Two women in stripes - newspaper article

[rockyroad]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Then you have a distorted representation of the system. Call it what you will but those that work hard and continue to work hard advance. Sure, few skyrocket to the top but it does happen. There are always those who think they should be getting better games and blame it on "good old boys" when we all know that, in most cases, they're just disillusioned or merely equal to those already working the games.

There's a young guy who moved to the Portland Area last year. He's already working the top games and will likely get enough exposure in 1-3 more years to get a tourney slot....all before he's 25 and all fully deserved....certainly not the evidence of a "good old boys" system.

And how many qualified people have quit or moved out of the PBOA because they weren't "moving up"? The PBOA is controlled by one person, and if that one person wants someone to move up, they will - qualified or not...of course the opposite is also true.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

And how many qualified people have quit or moved out of the PBOA because they weren't "moving up"? The PBOA is controlled by one person, and if that one person wants someone to move up, they will - qualified or not...of course the opposite is also true.

How may have quit/moved? Don't know. How many players quit their HS teams and chose to do something else or move to a smaller school because they weren't getting the playing time they thought they deserved? For every person that thought they were qualified and should have moved up and didn't, I can show you 2 others that did stick around and move up.

A substantial majority of people is nearly any field think they are in the above average group. Studies consistently show this number to be about 80%. That means that at least 30% of any group are wrong about their relative abilities. Just because they quit due to lack of moving up doesn't mean they should have.

I didn't move up fast but I've alway felt fairly treated. Maybe I'd have liked to move faster but the longer I've worked, the more it becomes apparent that their were a lot of good officials ahead of me. I had to keep working and getting better and I've done so, I've moved up. To move everyone up faster only means that you must boot people out just as fast. Their are only so may games to be had.

All organizations are controlled by someone. Whether it be one person or a small group of people. Their job is to service the "group", not the individuals of the group. As a result, there will always be some individuals that feel shorted and some that may even feel lucky. There have been plenty enough people of all demographic groups in the PBOA that have moved up to suggest that moving up can be done (mostly by persistant hard work) and is not done in a discriminatory manner based on race/gender/age. I certainly don't dismiss that fact that a persons abilities can be misjudged and may have been in a case or two (in either direction).

[Old School]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

I didn't move up fast but I've alway felt fairly treated. Maybe I'd have liked to move faster but the longer I've worked, the more it becomes apparent that their were a lot of good officials ahead of me. I had to keep working and getting better and I've done so, I've moved up.

I agree with this.