[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
I am sorry to disagree with you Chuck but sports officiating is a profession.
Mark, you're always welcome to disagree, but in this case you'd still be wrong.
Sports officiating, in and of itself (which seems to be what you're saying) is not a profession; even according to the definitions that you provide below. Let's look at them.
According to the Third Edition of the New World Dictionary of American English the definition of profession is as follows: "3a) a vocation or occupation requiring advanced education and training, and involving involving intellectual skills such as medicine, law, theology, engineering, teaching, etc."
Sports officiating doesn't fit this definition b/c of the very first phrase: "a vocation or occupation". Sports officiating is neither a vocation or an occupation for hundreds of people who officiate. As I said in my previous posts, many people who officiate do so, simply b/c they're the only parent willing to do it. I officiated softball while I was in college and I promise you, it was neither my vocation nor my occupation by any stretch of the imagination.
Next definition:
"adj. 1) of, engaged in, or worthy of the high standards of a profession......6) being such in the manner of practicing a profession.....
I don't think this definition will support your claim either, Mark. As I've pointed out above, many officials are not "engaged in" officiating as a profession, and I've personally worked with several officials are not "worthy of the high standards" of professional officials. And since it's clear that many officials do not practice it as a profession, definition 6 doesn't apply either.
n. 1) a person practicing a profession..."
This clearly doesn't apply either, b/c of the large number of officials who do it literally for nothing, as I mentioned above.
As I have stated before the officials who replace NFLRA officials this weekend are not meeting the standards of ethical and professional conduct.
You've stated it several times now, but you offer no reasons. I asked a pretty clear question in my last post, but I have yet to see anybody make a real attempt at answering it. What exactly is the moral rule that prohibits a person from performing a service that another person has chosen not to perfom? What makes "scabs" unethical?
I'm not trying to split hairs here. I'm just trying to show that while I understand your passion about the issue, your statement of the facts is not really precise. Sports officiating in itself, as practiced by hundreds of parents, teens or coaches, is not a profession.
That is a COMPLETLY different question from whether or not paid officials at the HS and college levels should act AS IF THEY WERE professionals. Maybe they should. I'm just trying to be as clear as possible about what we're really talking about.
Chuck