Varsity ref jobs a matter of black and white?

[tomegun]

Love2ref,

By any chance, did you officiate the Rice game or do you know those officials?

[Rich]

Originally posted by SeanFitzRef
I live in the same general area as JRut, and I concur with his assessment of the situation in our area. There is a tendency for assignors to 'buddy up' the assignments so that thier friends and family get first dibs on the spotlight games, then everything else is dished out to whomever. It is definitely true that as a minority official here, we have to 'work harder, do more, and be better' in order to move up. I have worked varsity games with officials that would have a hard time doing a solid 8th grade game, and I have worked a freshman A/B game with some that could easily handle the pressures of a varsity game. But if you aren't 'connected' (by whatever connection you need with some assignors) then you just won't get the games. I've worked several games where I'm the ONLY darker face in the gym, so I already know that I have to bring my A+++++ game, instead of just the A+.

The flip side is that some people don't want to work hard, and just expect longevity to get them what they want. This tends to hurt those of us that want to move up due to the quality of our work, not just the quantity. Guilt by association.

I am an IHSA official, but only in name as I live near Madison, WI. I work about 10 varsity boys basketball games in Illinois each season and I take my football crew down for 1-2 games each year. I was fully licensed the past few years, but I'm sliding down to reciprocity next season as I don't have the time or inclination to go through the promotion process.

I've worked Chicago public league schools (in tournaments) and when I lived in New Orleans, I worked schools from that city -- where all players were African-American. I've worked with white officials and black officials.

The first (first!) time I ever had someone make a racial comment was this season in Illinois at a football game. I could only bring three from my crew, so the assignor suggested two African-American officials for my crew, specifically since one of the teams was almost all African-American. I agreed and wondered what the big deal was.

I found out at the game. Even though the predominately African-American team won, fans made racial comments towards me (the white, white hat) while walking off the field. Granted, the fans had every right to be annoyed at me. I threw 3 USC flags against the team, including one against the head coach who was completely out of control. I had the same tolerance level I do every Friday night, but it made a difference to the team and fans that I was white and they were black.

The two African-American wing officials were outstanding officials and they laughed the loudest at the fans once we got to the locker room. I took it personally - they saw that crap every week.

When I look for someone to fill my crew (I have one opening in football if anyone is interested ) I don't care if the official is black, white, or any other color. I look for integrity and ability only. I would hope that everyone would be like that, but I've been around long enough to know that isn't the case everywhere.

--Rich

[WeekendRef]

JBDUKE ,
I am really not clear on what you would like me to apologize to Rut for ? I took offense to his post and I said so . Rut said that conferences would not hire him or other black officials expressly because they were black . He also added that any white guy could bring in his buddy (As long as that buddy is white I presume ) and nobody would say a thing .
He made these statements in an offhand way as if that this was accepted practice in his area . I do not live there but I can almost guarantee you these statements are pretty far off base....
These statements conjure up images of a bunch of old fat white guys sitting in a sweat filled back room smoking cigars , chewing tobacco and drinking whiskey in their stained white tee shirts talking about not letting the colored guys get any games .
I hear guys complaining all the time about why they are not moving up as quickly as they should or why they didn't get games . These complaints are not the exclusive property of black officials .
I am not calling Rut an idiot at all , in fact when he talks about the game and game situations I find him to be quite insightful . I vehemently disagree with him on many social issues especially when it comes to race . I don't think he takes great umbrage to this as I think he realizes we are both entitled to our opinions . I only "jumped on Rut's head with both feet" after he put it on the ground and asked me to..... it was nothing personal .
The title of my initial post had to do with the fact that I knew this thread was going to turn into this and I really didn't want that but I felt I need to challenge those statements .

[Love2ref4Ever]

I didn't work the Rice game, but I do know all three of the officials who worked that game.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by WeekendRef
JBDUKE ,
I am really not clear on what you would like me to apologize to Rut for ? I took offense to his post and I said so . Rut said that conferences would not hire him or other black officials expressly because they were black . He also added that any white guy could bring in his buddy (As long as that buddy is white I presume ) and nobody would say a thing .

Please do not apologize to me about anything. If that is all that offended you than you will just have to be offended.

Originally posted by WeekendRef
He made these statements in an offhand way as if that this was accepted practice in his area . I do not live there but I can almost guarantee you these statements are pretty far off base....
These statements conjure up images of a bunch of old fat white guys sitting in a sweat filled back room smoking cigars , chewing tobacco and drinking whiskey in their stained white tee shirts talking about not letting the colored guys get any games .

Why are they off base? Are they off base because you they do not apply to you? If you have ever read anything I have said I have never suggested that assignments are made in a smoke filled room. I do not believe in the "old boy network" that many white officials complain about. I do believe that when people are making individual decisions, they make them with all their prejudices involved. In my area there are assignment chairman that literally hate each other or have little respect for other evaluations from assignment chairman. Not sure where you got the "smoke filled room" analogy in my post. I never used that example and in my case the decisions are not even made that way. Now if you live in an area where an association makes all the assignment decisions that might be the case, not where I live. I have compared our assigning system to D1 Basketball. You have to impress each assignor differently. There are conferences that people do not work because the conferences assignors do not respect the choices of other conferences assignors.

Originally posted by WeekendRef
I hear guys complaining all the time about why they are not moving up as quickly as they should or why they didn't get games . These complaints are not the exclusive property of black officials .

Who said it was? I think what has been said is that if you look at just numbers, we are underrepresented in a sport where otherwise we dominate. You cannot tell me the people that dominate on the court cannot find adequate representation on the court. Also in my area a lot of the consideration for Black officials came from the coaches no matter what their color is to hire Black officials because their kids would not see officials that look like them. If the assignors do not listen to the concerns of the schools, they will not have a job. We have a lot of all-white schools and all-Black schools in the same conferences around here. If the coaches were not making an issue in some cases, the officiating staffs in many cases (not all but many) would be the same officials. Also it helped when we added 3 Person for just about every game. There was a need for good officials and some Black officials benefited across the board.

Originally posted by WeekendRef
I vehemently disagree with him on many social issues especially when it comes to race . I don't think he takes great umbrage to this as I think he realizes we are both entitled to our opinions . I only "jumped on Rut's head with both feet" after he put it on the ground and asked me to..... it was nothing personal .
The title of my initial post had to do with the fact that I knew this thread was going to turn into this and I really didn't want that but I felt I need to challenge those statements .

You have the right to your opinion. Just do not think I said it for agreement by all. I grew up in a community that where people like me could be counted on both hands. So I am not expecting people that think because we celebrate MLK Day we have all arrived.

Peace