Quote:
Originally posted by DownTownTonyBrown
Holy Cow!
You guys all playing high school ball in the late 80's make me feel like I need to change my monicker...
Jurrassic when were you in HS? The 60's I hope.
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Geeze, don't feel bad, Tony. You're still a young 'un.
I was in high school in the late 50's and early 60's, and then college in the early to mid 60's. Got recruited as an official in high school at the tender age of 15 in 1959- couldn't play anything that year because of recoving from knee surgery( both knees), and every sport was extremely short of officials back then. Did my first high school varsity football game in 1959 at the age of 15 too. The guy that got me into football also talked me into trying basketball too. I turned 16 in late 1959, and then did my first high school varsity game in December of '59. Back then, you just got thrown into the water- sink or swim. I was too stupid at that time to know just how much that I really didn't know. Refereed football and basketball all through college- good part-time money- and enjoyed it so much that I just kept on trucking after. It's been a great ride, and it ain't over yet.
Btw, when I started, we used to get about $6 for a varsity football game, and in my first year of basketbsll, the rate was $5 for a varsity basketball game and $7 for a varsity/jv doubleheader. It actually wasn't that bad, considering that brownpop was about a quarter a draft back then. And yes, I looked older than 16- so my partners twisted my arm and forced me to have a few after games.
And if anybody cares, yes, the officials today are much better than when I started. There's no comparison when it comes to training, knowledge, proper equipment,fitness, etc., etc. Of course, with everybody into taping games now, the pressure on officials is much higher too. Way back, we could screw up and get away with a lot of things. Now......