Valentines shoes on ESPN

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich

The belt people crack me up.

Basketball officiating pants are sold beltless. The people I see wearing belts around here are wearing Dockers or pants with white pockets or pants that fit poorly when it comes to running up and down a basketball floor.

I asked someone once why he didn't buy pants specifically designed for officiating. He told me he could get the pants he bought for $15 at Sears. Enough said. He just didn't care enough to buy the right pants. Same guy was still wearing a 100% old-style polyester shirt, which anyone with any sense stopped wearing YEARS ago.

I know of one official who worked at a high level in the last 15 years wearing a belt -- Blane Reichelt -- and he retired in 2005.

The new pants out in the last few years (the 4-way stretch pants) are super comfortable and look good and I just don't understand why anyone wouldn't just buy them.

I knew a guy that wore pants with belt loops. I never asked him about this personally, but my understanding he hardly ever worked varsity ball. It looked absolutely stupid, but that is what he did. It is just lazy and unprofessional. Just like when you go to a job interview and you wear a T-shirt, that usually does not give the right impression either. So does what we wear and hardly anyone at that level cares about some white on shoes as most of the time they do not sell shoes that are totally black anymore.

Peace

[Adam]

I worked in an area where even the highest level varsity officials wore belts: there was no local supplier (mid 2000s) who sold the beltless variety. When I asked the local sporting goods guy why he didn't sell them (a small isolated metro area of about 100,000), he said there wasn't enough market for them. Too many officials could go to Target or Sears and get a cheap pair of dress slacks for $15.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Adam

I worked in an area where even the highest level varsity officials wore belts: there was no local supplier (mid 2000s) who sold the beltless variety. When I asked the local sporting goods guy why he didn't sell them (a small isolated metro area of about 100,000), he said there wasn't enough market for them. Too many officials could go to Target or Sears and get a cheap pair of dress slacks for $15.

How good were these top officials?