I've been wearing mesh for the past two seasons. Nobody, including my assignors and observers, have said anything about them.

However, I believe having polished shoes is one of the 100 or so criteria that NCAA observers use to evaluate potential tourney officials, so it matters to someone...unless those criteria is behind-the-times (which are-a-changin).

Here's a thought, is it better to look professional or athletic?

Also, my favorite tip regarding shoes: instead of coloring stripes and trim with a Sharpie or other markers, use black nail polish. You'll be much happier with the results.

I'm using the Nike Shox Turbo.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

Yeah, I'll borrow some from my "Civil Union Partner". Not that there's anything wrong with that.

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/seinfeld/...ings.wrong.jpg