[JRutledge]

This was never a discussion of who's state is better or who's city is better for me. I was just talking about how leagues help and do not help. I have always been an opponent of refs doing rec. leagues, if you goal is to become a better official. If you have read me over the years, that has always been a point I have made. I just find no personal interest in doing "men's leagues" at all. I think personally they are basically a waste of time and whether I am talking about the Chicago area or the Quad Cities or Peoria and Springfield, I still would not do those leagues. And if I do a summer league, if the schools are not involved and the actual players that will be on the teams next year are not present, I will pass. Even some AAU is for the birds. Even though you might have actuall HS players on these teams, you do not have the direction or the responsibility that the schools exhibit. At least if the players mess up or act out, they are not only representing themselves, they are representing their schools and their teammates. To me that is a higher calling.

Just an opinion.