The peril of officiating

[Welpe]

Tuss, do you have supervisors on site? The reason I ask is that I used to be an intramural official and am now a supervisor for the same intramural program. One of our main roles as a supervisor is to help maintain order throughout the games. Now granted, there's only so much we can do but having a presence outside of the on-field officials most certainly helps.

Our intramural teams are kept on a pretty tight leash and for the most part, they know we don't have any problem removing a team from the league if there are major problems. If things go south on-site, we have the ability to contact the University Police department and their response times are usually pretty quick.

If you do not feel there is an adequate supervisor presence, that is a concern you need to share with the manager(s) of your intramural program. If you don't have the upper level support, I'd strongly consider no longer working intramural games.

As a side note, it's amazing how worked up some people get over a lousy t-shirt.

[LMan]

..when enough umpires (or at least reasonably-competent umpires) quit taking these high-risk games, then something gets done. But not before then.

Umpires who have close calls, near-death experiences and yet still continue to take games in those situations for the piddly fees they pay, well..... *shrug*

[TussAgee11]

we have a "supervisor" on site, but it is a student who just keeps the score and lineups. Sometimes there will be an adult presence out on the field, but not often.

I spoke with the head of our intramurals department about this (he is a very good basketball official and is the scorekeeper for varsity games). He told me some stories about his brothers and uncles, and even himself that shocked me, from minor to serious assult. He reminded me of the 2 idiots that attacked the umpire in Kansas City several years back. His overall response: there will always be idiots, be ready to get the hell out of there at any point, especially at the intramural level. You don't think an NBA ref is worried about someone slugging him over the head from behind when he walks the baseline?

While not being too supportive, he has handed these individulals over to the judicial board for action, and supports our game decisions.