USA Today invites fans to vent at this site

[wizard]

Here's my email back to Mr. Zillgitt:


After reading your article, “Blowing the whistle on shoddy NCAA officiating”, I would like to offer you an invitation.

Go to you local officials’ association, go through their classes, take the test, get certified, and do a season worth of games. Not just one or two. You could get a really difficult or easy game and that would skew your view. An entire season. Games that mean something. Not scrimmages. Real games. It can be kids games. Doesn’t have to be high school.

Then write a follow-up. You’ll find out that safety net called “slow motion instant replay” and the 10-20 seconds to think about it aren’t available.

Am I an official? Yes sir.

Do officials ever make mistakes? Yes.

Do they take pride in what they do? You bet.

Why? One reason is also the same as for the players playing. They’re competitive. And there are plenty of officials would would love to do the top games.

The worst that could happen if you accepted my invitation would be that you would learn the rules of the game. Good luck.