[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by falsecut

Unfortunately, yes, I did know that it was four inches. I hate having to know that kind of trivial nonsense but I do remember a lot of it. And numbers are six inches in the back, four in the front, since you ask.

I am glad you remember it, I did not. And considering in 13 seasons of varsity ball I have never had a coach ever complain to me about a uniform issue in a basketball game, I can say that it was not a priority in my basketball officiating life.

Originally Posted by falsecut

But that is hardly the point. I don't carry my tape measure to measure whether or not the inseam is four inches or five, but I know that an inseam that is swooped and not vertical is not legal. And even if I didn't T it up if I saw it, I could file a special report to the state reporting that I believed I saw an illegal uniform but was unable to determine it for sure. That could have prevented this little fiasco at the finals.

You can only file a report if you know the jersey is illegal. If you do not know or no one complains (which teams have the opportunity to do), then it goes unnoticed. For the record, all schools had to submit a copy or picture of their uniform. If the IHSA felt strongly about this, they could have informed the officials these uniforms were illegal and they needed to have the proper rules enforced. This was known by the IHSA for some time now.

Originally Posted by falsecut

Maybe you missed the complaining about our being the fashion police at our association meetings then? I didn't say it was necessarily on the forum.

Officials and coaches were at rules meetings wondering why any of this mattered in the bigger scheme of things. So I did not miss any complaining about it.

Originally Posted by falsecut

So you're saying that because we weren't going to enforce a penalty, you took the year off looking for it? Wouldn't you have to look at it to report it to the IHSA? Or did you decide it was too big of a nuisance to bother? You know, one of the reasons that we didn't enforce the rule was that it was seen as way too harsh to be giving out five Ts at the beginning of the game. That was part of the complaining at the association meetings and why the IHSA decided to waive the rule for a year. But they didn't waive reporting the violation.

I do not think you actually read what I said. I simply said that if there was an illegal uniform we were to report it. I cannot speak for you, but I have not seen an illegal uniform that either I identified or was brought to my attention at the varsity level (which is the only place this rule applies) was actually illegal. Most uniforms I have seen have real seam that would even be seen as illegal. If you do not have an illegal uniform, you do not have anything to report. And I certainly did not have N. Lawndale the past two years or any years for that matter. And the fact that they wore those uniforms last season and not a single person ever mentioned their legality, is telling how clear or how understood that rule is, no matter how many years the rule has been talked about? Did you write the state anytime you saw an illegal uniform? Or did you even have one to write about in the first place?

Originally Posted by falsecut

No, not perfect by a long shot. But your comment goes to the crux of the problem. If nobody bothers to enforce it over the first 33 games, then all of a sudden it becomes an issue in the 34th one and a big deal when if we were doing our JOBS for the other games, we wouldn't be talking about this. How many times have we shown up and directed that the leg brace/taped earring/chain/beads or metal in the hair be removed or remediated and been told, "You're the first guy to tell us that all year"? Isn't consistent application of the rules what we all strive to accomplish?

I cannot speak for you but I did not have to tell many players to remove items that were deemed illegal. The only thing that was a problem the last several years, were those "LiveStrong" bans and the occasional rubber band (which are often not seen at all for several minutes). And now that those things are illegal in multiple sports and coaches have insisted they cannot wear them because they are obviously illegal and not many even attempt to put those things on anymore. And the thing you just said we have to deal with is mostly things I deal with in the off season, not the real season.

Originally Posted by falsecut

So Jeff, what else that has "little or nothing to do with playing the game" do you feel we can all safely ignore?

I find it interesting that people like you cannot have a discussion about a rule without always thinking someone is trying to ignore something. I did not say ignore anything, it is about context and priority. And working varsity games, most teams do not show you their uniforms until after their warm-ups and they are introduced. We do not know what the color of their undershirts is or what jewelry they may have on, because they are usually covered up with a warm-up shirt or jacket of some kind. And I do not know about you, I did not nit-pick an undershirt that might have been slightly off color to the jersey. For one, the other team did not care, and only making an issue out of it would cause another problem. If you want to go around and tell everyone to follow the rule and measure every number (which the size of the number is apart of the rule too) and be my guest. And if the IHSA had a problem with the decisions of their officials, they can also take action. BTW, the crew that worked that game was assigned the Championship game of 4A and they had previously had that team in the Super-Sectional. It must not have been much of a big deal in the bigger scheme of things.

Peace