Rich's area - Is it time to drop the 3-man officiating crew?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

If my partner is injured and no alternate official is available (no official for a future/prior game/official who is working as a clock operator), I would gather both coaches and explain to them that I cannot continue the game, because I alone would not be able to provide proper floor coverage to ensure the safety of their players. I would not open myself up to a lawsuit for an injury caused by working 1-person mechanics that happens due to a play that I cannot see.

This is a excellent, legal, professional plan for states like Wisconsin, but I find it hard to believe that with hundreds of ticket buying fans in the stands, a paid table crew, cheerleaders, and two teams of players, warming up, one group that may have traveled many miles in a expensive bus, you would simply say goodbye and turn off the lights when you left the gym.

If that's your state's policy, or your association's policy, you wouldn't have any other choice, and I'm fine with that, but would you really make such a decision on your own in a scholastic game at any level, even a middle school game?

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

I would not work 1-person in any scholastic game for that reason.

Really?

At the bare minimum (assuming no state or association guidelines) one should contact one's assigner to garner some advice.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

This is a excellent, legal, professional plan for states like Wisconsin, but I find it hard to believe that with hundreds of ticket buying fans in the stands, a paid table crew, cheerleaders, and two teams of players, warming up, one group that may have traveled many miles in a expensive bus, you would simply say goodbye and turn off the lights when you left the gym.



If that's your state's policy, or your association's policy, you wouldn't have any other choice, and I'm fine with that, but would you really make such a decision on your own in a scholastic game at any level, even a middle school game?







Really?

I would support him, yes. If anyone got hurt, they'd sue everyone, wouldn't they?


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[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Rich

If anyone got hurt, they'd sue everyone, wouldn't they?

In Wisconsin, and in other states with such limiting guidelines in place, you're absolutely correct. Working a game by oneself in such states would be stupid, foolish, and negligent and would certainly open up one to a high degree of legal liability.

But there are states without such limitations, some (like Connecticut) actually have written one person mechanics guidelines in place, and some even have fee structures in place to accommodate such situations (example, 1.5 x fee) that could certainly mitigate any, but not all, legal liabilities.

I say "but not all" because in our modern litigious society, anybody, anywhere, can file a lawsuit against anybody else, for any reason. And even if one is not negligent and is innocent of any illegal behavior, one still has to hire an attorney, and they aren't inexpensive.

At the bare minimum (assuming no state or association guidelines) one should contact one's assigner to garner some advice before letting the gym door hit one in the ass on one's way out.

Leaving the gym on one's own (assuming no state or association guidelines) with no outside guidance (like contacting an assigner) could really upset a lot of people, coaches, site directors, athletic directors, school principals, and assigners, and in some states leaving with no outside guidance may expose one (and possibly their association) to legal issues regarding contract language.