Here is a very interesting article, please read it and give your honest feedback.http://www.nj.com/hssports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1138258025221650.xml&coll=1

It seems a shame this would still be going on in this day and age.

Well, believe it! It would be interesting to hear what they have to say about it in the future.

What also is a shame that those who know it's wrong regardless of the color of there skin, will not say anything!

I have no idea whether these officials are being treated unfairly or not, as we only hear one side in this very short article. But I do know that there are prejudices/bias in these types of situations across the entire country, that all officials face, not just minority races or women. And yes, minority races and women do face more of this in life. Everyone is not treated fairly.

But I also know they are officials, that no matter who long they officiate, never get any better and will never be able to work a varsity game. That includes all races and genders.

In our association, we work crews. Every varsity crew has either one white and two minorities or two minorities and one white, with the exception of two crews. Those two crews, one is all white, one is all black. On my crew that worked the state championship in football, there were three whites and two blacks, This year, our association president is black, the VP is Native American, the tresurer is white, and the secretary is black. Of the 11 board members, five are white and 6 are minorities. We go out of our way to make sure that everyone is represented

I said all that to say those. IMO, that's very balanced situation. Evenso, I know there are members who feel they aren't getting varsity games because of the color of their skin. There's always going to be those who think they are being mistreated. In fact, each of us feels that way from time to time. I don't have an answer to that, as I don't think there is an easy answer. But again, I also know that there are those officials who will never work a varsity game, nor should they.

JMHO

Very interesting and especially in New Jersey. I have always heard (NEVER WITNESSED) the opposite that officials of certain race and/or gender were advancing through because of their race and/or gender. It is a shame that this stuff still exists.

BBR, It is good to know your association is doing a good job in making the diversity work within it. It truly shows an honest effort is being made. You are correct in stating there is two side to every story and that everyone is not able to work specific levels.

I know I am not surprised. I am more surprised that we do not see more situations like this taking place.

Peace

Similar to some comments by BBR, my first thought was to wonder how good these officials are. Being good, very good, can change a lot IMO.
While I commend any board, organization or group that makes sure different races are represented, we will not reach that "zen" level (or whatever :D), until this whole subject isn't an issue - spoken, thought or otherwise. The organizations who do something about this are doing MUCH better than people who aren't even concerned about it. BBR, what city do you live in?

Fayetteville, NC

I agree that the ability level of these officials does matter. The problem is that if they are just as good as other officials and they still are sitting out, that is still wrong. If the story is correct one of the officials has coaches wondering why he is not getting games. I realize coaches are not the main judge of officials, but I think coaches know who works hard and who is on a similar level as other officials that they see all the time.

This might be an extreme case, but in my area we have to be better, work longer and prove more to get a simple opportunity to work in many conferences. Someone that is not Black/Hispanic can get there friend to bring them along and no one says anything. Times have really not completely changed.

Peace

Even though I know I should resist I can't
 

JRut ,
You say some strange things so I just want to make sure I understand what you just wrote correctly .
1) Are you saying (In so many words)that the people that assign the "many conferences" in your area will not hire someone unless they are better / work harder and prove themselves first ??

or are you saying :

2) The people that assign the "many conferences" are all racist and will not hire a black /hispanic unless they have no choice .

If you were trying to say the former then I say congratulations to the assignors for wanting to hire officials that are better, have worked longer and proved themselves .
If you are trying to say the latter then you are really really making a strong statement by essentially calling all the assignors in those "many conferences" racist . That is quite a statement for one to make .
I will not even dignify the whole white people (Sorry someone who is not Black /hispanic) can bring a friend and nobody cares at all comment because that is just ignorant......oh yeah I forgot I am not from your area so what would I know .
Your area must be a real interesting place .
Sorry for the venom in this response but I just found your comments really insulting..... and I still can't figure out why .

I totally believe Rut's experiencee -- that in his area blacks and Hispanics have to be "better" in order to get varsity games.

That being said, I assure you that being a white male in many conferences in my area is no guarantee of getting varsity games -- no matter how hard you work. And the reasons are identical to what Rut cited -- if you do not have connections, you are not getting "promoted." The "old boy network" here is truly color blind (in my experience), but if you have no connections, you had better be a LOT better and work a LOT harder and be willing to travel a LOT farther if you want varsity games.

I recently was introduced to a second-year offical who had a full varstiy schedule. It turns out he is the son of a high school AD and the assignor made sure to take good care of the son. I also worked a varisty game this week with a second-year official. It was no coincidence that she got the game. She is still learning (and she is the first to admit it), but there is a big push to get women to officiate girl's games. An inexperienced woman will get a girls's varsity game much faster than an experienced man who is trying to break into varsity.

WeekendRef, I certainly won't speak for Mr. Rutledge (he will no doubt answer you), but I think it was pretty clear that what he was saying is that it is his observation and opinion that, at least in his area, Black officials have to "be better, work longer and prove more" than is also true for White officials. Based on what he has said at other times, I think you will get no argument from him that he would support high standards (the good games should go to the better, harder/longer working, more proven officials). He would object -- and so would I and a lot of other people -- when that high standard is only applied to certain officials rather than all officials.

In my area, I know of lousy officials who are Black who complain about not getting more and better games and they attribute the problem to race/racism. Also in my area I know of lousy officials who are White who complain about not getting more and better games and they attribute the problem to politics/being buddies with the right people. Unfortunately, those officials spend too much wasted time and energy on complaining and not enough on improving. However, it *is* true that issues like race and politics influence - sometimes with subtlety, sometimes overtly - human beings' decisions. Each of us needs to be aware of it and to do our best to treat people fairly and as much as possible based on performance.

Totally agree. People find excuses, in many cases, for not being promoted. Notice I did not say all cases but there are definitely plenty that couldn't work a grade school game that think they should be working varsity.

Hello all,
I am an official in Jersey. I have some knowledge about this situation. After reading this article, I talked to some high ranking members out here both black & white. What I was told is that there story has some merit. The assigners have a circle of officials that they use and a lot of black official are out of that loop. I have been told that people are looking in to this now. There is also another issue that was not brought up in the article. There are black official getting varsity games, but most of these officials are being assigned to work games only in the inner-city, where they are getting no exposure. Places where most white official do not want to go. So there are several issues here. I just hope this article will help people take notice and fix this situation

Here in CA state games are assigned to try to "MATCH THE PLAYERS" If 75% of the players are a minority the state trys to match with 75 % of the refs being a minority. Recently at our asoication meeting this issue came up in a subtle way. The officials that were speaking the loudest claming some type of "discrimination" were no where to be seen the last several years at our association summer clinic. Nor did I see any of those same officials at any of the other camps that I attended. Is their a possibility that discrimination exists in some associations? YES! But that exists in all areas of life, work, and schooling. What do you do? Don't b*tch, moan, and whine. Get involved. Run for office in your association. Ask to see the bylaws and make sure that they are applied equally and fairly. Don't go to every association meeting and complain that "I'M NOT GETTING TREATED FAIRLY AND HOW COME I DON'T GET THE GAMES THAT I WANT OR THINK I SHOULD GET." Work from within and be positive. Do you think that I got to where I am because I am a certain color? No I got here because I work very hard. I study continuously. I put in my time doing Rec. games refining my game management skills so I can apply them on a nightly basisi at upper level games. I go to camp. I stay in the gym to be in the best possible shape. I watch my game films and critic myself continully. Will you ask yourself if you are doing everything you can to make yourself better?

I believe if you do your job and do it well you will get the recognition that you deserve. There will always be isolated cases of racism and reverse-racism as well. You just have to keep working hard.

Re: Even though I know I should resist I can't
 

No what I am saying that as an African-American, to get noticed is we have to be better or different to get noticed. For example if one guy is white and another guy is Black that both officiate, it is not unusual to see the Black guy to have to excel more in order to get the same chance.

Let me put it to you like this. The Chicago Public League about 3 years ago would take their city champion to the State Finals in all sports that I was aware of. Now the Chicago Public League or Sports Administration is run by mostly Black people. The CPL would also was allowed to take 3 officials from the CPL and they would work the IHSA State Finals. If you look when this system was in place, almost all of the State Final officials with very few exceptions came directly from the CPL (which was picked only by the CPL). So it was kind of understood that one of the main ways to work the State Finals was through the CPL and if you were not from Chicago, the numbers were not very encouraging. You can take from that how you want to, I am just telling you that many officials that were working State Finals or had very good résumés as officials did not work anywhere else or were not given many opportunities to work in suburban conferences. Now things have changed a little and if it were not for many coaches white and Black that did not raise concerns, we might be in the same boat again. For the record, the IHSA got rid of the automatic bid for the CPL to send a team to the State Finals and took away their right to pick the officials that would go work the State Finals as well.

There is a difference between "personal" racism and "institutional" racism. If you personally feel that an individual has things they do not like about a certain group of people that is "personal" racism. If an assignor or group of assignors do not hire qualified Black officials to work games that would be "institutional" racism. I personally do not care much for "personal" racism because I cannot do anything about that or change personal attitudes. I can do something about "institutional" racism because that is more hurtful and can affect opportunities. I can tell you that in speaking to a lot of Black officials in my area we talk a lot about the hurdles we have to overcome. We talk about why we did not get hired and why when we get hired there are not many that follow. I have been personally fortunate to excel and to get many opportunities, but I do not understand why officials that I would work with anytime are not getting hired over people that in many cases cannot get a single playoff game. It does not make since to me and many others in the Black officiating community. Or when the criticism from certain coaches comes up, they point out the only Black official on the game when we were all working the same game.

You are not bothering me. You asked a question and I answered. You either accept the way I feel or you turn the other cheek. I can confidently say that when many Black officials get together in my area (I know a lot of them) we talk about these issues and we wonder why some of us work some places and we cannot work other places. You can stick your head in the sand, but this is a real concern with the officials that look just like me.

Also I live in a metropolitan area where people mostly live in communities with people that look like them. There are not many communities that are that racially mixed. It is not unusual that you have a game where an all white team plays and entirely Black team and both teams are in the same conference. I had a game like that Tuesday. It was also not the first time this season and it will not be the last when I look at my schedule. I know if I decided tomorrow to not work a single white school I would have maybe two games in a year. I do not live in the Chicago city limits and I cannot afford to only go to certain places and work for certain people

Peace

My BS flag is in limbo. Who works the playoffs and the finals? I know that teams like fairfax and dominguez(sp?) are always strong. Are the officials on their games always black?

:confused:

Getting no exposure to what?

I also am confused by this statement. Best ball is often played in the "inner city", leastwise where I grew up (NYC). Ergo best teams. Black officials get to work games with best teams.....how is that a setback to their career?

I cannot speak for this area. I can tell you working in the inner-city is not always what it is cracked up to be. It is also a misconception to think the best ball is player there. Here many of the best teams are in the suburbs. So if you are only working in one area, you can get lost out there. Officials is more than just working the best ball, it is being seen by the right people. If the right people are not working in the inner city, that can be a major setback if you ask me.

Peace

Varsity ref jobs a matter of black or white
 

Let's keep it real! Let's look at the road one may need to take to move up the ladder. There are some officials who move fast because there good. There are those who have to spend tons of money to attent a whole lot of camps, who catch a break like that. There are some who have everything set up for them. not what they know, but who they know. It's easy to see alot of officials working on the college level who clearly are not even athletic and can't even run the floor well, but they are part of that good old boy club. I am a firm believer that if this was not an issue, these officials would not have had this meeting. And the fact of the matter is, those officials who have came foward and spoke up, may face more rough roads ahead. Alot of officials will never even touch this topic with a ten foot pole, because they no it exist and they don't want to get less games in the future for getting honest. I personaly am gonna see if we can have a meeting like this in my area, because the state of officiating has a race isuue that needs to be addressed here!

What you just described is a system of racism...choosing the officials for a game based on their race...whether black or white, it is simply wrong. Imagine if the playoffs happened to be 90% of one race (pick either one), does anyone think it is fair to disqualify officials because that have enough of the 10% race despite the fact that they might be better. It doesn't matter which race you view it from, it's not right.

That said, I agree with that that those that often complain the most and don't get the better games are those that do not work to get better (black or white).

California
 

Just wanted to reply to the California official. I work in the S.F. bay area and I have never heard of his 75% policy. I and every other member in our association works games with all genders and races. There is no matching of race to games.

Good officials move up, average officials stay where they are and poor officals eventually stop officiatng. As far as I have seen race has nothing to do with it.

Re: Even though I know I should resist I can't
 

You're right: you should have resisted, and I'm calling you out on it. You projected a false dichotomy onto Rut's argument, one that is so outlandish that it seems that you intentionally misread his post. He's already clarified himself for you (and FWIW, I don't think that anyone else needed his words clarified), so I won't do that for him.

What I will do is express my great frustration with you on this matter. The header to your post said a lot about you and what you think about Rut, and what reasonable people might believe you think about lots of other things. Look, I've had my fair share of run-ins with Rut around here, and I admit to reading his posts with a more critical eye than I read those of many others. That does not mean, however, that I go into those readings with the idea that Rut is an idiot and that my job is to shout that to the world. You seem, on the other hand, not only to read Rut's posts critically, but to view them as an opportunity--if not a call--to jump on his head with both feet, no matter how ill-considered your own ideas.

Have you never heard a member of a minority group speaking of the necessity of working harder to get the same opportunities, rewards, etc? If you have, are you so incomprehensibly blind, naive,or provincial as to believe that this is never the case? This notion is all that Rut was talking about. Not exactly the stuff of radicals.

I earnestly suggest you explore and act on one of three possibilities: 1) apologize to Rut for your woefully myopic and belligerent reading of his post and cut him a wee bit of slack on future readings of his posts, or 2) apologize to Rut for your woefully myopic and belligerent reading of his post and stop responding to his posts, or 3) apologize to Rut for your woefully myopic and belligerent reading of his post and stop reading anything he posts.

PS: if your woefully myopic and belligerent misreading of Rut's post was not indeed intentional, I refer you again to the above suggestions.

Varsity ref jobs a matter of black and white?
 

For those of you who don't have this issue in your areas, you need to really thatnk god. Once a former D1 official (african american) told me that about time an official of color get's a break he is usually up in age. He said that it's easier for an official of color to move up the ladder on the woman's side, then it is for the men!

I will put it this way. I spoke to an assignor recently about working in his conference next year and a friend of mine suggested that we crew up with another official in this conference. BTW, all three officials would be Black. The first comment that the assignor made was, <b>"Three Black officials going to all white schools?"</b> Now he was mostly kidding and we will work in his conference next year as a crew according to him. But the fact that the statement was made suggests to me that race can be a factor and many times a big factor in where people might get picked up or not picked up.

I have also never worked with a female official on a HS game Boy's varsity game outside of the Chicago Public League Assignors. I do not think that is because there are not women capable, there are people not allowing them to work those levels. You ever wonder why the only women to work the NCAA Men's Tournament came from a traditionally Black Conference (SWAC). The gatekeepers to opportunity are not sharing the wealth.

Peace

I am a New Jersey ref and officials need to be judged on their ability alone. My board is probably 70 percent white, 25 percent black and 5 percent Hispanic. I've seen white officials get good games, I've seen black officials get good games and I've seen Hispanic officials get good games. All the races on our board seem to get along rather well, although this is only one person 's opinion.

However, one place where I believe there is a bias is with male/female officials. There is a perception on our board that female officials are given the opportunity to move long the ranks a bit faster. My perception is that if there is a male official and a female official with the same ability that the female official will generally get the better assignment. It seems that female officials have a better chance to "move up" than male officials.

Re: Re: Even though I know I should resist I can't
 

No what I am saying that as an African-American, to get noticed is we have to be better or different to get noticed. For example if one guy is white and another guy is Black that both officiate, it is not unusual to see the Black guy to have to excel more in order to get the same chance.



FWIW, in the areas where I have worked, the opposite is true. Whether or not one agrees with it means nothing. It's the way it is...deal with it, move on, and bust your behind to be the best official YOU can be.

Very Interesting
 

As of 9:26 Eastern Standard time 688 views and 30 replies....things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Why is it interesting?
 

Why is every thing thumbs down with you? Do you have a negative approach to life in everything you do?

There's another thread with 798 views and only 22 posts. BIG FLIP! Get over it. Not everyone who reads wants to comment.

From what I see, with women, it's a double edged sword. Women are encouraged to work the women's game and if they choose to do so, they have a better chance of moving up quickly than the men. However, opportunities for women to work high level men's games, even BV games are much much fewer and far between.

In terms of race, it seems like it has a lot to do with the area. I don't doubt that in some places minorities probably have to do more to get noticed in order to get hired, whereas in other areas, the minority official might get the nod among two equally qualified officials because conferences want to augment their ranks with minority officials.

Ultimately, though, it comes down to how you can call a game. Other factors, such as race, may help or hurt you depending on the area. That's not necessarily fair, but officials who have, "the look" will also get the benefit of the doubt, as will well connected officials. That shouldn't be an indictment on anybody, but the fact is that like any other job, the employer will hire who he/she thinks is the best fit, for whatever reason, and that coordinator of officials has to live with the results of who he/she hires. Basically, if the coordinator routinely hires people who can't get the job done, that person will ultimately be out of a job.

SMEngmann,

Very well said.

Peace

BktballRef
 

There are 14 different icons that are available for me, or anyone to choose from in this forum. In this case the thumbs down seems apropriate. Maybe posted this thread has raised a few eyebrows with some folks. I am sure though that the officials who benefit from such bias more then likely won't have much to say. But, I did expect those that are affected by such bias to respond. Hopefully some actions will be taken in the areas where this sort of stuff takes place. And for me to respond to your remark would be like entertaining a fool, which is something that I don't do!

Re: BktballRef
 

I'm sorry but I wasn't attempting to entertain you or any other fool. I was simply pointing out that there are 14 different icons that are available for me, or anyone to choose from in this forum. Every time you post, you use the thumbs down.

My guess is that you're one of the officials that we've discussed. Unable to get varisty games, unwilling to accept the fact that you're not as good as you think you are, unwilling to realize that playing the race card won't get you better games, and just dumb enough to not realize that playing the race card when it isn't valid diminishes the struggles of others who are discriminated against.

At some point in your life, I hope your outlook can become less negative. After all, you could have fallen asleep last night and not woke up this morning. There are a lot of things that are a lot more important than not being able to call varsity ball.

[Edited by BktBallRef on Jan 30th, 2006 at 09:40 AM]

It does not bother me when a roughly equally well-qualified woman gets an assigment to officiate a girls varsity basketball game over me. It does not bother me when any historically underrepresented minority gets an assignment, provided roughly equivalent skills/performance (I don't imagine that "exact" equivalence is possible). I *want* my daughter to see women in positions of authority; I think this is good for her and good for society.

In my judgment, affirmative action is good for everyone, not just the directly affirmed individuals.

Backing up JRut
 

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.

You are right, but wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where it isn't necessary?

In BBR's defense, I think his question had more to do with repeated use of an icon instead of the content of the post. At least that is how I read it.

In Nevada, there are women who can handle BV and I worked with them with no concerns. I don't think I would have the same comfort level where I am now. It isn't an issue with the women officials race or whether I like them as people or not.

I would encourage any woman offiicial to push towards any level of officiating they want, to include BV games. I would guess most top women's officials (NCAA) would have no problem at all in a BV game. It would probably be a piece of cake for them.

I belong to a board that is mostly black and a board that is mixed - with a white commmissioner. When I first go to the area I was initially on the board that is mostly black and I wasn't working. I took matters into my own hands and went dual. The commissioners (what we call assigners here) have changed on my original ("home") board but I still do more games on the other board. By a large margin, I have been shown more "love" from the mixed board. I say all of this to say that at the heart of the matter, we have to be good. Institutional racism (good explanation Rut) will continue to exist until people come together to change it. Unfortunately, it may never happen in our lifetimes.

This is what I am trying to say, when I say exposure. How can an official work state tournament game or any other high profile games if no one ever comes to see you work? Yes there may be some good basketball in the inner city, but the most of these schools are in places where many non-black officials do not want to go. So the assigners are saying let these officials deal with working games in the HOOD. While the non-black officials are working the big games, at the top schools, in front of big crows. There needs to be more balance.

BktBallRef
 

I am not one of those officials of color who can't get a varsity schedule, so I don't even know what it feels like. But, I do know that it does exist and I am not even suprised that there are officials who have nothing to say about this matter. This is not about me, or anyone else playing the race card. I didn't write the article, I just posted the link to the article. Anyone can pretend that this is just some disgruntled officials being passed over. I quite frankly know how things are in this world. I delt with it in school and in the work place. I have been the only african american on my job for 18 years, so I am use to playing the game. I have just been blessed to know how to play it very well. It's just a pitty that on and off the court some people just lack integrity. And as far as the thumbs down goes, I use it because I can!

Unfortunately for you, you don't get to determine when or why other posters post. So get off your high horse and come back down to the ground with the rest of us. This situation does not effect everyone, everywhere and no one is required to post. Only a fool would think that it does.

Rough Areas
 

There are also public schools here in New York City, like in Harlem, Brooklyn, and the Bronx where alot of white officials may feel uncomfortable working because there in rough areas and I can understand that. But, I have yet to turn down a game because of location. Mind you, I don't blame anyone for turning back a game if they feel that there safety is at risk. But becasue of the crazy crowds and dealing with all types of elements working in the inner city has made me develope a tough skin. Pressure is something else, and I have seen folks get rattled easy in rough areas.

Woof Woof
 

A hit dog will always holler!

Love2ref,

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

Re: Backing up JRut
 

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

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 .

tomegun
 

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

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


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.

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.

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