How to and how hard to push for games

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Wow. Since our assigner started using Arbiter several years ago, we are lucky to get assignments two, to three, weeks in advance. We can often see "pending assignments" (light blue on "blocks" page) several weeks out, but they don't get to be "assigned games" until just a few weeks before the actual assignment date. Our assigner takes a lot of time matching up the best officials with the best games, and things change, especially with teams as the season progresses. Teams that are supposed to be good at the beginning of the season often don't pan out, and vice versa.

Back in the olden days of getting our assignments through the United States Postal Service, we would get all of our assignments at the beginning of the season, with changes (through land line phones) mainly caused by bad weather.

Conference schedules are pretty much a rotating schedule and they know the conference games pretty much off the bat. The non-conference can change and so does some tournaments, which are only given to certain individuals anyway. And many conferences you know who is going to be good or not so good. And the rivalries never really change.

And even back in the days, the games given in mail were still given a year or more in advance. The contracts would come a few months before the season.

Peace