[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I officiate real football (soccer, just a little joke guys), but here is what I posted on Aug. 29th, in the Football Forum on the NFL lockout:


I would like to add my two cents to the contract dispute between the NFLRA and the NFL. I come from a union background. My father was a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters for over fifty years, and his two brothers were members of the United Steel Workers for over forty years, and I am a member of the American Federations of Teachers. I will be the first one to admit that unions are not perfect but the standard of living and the working conditions that exist in this country today are the product of unions representing the workers of America. While one does not think of the UBC, USW, and the AFT in the same breath as the NFLRA, all of them exist to make sure that its members get a fair shake from their employers. Having said that let me get to the central theme of my post.

I officiate four sports: basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer, and basketball is my serious sport and I officiate the other three sports for fun. If the NBA or WNBA officials were ever to go on strike, and I were offered a chance to officiate in place of a striker I would turn it down.

Why? Have you ever been in an officiating postion where you took a stand on principle and refused to officiate because of that position because to officiate would not be in the best interest of the profession? You were willing to lose money to take a stand on principles. But at the same time many of your brother/sisters were more than willing to take those games because of the money.

I say a pox on your family to any official who works as a scab. You have forsaken your brothers/sisters just so you could say you officiated in the NFL. We are supposed to
conduct ourselves in a professional and ethical manner. It is neither professional nor is it ethical conduct to take another person's job under such circumstances.