KY Referee Squabble - Outta Control

[IAABO_Ref]

Just did a google on this and found this:


http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll...78/1033/NEWS02

[D1RefnKY]

Hello. It appears that I am the subject of some negative talk in the referee circles. However, many referees who are doing the talking have not once asked me what happened. They are only listening to others referees and joining in on the negative talk because that is what is “juicy.” However, I have a response and that is basketball is simply basketball; I must and will be a man first. If I lose officiating due to this, I will sleep well at night knowing that I have my dignity, honor, and self-respect. I will always fight for what I believe no matter what. In times like these, I have discovered who my REAL friends are and who are not to be trusted.

To those who want to further try to make me look bad and say that I should have done this or done that: Unless you are in my shoes, do not criticize me. Before you criticize someone, try to get the whole truth…there is always two sides to every story. Do not believe everything you read in the paper. They (Courier-journal) did not describe everything correctly. Things were omitted for whatever reason.

Regardless of what the majority of the public may think about my decision to challenge being removed from a game that I earned and that I felt I should not have been removed, I stood up for what I felt was right. I did not place myself above students or fans. Instead, I challenged an unjust decision due to the premeditated actions of another official, Darrell Bailey coming into the locker room – uninvited, and had to endure, in my opinion, racial slurs. It is easy for people to say, “Walk away,” when you are not facing the blunt of attacks or in that person’s shoes. The unfortunate outcome was what it was (the game being postponed), but never was my intent to harm kids in any way. I just wanted to work the game I earned and had been scheduled to work. What hasn't been mentioned is that I was removed by a person who I did not think had authority to remove me. Also, I have YET to speak to my assigning secretary. He was not the person who removed me and the KHSAA was not there either. They (KHSAA) only supported the decision AFTER it was unjustly made.

Nevertheless, after the “game” of basketball is played, I am the one who must look myself in the mirror and be able to maintain my self-respect, honor, and dignity. Yes, to me, that is worth fighting to defend...even if I lose officiating. This is an avocation no matter how much I love the game. I still have my career and that is what pays the bills.

Still, there is another lesson here: fight for what you believe no matter if EVERYONE is against you. It takes more courage to stand alone in the eye of a storm than to join the band wagon of negativity, which many have. There are some that have privately supported my actions. However, my strength comes from above through Psalm 1 as well as “My head is bloody, but unbowed - Invictus,” and “See It Through.” I can and will endure regardless of what some may think of me…

I DID NOT STOP THE GAME! The injunction was for me to WORK the game. The KHSAA opted to postpone the game rather than go against the decision to remove me from the game. I have no problem allowing everyone and anyone to see the court order. In fact, I am faxing it to Referee Magazine tomorrow...they called for an interview.

I did not want this attention. I just wanted to work the game I earned. I love officiating as you all do too. I felt that fighting for this was worth the risk. I stand by my decision to challenge the decision of the KHSAA despite public opinion that I was wrong.

I will take responsibility for getting into a verbal dispute, but I should have never had to be subjected to being called "BOY!" over and over to the point where I could no longer demonstrate restraint. Even when I walked away the LAST time, Darrell said, "That's right, you better walk away boy!" I utilized my legal right to challenge and for this I will NEVER apologize.

As far as being on the court, I never made it out to the floor. They stopped me after I was out of the locker room and prevented me from working the second half. That is why the altercation was visible by the public. They told me I could not finish the game in front of everyone. My honor, creditability, and reputation was at state. I told them over and over, "This isn't right! This isn't fair! He came into the locker room and started with me!"

Bottomline...if Darrell does not come into the locker room, attack me verbally, and accuse me of something I did not do...this never happens and you all never know who I am. I would have been wrong if I had beat him down too, right? Instead, I went to court to fight for what I believed.

I appreciate those of you who support my actions, but even if you do not, I will not allow my manhood to be questioned. Like I said, when the game of basketball is over I must still be a man first. Basketball will go on without me, but my manhood and self-respect is something I must live with until I breath no more.


Take care,

Victor Montgomery

[zebraman]

So now we have the news accounts and your account. It still sounds to me like both you and the other official were in the wrong and put the tournament officials in such an embarrassing spot that they felt they needed to remove you both. You were both unprofessional in your role as officials and you paid the price. It also sounds like you are trying to make this a noble thing you did rather than owning up to your responsibility. That happens a lot these days.

Z

[BayStateRef]

Thank you for sharing your side. I completely respect your position and your actions -- and your coming forward on this site.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by D1RefnKY

Unless you are in my shoes, do not criticize me. Before you criticize someone, try to get the whole truth…there is always two sides to every story. Do not believe everything you read in the paper. They (Courier-journal) did not describe everything correctly. Things were omitted for whatever reason.

I stood up for what I felt was right. I did not place myself above students or fans. Instead, I challenged an unjust decision due to the premeditated actions of another official, Darrell Bailey coming into the locker room – uninvited, and had to endure, in my opinion, racial slurs.
Still, there is another lesson here: fight for what you believe no matter if EVERYONE is against you.

1) I completely agree with you, Victor. There are always 2 sides, and usually when you hear both of them, they are as different as can be. The problem here is that we, as officials and people, have only heard your side of the story and have read what was published in the newspaper. We have not heard the side of the other official involved, nor are we privy as to why the KHSSA made the decision that they did, or why the courts ruled as they did. Even then, it will probably take a heckuva lot more to find the truth in this unfortunate situation than just hearing two disparate accounts and trying to ascertain which one is more believable. That isn't fair to anybody, and, as officials, we are trained to be fair.

A situation like this cries out for a much more involved look at it by people trained and certified to deal with discrimination complaints imo. Hopefully, a proper and fair investigation by a neutral party could find a little bit more out about this situation. Hopefully you, or someone else, has already initiated such action. I know that, just from using Google, that you can lay a complaint over the web and get an investigation.

http://www.louisvilleky.gov/HumanRel...laint+form.htm

Jmo, but until we get more solid information, we should be giving everybody the benefit of the doubt. That includes the other official and the KHSAA.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by D1RefnKY

Hello.

[sad rationalization of inappropriate behavior deleted]

Take care,

Victor Montgomery

Why do people think they have to make a scene to have honor and dignity and be able to absolve any poor behavior in the name of such. Both guys screwed up and one wanted to get no punishment by saying the other guy started it. Maybe he did. While Vic may have earned the game by prior actions he also lost the game by his own actions.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Why do people think they have to make a scene to have honor and dignity and be able to absolve any poor behavior in the name of such. Both guys screwed up and one wanted to get no punishment by saying the other guy started it. Maybe he did. While Vic may have earned the game by prior actions he also lost the game by his own actions.

You have 1st hand knowlege that Mr. Montgomery made a scene? I'm sure if this were a situation where a coach entered the locker room, quotes like Maybe he did wouldn't be appearing in people's posts.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

You have 1st hand knowlege that Mr. Montgomery made a scene? I'm sure if this were a situation where a coach entered the locker room, quotes like Maybe he did wouldn't be appearing in people's posts.

Huh?

Mr. Montgomery admitted himself that "the altercation was visible to the public view" in his post above. The story from the newspaper stated that the reason that both officials were removed from games was that they both made a scene in public.

I agree with Camron. Both officials were wrong in taking their dispute into the public domain.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Huh?

Mr. Montgomery admitted himself that "the altercation was visible to the public view" in his post above. The story from the newspaper stated that the reason that both officials were removed from games was that they both made a scene in public.

I agree with Camron. Both officials were wrong in taking their dispute into the public domain.

I have never voiced an opinion either way concerning Mr. Montgomery's removal from the game. My bone of contention in this thread has been that a lot of people question Mr. Montgomery's version of events without any basis to doubt his word. I have seen no newspaper articles, interviews, testimonials in support of Mr. Bailey, responses/statements from Mr. Bailey, nor press releases from the KHSAA, that would put into question Mr. Montgomery's accounting of the events surrounding his suspension.

[ChuckElias]

BadNews, I'm not sure anyone is doubting Vic's account of the incident. I don't think anyone is calling him a liar. JR's point is that even if everything happened exactly the way Vic says it did, he still deserved to be taken off the game.

[rockyroad]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

I have never voiced an opinion either way concerning Mr. Montgomery's removal from the game. My bone of contention in this thread has been that a lot of people question Mr. Montgomery's version of events without any basis to doubt his word. I have seen no newspaper articles, interviews, testimonials in support of Mr. Bailey, responses/statements from Mr. Bailey, nor press releases from the KHSAA, that would put into question Mr. Montgomery's accounting of the events surrounding his suspension.

I, for one, do not question anything in Mr. Montgomery's account of what happened. I do, however, question his actions that led up to the dispute spilling over into the public eye. He was involved in that, and that's why he received the consequences that were handed down. I also don't buy all the hooey in his post stating that he didn't put himself above the game or the kids involved - that's crap. All he had to do was let the KHSAA (or whatever it is) know that he felt it was wrong to take him off the game, and then follow logical legal recourses AFTER the game was played...

And all this talk about "manhood" is ridiculous...sounds like the 12 and 13 year-olds I have to deal with in class - "He dissed me, so I had to do something".

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

I have never voiced an opinion either way concerning Mr. Montgomery's removal from the game. My bone of contention in this thread has been that a lot of people question Mr. Montgomery's version of events without any basis to doubt his word. I have seen no newspaper articles, interviews, testimonials in support of Mr. Bailey, responses/statements from Mr. Bailey, nor press releases from the KHSAA, that would put into question Mr. Montgomery's accounting of the events surrounding his suspension.

My bone of contention in this thread is that people believe Mr. Montgomery's version of the events without having any real basis to do so. It's not a matter of doubting Mr. Montgomery's word; it's a matter of not having any solid information available to us that would prove that his version was correct. We have not heard his adversary's version, which no doubt will be completely different. We have not heard from any (supposedly)neutral observers such as Mr. Montgomery's partners who must have been in the dressing room, or the tournament director(s) who saw the altercation spill out into public view. We are not privy to the court rulings and the reasonings involved that denied Mr. Montgomery's appeal. Until we have heard all of the details, I don't think that there is nearly enough information available to decide what version is correct. Iow, I think that both parties should get the benefit of the doubt as to what happened in the dressing room. To do otherwise without definitive information as to what actually took place is just not fair to either party imo.

I also think that neither party should get the benefit of the doubt for then taking their dispute public. They were both wrong to do so.