[Goose]

>That's your choice.

As I stated, it is my choice to work or not, and I've never not worked a game in 20 years due to a safety issue. That's not to say never, but it has yet to happen.

>Fwiw, I agree completely with Ref18. In our area, we make >the choice for our officials. We will never assign our >guys to games where they will knowingly be asked to bend >safety rules.

This is fantastic, but unfortunately, I am not used to this. Most assignors do not work for our board, or any board. Some do and the ones that do, well, if you refuse to work, you won't work at all.

>We supply each official with sheets listing the applicable >safety rules of each ruleset they will be using. We inform >all leagues and teams that we service, including rec >leagues and rec teams, that safety rules will not be >waived for any of their games.

This is also great, and you should be commended, but in states where I have and am currently working, you are considered a private contractor and 90 percent of the time, the board has no jurisdiction over any of the leagues or tournaments unless the assignor was/is a board member. So, being a hired gun so to speak, I dodn't have those luxury's all the time.

>As an association, we are liable if our members ignore >plainly written safety rules.

Once again, as a private contractor, our board, or say your association has nothing to say about when and where I work. If I chose to "remove my shirt" as we used to say, then my association is off the hook and it all falls on me. If a league wants to hire my services, it is up to me whether I take the job or not. My association has no authority over my jobs, unless they have been contracted to supply officials.

Again, how often have you worked with non-association officials? I am an IAABO member, but I've worked with many officials who do not belong to IAABO. In many cases you do not know who you are working with when assigned to an AAU tournament or rec league. Perfect example is this weekend in City X where I will be working with an unknown covering the state AAU finals. When/if you travel out of your association or board boundaries, things can get fuzzy as in my case.

In my earlier example of full uniform, that league was run in Hartford, and they had their own set of rules. Neither FED nor NCAA, but more like a cross of both with a mix of the NBA. My board had no say in whether I worked there or not.

>If someone doesn't like it when one of our officials >refuses to ignore a safety rule, they just get told by >that official to "call my assignor".

That again is wonderful, but I haven't had the opportunity to work for a perfect association\board or assignor. Not to mention that if the assignor says, work it, or you can forget about working any longer.

Here is a direct quote from a guideline document I have been sent concerning an upcoming tourney in a different state:

"From time to time the tournament director may ask a question about a situation. Explain the best you can and follow his directive. He is the boss. If he is not happy, I’m not happy. If further discussion is needed, let me do it later after you talk with me. Always, inform him or her of the rule before you explain your call"

Notice the "he is the boss", and "if he is not happy, I'm not happy." If he says, play, well then I have two choices, again.


Lastly, this issue has been completely blown out of proportion and it is partly my fault. I do not want folks to think that every time I work, I am somehow bending safety rules just to get the game in. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have stated repeatedly that there have been, and I'm sure there will be, times in the future that I will be asked to compromise by letting a adult player tape an earlobe. If it means playing or not, I will have them tape the earlobe as long as both coaches and administration agree, and we will play. I will not, and have not compromised on sub-adult levels.

As I said, this is not an everyday/everygame event. These are exceptions and hardly what I run with. It's just that I have always been taught to be as flexible as possible.

I really am glad that some of you have a better handle on these situations, because this is not the norm I have seen over 20 years.

goose