NASO

[Doug]

hey, I am thinking about joining NASO, does anyone have it and like it?

[Mark Padgett]

I have been a member for a number of years and really feel I get a lot of benefit from it. The membership dues includes insurance, Referee magazine each month with a "members only" insert, discounts on merchandise and publications and a really nifty membership card!

Actually, they were a huge resource in helping me get referee assault protection legislation passed in my state a few years ago, and I know the information exchange between me and them was expedited by the fact I was a member.

Not only that, I get to email Bill Topp on rules interpretations and he emails back! Golly, gee!

[bluezebra]

I've been a member almost from the onset. It's well worth the money. Besides all the other "goodies", you have three million dollars in liability insurance. That alone, these days, is worth it. I retired from actively officiating two years ago, but still keep my membership. That way, I keep up on rules, fellow officials, etc.

Bob

[Kelvin green]

I dont support NASO or Referee magazine basedon what they pulled with Brad, Jim, and this site.!

[Doug]

elaborate please

[JRutledge]

This is called business. If someone had a site that was similar to yours, you would not be happy if they were taking business away from yours, but associating their name with yours. This happens everyday in business and businesses sue each other because over stealing or what looks like stealing similar ideas.

And I would assume that Referee had problems with people thinking that eReferee.com was them. And that is why I am sure the lawsuit came about.

But for me, I am a member of NASO and I love my membership. I do not expect things to be perfect, but the resources that NASO and the magazine provide is priceless to me as an official. And I feel that you really do not have to choose. If you want to dish out the money for both, do that. I personally do not, because RightSports is mainly over the internet. I am sure that it has good resources, but giving them about the same money for something I cannot touch or smell to me does not make a lot of sense. I have to spend money to access the resources that RightSports has to offer. And I also feel that NASO has much greater credibility. The officials that have not accomplished much of anything are contributers to their website. I am sure there are many good officials and knowledgable people that are apart of this site, but I think the people at RightSports are a couple of steps behind at this point. I really think if you want to be members of both, do so. Any knowledge of any kind is always good. But I do not think it is a issue of one over the other. If you have the money and choose to be a member of both, you have the prerogative. For my lifestyle at this point, NASO is the only way to go.

Peace

[BktBallRef]

Last year, REFEREE magazine filed suit aganst RightSports.com, the owner of ereferee.com They claimed that they owned exclusive rights to the word Referee, since they first had a site named Referee.com. REFEREE won their suit and RightSports was forced to rename their website. That's what Kelvin is referring to.

As far as REFEREE magazine goes, my experiences with them have been very poor. 1- They're quizzes are usually filled with errors. 2- I would get my issue about 10 days after others in my association. 3- They offer a reduced rate to new subscribers but nothing to those who have subscribed for years.

Also, there was a post by Jon Levinson on the McGriff board about six weeks ago. Jon talked about how much trouble he had with NASO people with regards to game fee insurance when he was out with an injury. I have included the link below.

http://www.gmcgriff.com/refonline/ww...ges/21371.html

They've done some good work with regards to getting legislation passed regarding violence against officials. But I felt you should hear some of the negative things as well.