[Scrapper1]

Here's my report to the MIAA, regarding the game in the original post of this thread:

To whom it may concern:

The purpose of this letter is to explain why the officials did not stay to observe the Post-Game Handshake ceremony following the contest between Team A High School and Team B High School on December 20, 2008 and to report the conversation between the Team A High School Athletic Director (name withheld) and me following the contest.

First, the officials did not stay for the PGHS because, in our understanding, the site administration did not fulfill its responsibilities as laid out in the MIAA’s Post-Game Handshake Protocol. According to the Protocol published on the MIAA’s website,

“[t]he site manager will greet the game officials upon their arrival and discuss/plan the post game handshake. Among the most important discussion topics should be the site manager’s or designated person’s (possibly police/security) designated location during the post-game handshake and the plan for exiting the court following the ceremony.”

This meeting and discussion did not happen. I know that Mr. AD believes that it did, but I wish to state as clearly as possible that it simply did not. This can be confirmed by my partner, (name withheld); the JV officials will also confirm that they did not have this meeting and discussion. Upon our arrival, we were met by a gentleman who had us sign a pay voucher. He did not introduce himself as the site manager, nor did he discuss the PGHS ceremony with us. In fact, I had assumed that Mr. AD was the site manager, since he is the Athletic Director and was present at the game. I did not learn until the following night that he was not acting as the site director. Our only interaction with Mr. AD before the game was to shake his hand and basically say “Nice to see you”.

Since we did not have the conversation that seems to be required by the Protocol, even when we saw Mr. AD before the game, we believed that we were not required to stay for the handshake. Additionally, I filed a report with my assignor immediately upon returning home after the game, following the instructions in the “Post-Game Handshake Cancellation – Scenario #3” of the MIAA’s Protocol.

I believe that we acted properly, although it was perceived differently by Mr. AD. If my understanding of the Protocol is incorrect, I am willing to be corrected; but I honestly believe that we did what we were directed to do.

Secondly, following the game, Mr. AD came to the officials’ dressing room to ask why we had not stayed for the handshake. When I explained that I thought we were excused because we had not been met before the game to go over the ceremony, he stated that we had, in fact, been greeted. (In the interest of full disclosure, I also stated that the public announcement about the ceremony had to be made before the start of the game. I was wrong about that, and have since contacted Mr. AD to apologize for that error.) When I tried to explain that the required discussion of the plans for the ceremony had not taken place, he became heated. He called us “ridiculous” and said that “common sense overrules the protocol”.

He then said he was going to report us to the MIAA and let them “deal with us”, and that he was going to tell our assignor to “excuse” us from any further assignments at Team A High School. When I said that it seemed petty to block us simply because we followed the rules, he answered, “I can block anybody for any reason I want to!” At that point, students entered the locker room and Mr. AD left.

I am committed to adhering to the MIAA’s Post-Game Handshake Protocol. I have no problem with following it, unless I am punished for doing so. I do, however, have a problem with a school administrator coming to the officials’ locker room and making threats and attempting to bully the officials. The irony of using such tactics in the effort to improve sportsmanship is absolutely exquisite.

As I’ve said previously, if my understanding of the Protocol is incorrect, I am more than willing to learn from my mistakes.