I don't really care whether we wear the new shirt or not. But I have to disagree with those who think that the wide stripe is not noticeable. I think it's very obvious when the shirt is worn. I don't think it looks "terrible" if one os the shirts is different from the others, but it is clearly noticeable. IMO.

The material for the panel is micro-mesh... which most of the new shirts are that anyways, so I am not really sure how it is cooler. I haven't noticed any difference from the original shirts and these new ones (material), but I've recieved a couple compliments that they look sharp. I notice the difference, but that may just be me.

In our group have had discussions on the wide style shirts. For myself, I would not wear a wide style shirt if partners also did not also have they same shirt. Why would I want to have a different appearance than my partners? If I decided to purchase the wide style shirt I would bring both shirts to each games in order to insure that as a crew with all have the same appearance on the court

The black strip is made of a different material than the rest of the shirt. Kind of like a screen door as compared to a sliding window. Even though the shirt I have the entire shirt is rather cool (as in temperature) and a very breathable material, but the side panel (that is all black) gives more air flow with the shirt. I have two of the shirts and purchased them this summer and I love them. A lot better than the polyester shirts and look better than the traditional mesh or micro mesh shirts if you ask me.

Peace

I don't really have a firm opinion on the wide-panel zebra shirt. I do know that the NCAA modified their rule book to explicitly allow the wearing of it a couple of years ago. So perhaps without a similar change in the NFHS book, this shirt should be considered not to meet the current standards.

On the other hand it is hard to argue that it is not a black and white striped shirt! So my thoughts on the actual wearing of it are:

1. It should only be worn if the ENTIRE crew is wearing it. The officials are a team and their uniform needs to be the same. I have seen a couple of HS games in which only one official on the court wore this shirt and it did make him stand out.

2. The thick black stripe IS noticeable. It stands out every time an official raises his arm for a foul or violation. If that side of the official's body is facing the table, the coaches especially take notice of the different look. This was particularly true in the game that I mentioned in #1. So much so that one coach became upset because he felt that whenever "the official with the stripe" made a call it went against his team. He became fixated on the guy with the stripe and it eventually led to his removal.

3. At this time people in the basketball community do understand this shirt to be a "college shirt." I'm would be wary of giving the impression that the officials are big timing the HS game by wearing it.

4. There will be some adjustment period visually, but as this shirt becomes more prevalent the problem of #3 should disappear as people get used to seeing this style of jersey on the officials. That is normal for any change.

So what you're saying is because this 1 official wore the shirt with the wide black side panels instead of the standard shirt he got on the coaches nerves and this led the coach getting not 1 but 2 T's. And if he was wearing a regular shirt the coach would have been a happy little lamb and would have happily accepted any call that came his way.

This is what you're telling us?

So what you are telling me it is OK to have crew members where three different shirts without the panels, but to wear the panels is a no-no? For example on official wears the polyester, one wears the micro-mesh, and the third official wears the poly-cotton. All three shirts look different.

You are kidding right? I guess officials should not have different body types, be different races or different genders. I have heard coaches make a point of all these things and I hardly ever work on a crew where I am the same race as both my partners or in many cases I am not the same gender and I definitely do not have the same body type as my partners and I always hear my partners singled out by their features and look. I guess we all should wear the exact same pants too.

Funny, I did not have one person even comment on it when I wore them all summer. The only feedback I got was when I asked someone directly about wearing them. So far I have not gotten a clear answer.

That is about the only thing I agree with.

Peace

I think what Nev is saying is that because the official stood out it was more obvious to the coach that the calls he disagreed with were coming from just that one official. Seldom does a coach go off at an entire crew to the point that he gets tossed. It's difficult to get that worked up at a group. It's more often the case that he goes off at a single official.

Of course we'll never know whether the coach would have been tossed had they been identically attired. It's not that difficult to identify individual members of a crew by height, weight, gender, skin color, hair color, etc. But you usually have to be paying some added attention to realize that the taller official has all the calls against you. Throw in something so eye-catchingly novel as the wide black panel and you can't help noticing it's the same guy time after time. Why stand out like that?

So all these years the only way I have ever been identified or my partners have been identified on the court is by the shirts we wear? Man, I cannot wait until I actually wear one of these shirts during a game. Then when they talk about the fat referee or the guy with grey hair, they really can identify us. ;)

Peace

Unfortunately Jeff, someof the fat referees also have grey hair and vice versa, so it will still be difficult to distinguish between the officials. :)

No, that's not what he's telling you, and no, they don't look different enough for anyone to notice, assuming the poly-cotton hasn't faded.

Well that is a matter of opinion. The reason I have never purchased a poly-cotton was the way those jerseys fade after a few times in the wash. They look very different to me and I can spot those shirts a mile away. This is why I do not have any in my closet.

The point is if the NF does not want these shirts to be used, they better make it clearer than what you guys are claiming. All the NF says is a black and white striped shirt. It is not like we are talking about a different color shirt. We are only talking about a style and there is more than one style of black and white shirts.

My main point is I have never heard a coach ever identify an official by the shirt. I have witnessed or been identified by things like race, color, hair style, size, where I live or any other distinguishing characteristic someone might see. I have never, ever had anyone point out the type of shirt someone wears and get mad over it.

Peace

I already agreed with that above.

Well, if it's only about the style of the shirt then is it have a problem for one official to be wearing a collared shirt while the others are wearing V-neck?

Or even, by your logic, this shirt would be okay because it is just a different style of black and white stripes:
http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2...a_refs_195.jpg


So because it hasn't happened to you it can't be true? :rolleyes:

Perhaps you could try wearing a red T-shirt for a game and see what happens.

I wish they would let us wear grey shirts in Texas.

After going to my camp in Florida, where they are allowed to wear the grey's, I got very jealous.

I realize this was an old discussion.
 

:) Nevada,

Even if someone made an issue out of the shirt, it still would not change how I feel about the shirts. The shirts are black and white. If coaches identify us by other means, they will and can identify us by the type of shirts. There are already different styles of black and white shirts and you can look at officials and see a difference. I am not surprised this upsets you so much.

Peace