or non-belted, is what is required, and I do not think that local officials associations should be setting the rules regarding belted or non-belted pants. My opinion is that same regarding Byron collar shirts vs. v-neck shirts. A StateHSAA is the only organization that should be calling the shots regarding pants or shirts. The only thing the NFHS officials manual says about shirts is the that entire crew should wear the same type collor shirt.

I will say this about shirt collars. When the v-neck shirts came out, I did not like the look of them, and refused to wear one until I officiated in an AAU Boys' National Tournament. The instant I put one on, I wondered why I had waited so long to wear one. I just could not believe how good it felt or how good I look in one.

I still wear my Byron collar shirts for rec. league, CYO regular season games, summer leagues, and scrimmages. My collared shirts are still in good condition and I do not see why wearing them for the aforementioned type games is wrong. In fact I still carry a collared shirt with me for H.S. games because, believe it or not, there are still a few old geezers that refuse to wear a v-neck, and I am prepared to wear a shirt just like my partner.