Victim of ego and power

[sadstripes]

Greetings,
I am sending you this information in the hopes of getting some resolution and also to let others know of my up hill battle to reclaim my tarnished name.

My name is Frank Williams Jr; I reside in the city of Mahtomedi, Mn. I am a youth basketball official PT here in the Twin Cities. I work at all levels from grade school to High school. I also work a lot of AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) games, mostly boys. I have been working for the Minnesota chapter of AAU thru a couple of assigners for about 5yrs. This is considered independent contract employment. There is a certication process recommended, but not required. I was informed on the 18th of May 2002 that my services as an official were no longer needed due to an “Incident Report” that was filed with their office concerning the quality of my officiating.

As an official in most cases during the course of a game someone is not going to agree with you. Well, about 2yrs ago I was calling an AAU game (15-16yr olds) Minn. Magic vs. Hopkins. The Magic team had a player that was constantly talking and taunting the opposing players. Early in the game he as well as his coaches were warned twice that this behavior must cease. However he did not. Early in the 4th quarter this player was called for a foul, and removed from the game by his coach. Upon leaving the game he engages in a loud, vulgar, and potentially hostile conversation with the timekeeper & scorekeeper. At this time he was assessed a technical foul. His coaches did not agree and approached me yelling, “You can’t do that, Stop the game!” I proceeded to inform them I thought this was appropriate and that the game was going to continue. One of the coaches (John Sherman) then left the court only to return approx 5 minutes later with the site director of the tournament. My partner and I discussed the matter with him and agreed it was appropriate. After the game a Hopkins parent came over to me and thanked my partner and me for a good job we had done. He went on to say he was glad we held our ground with John Sherman, he did not like him and that his son would never play for John or any of his Magic teams. He described John Sherman as too powerful, one whom plays favorites and a jerk. I had never spoken to John prior to this game, but had seen him lots of times. And that was not the first Magic game I had worked.

The following day at a different site (Park HS) I did a difficult game where one of the teams was winning by more than 20pts in the first half and the other team was very frustrated. In fact they where committing some very flagrant fouls and being overly rough. There were several technical and flagrant fouls called by (Clarence Corker) my partner and myself. Late in the 4th quarter one of the losing players tried to undercut a player attempting a dunk. At this point I deemed the game unsafe to finish and ended the game. As I was leaving the gym for refreshment, a parent whom was not in my direct path became verbally abusive to me. My response was to inform him he should leave the gym because the game was over. He then threatened to assault me. I admit I became bothered by this and invited him to go outside. I assumed he would not come and I was right, infact I didn’t go outside either I went directly to the site director (Rich Penick) to inform him of the problem. I did see him speaking to the parent later, but was not told what was said.

The following day at the same site, before beginning the last of 4 games I noticed John Sherman was again coach of an entirely different Magic team. He then said hold on and left the gym. Approx 1 minute later he returns with my assigner (Melvin Freeman) requesting me to move to another gym, of which I did even thou I would prefer to work on a wooden court versus a rubber floor. I did however ask Melvin why? He said he was not sure but would ask the site director (Rich Penick). Rich told me that because I had a problem with a parent yesterday I needed to be moved. I then asked him what does that have to do with John Sherman. He just smiled. I then stated to him in a very straightforward manner that I did not think it was fair for a coach to be able to dictate who can and can not officiate his games. I think Rich was confused at this time with the difference between anger and blatant honesty. He became upset and told Melvin to send me home. Melvin assured me it was OK, would look into it and even said he was going to pay me for the final game.

The following Monday I spoke with the President of the MYAS Minnesota Youth Athletic Services (Dan Klinkhammer). They are contracted by the MN AAU chapter to administrate their programs. He assured me there would not be a problem and that they deal with similar issues almost every Monday. I continued to work games that year and last year without any other problems. Infact this year I had a brief conversation with Rich Penick at a Shakopee tournament and he did not indicate to me there was anything wrong. On April 27th I was working at Edina HS and John Sherman was present. During the last game of the evening with MN. Magic vs. ??? One of the Magic players was making statements to my partner Bill Clancey. He warned him twice to stop, later in the game he cursed out loud about a call I made and I called a Technical foul. He then began a tirade at center court yelling, “What did I say? What did I say? “. Bill at this time accessed him with his second technical foul, automatic game ejection. Kevin Wilson of MYAS witnessed all this. Kevin also had to make the player leave the gym.

The next week Jim Herder who is also an assigner was notified of the decision to ban me from working any Boys Basketball for AAU. I then spoke to Buddy Hemric who is MYAS Associate Director in charge of these matters and he initially said he would give me the benefit of a doubt and allow me to continue to work until he could look into the matter, because there was no paperwork to support the decision. He did state that John Sherman and Rich Penick brought the matter to his attention. But, about a week later he decided to ban me. I wasn’t even notified until asked to leave a tournament at Hopkins on May 18th. I was told I could appeal the decision if I put it in writing, which I did. The first meeting had to be rescheduled because I was in Florida at that time. The second meeting was scheduled for Wed. June 12th at 5pm.

This was an appeal meeting of myself and 4 MYAS employees and 4 MN AAU Executive Committee members:

Buddy Hemric Associate Director / MYAS
Rich Penick Program Director / MYAS
Kevin Wilson Program Director / MYAS
Jeremy Innes Program Coordinator / MYAS
Willie Brazil MN AAU Boys BB Executive Committee Member? / MYAS?
Matt Ricker MN AAU Boys BB Executive Committee President
John Sherman MN AAU Boys BB Executive Committee Member / MN Magic President /
MN AAU Boys BB Founder?

Just so you know what I was up against and how unfair this meeting was, you have to take into consideration I actually didn’t get a copy of any incident report until 1 day before the meeting. Based on what Buddy had told me earlier there was no report. Also, when I did ask for a report on Thursday June 7th, ‘02, Buddy said he had to check to see if he could even send it to me because he had never did this before. The following Tuesday 2 reports were faxed, one written by John Sherman dated May 7th of 2002 and one by Matt Ricker dated May 13th of 2002. Both reports falsely portray me as a totally out of control official who’s calls are mostly wrong, calls to many technical fouls and goes into the stands after fans and parents. Keep in mind the reports only talk about alleged problems at games MN Magic teams were involved in. Also, both reports at times refer to the same incidents but are different stories. Why did John and Matt wait 2 years to write them? There is no other report that exist that I know of written by any other coaches, parents, or anyone for that matter.

I found myself fighting a steep up hill battle to defend myself in front of an obviously bias group handpicked by Matt Ricker himself. Even before the meeting got started I requested a different unbiased meeting of my peers. I was told that was not going to happen.

During the meeting I did my best to explain my actions in particular incidents that they asked about. I even went so far as to say I would have brought witnesses or letters if I had only known of the actual allegations more than a day out. It was made very clear to me that there is a concern about the amount of money that is paid by teams to participate in this program and that it should be a concern for me also. At one point Willie Brazil stated I had not convinced him simply because he did not hear me say anything apologetic about the incidents. I told Willie, If I don’t ever work another AAU game I am just blessed to be breathing, but I will not apologize for something I feel I didn’t do. And I went on to say to John Sherman that several people I had discussed this matter with recently also thought he was too powerful and did not agree with how he has his hand in everything. I also said that most of what was written was twisted and fabricated. We discussed these matters for about 45 minutes, at that time I was told they had to meet with someone else and I would have a week to present any other info to them before a decision was made. I was also told that most of the scoresheets used are still available, still not sure if that meant I would have access.

On June 19th I sent a request to Buddy Hemric for more time to investigate these accusations. I contacted him on Friday the 21st he stated to me he had left a message for Matt Ricker, but had not received a return call yet. The following week on Thursday the 27th and Friday the 28th I left a message for Buddy to call me with a update. As of 3:00pm I had not even received a courtesy call from anyone about what is going on or if any decision has been made. I also want information on how to gain access to game scoresheets that are on file I was told. I have since contacted Joe Crawford at AAU headquarters in Orlando, only to be informed that since I was not a AAU member I am clasified as an employee of the assigners, and not even an employee of MYAS. I would have no recourse to follow beyond the commitee I am dealing with now. He did tell that he would contact the commitee members here to find out all he could about the situation. But I have yet to hear anything from anyone as of July 5th.

Now I am not sure what to do at this point but I truly believe that I have been a victim of some kind of blackball conspiracy because John Sherman didn’t get his way 2 years ago. I truly love to officiate the game, been doing it almost 15 yrs and consider this as the best part time job in the world. But, if I have to coddle to anyone so I may continue working THAT”S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!! I really was disappointed that not one of the Individuals in the room during the appeal meeting mentioned what’s best for the youth in this program. How important is teaching them about fairness, respect, sportsmanship and a good work ethic?

I have always been a champion for more respect for officials, we are people to. I have been vocal about the lack of protection afforded to officials. In fact one of the big rules officials like to see enforced is in the event a coach is ejected from a game, they are not allowed to return to the bench the remainder of the tournament over the weekend. I have seen a number of occasions where coaches and parents are allowed to return anyway. Especially if they are plugged into any governing committee. For example: In 2001 Matt Ricker, who is currently on the Boys AAU basketball executive committee was ejected by my partner in a Friday night game for being verbally abusive at Eastview HS in Eagan only to return the following day to coach. I have heard several of my partners also state they have had problems with certain coaches who are somewhat immune to rules including Matt R. and John S.

Something has to been done, not only to protect my integrity but also to assess how many others have been treated in this degrading manner. I am not seeking anything I don’t deserve. I have not been able to earn monies for approx. 7 weeks recently. On the average worth about $200 per weekend, for an estimated total of $1400.

[BktBallRef]

Yours is a difficult situation. I'm not sure that you have any further recourse at this point, since it seems the intent of the people involved to not allow you to officiate.

I understand your desire to officiate and how good the extra money is that comes in. However, officials who officiate just to have a part time job, probably are doing it for the wrong reasons. That is a general consensus. I don't know you, so I can't say whether that applies to you or not.

If I were you, I believe I would put this behind me. I know you feel that an injustice has been done, but it seems to me you're going to have a difficult time winning this battle. If possible, find some other course of officiating to pursue. Are there any other recreation programs in your area? Why not work school ball?

In any case, I wish you the best. Good luck.

[Hawks Coach]

Every program can set their standards, and this one appears to be favoring the powerful coaches (from your side of the story). If true, that is unfortunate. But if you disagree with the organization's philosophy and power structure, as you clearly do, then this probably isn't a place you will ever be happy officiating.

I understand the urge to fight this issue, but the fight at best will result in a temporary vindication. You are not likely to change the perspective of those who are running this organization, and you are very likely to run into even more difficulties were they to reinstate you. It just becomes one big negative cycle that benefits nobody.

If there are many officials who feel as you do, they should all walk and let the organization try to figure out what to do next. If you are alone (or in a small minority), you will remain that way and just add a lot of stress and anxiety that you do not need. If your presence results in constant conflict, you will contribute to a negative environment for the players (and in the end, the youth games are for the players).

[Rick Vietti]

If you have been slandered or libeled, then you would have some legal recourse. I would at least talk to an attorney and see what rights you have in Minnesota.

It is definitely a sticky situation but it sounds like you were ambushed by a committee that had already made up its mind.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally posted by sadstripes
I admit I became bothered by this and invited him to go outside.

This sentence stuck out at me like a sore thumb. Regardless of anything else that happened, if a ref in my area did this, no matter what the circumstances, he would be severly repremanded, probably suspended, and if he actually did "step outside", I'm sure he would be toast.

Sorry about the rest. Hope things work out for you.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by Mark Padgett

This sentence stuck out at me like a sore thumb. Regardless of anything else that happened, if a ref in my area did this, no matter what the circumstances, he would be severly repremanded, probably suspended, and if he actually did "step outside", I'm sure he would be toast.

Sorry about the rest. Hope things work out for you.

Mark is correct. There was so much in the post that I forgot to comment on it when I replied. I'm curious as to whether this comment cam up in the course of all this discussion with superiors and the appeals group.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Mark Padgett

This sentence stuck out at me like a sore thumb. Regardless of anything else that happened, if a ref in my area did this, no matter what the circumstances, he would be severly repremanded, probably suspended, and if he actually did "step outside", I'm sure he would be toast.

Sorry about the rest. Hope things work out for you.

Me too.

[Jeremy Hohn]

Well I can identify with certain coach/program directors having too much power. This weekend we had a NCAA sanctioned tournament in Lubbock and the director of the tournament had made it all the way to the title game only to have his *** handed to him by a small town team, naturally he starte in on the officiating crew. (2 of which are NCAA officials) threatening us by saying that we would never come back to his tournament. I didn't offer him a reply, didn't "T" him, and just brushed him off. He was getting his butt kicked, not liking it, and taking it out on us. We were too experienced to even stoop to a "T" in that situation. In fact, I believe a "T" is what he wanted. But in other situation, other coaches were seen calling him DURING GAMES on their cell phones to complain/offer concerns about officiating, and to some of the younger officiating crew, was very unnerving. The chapter who is in charge of officials isn't mine, but I offered them advice that they don't take that crap from him and if he doesn't like it, he can get his own officials. Lubbock is trying to get a national tournament for next year, and it would be pretty embarrassing if they couldn't get officials, wouldn't it? But like the officials said above, one bad decision could stain you for life as far as your demeanor. I understand that sometime enough is enough, but you need to consider your audience and the average mentality and basketball knowledge of the average fan. I am often reminded of that classic scene of "Forget Paris" in which Billy Chrystal comments to himself after fans are getting on him hard. I often comment to MYSELF during and after games to keep myself relaxed and calm. There might be legal repercussions in your state, but I don't know the exact laws where you are. My advice is to fight it, or find another league to ref in. Same goes for when a coach tells me that "I am never coming back to -----" I just say to myself that I will be in the officiating game longer than he will be at this school and I KNOW that I am doing a good job and everything will be alright. Most all the time I am correct. There are some coaches that I SCRATCH cuz we either just don't mesh or he/she just don't know the game. To take games like that to exact "revenge" is both unprofessional and not doing the kids justice. Remember, there is always a gym to call in...we run shorter and shorter on officials every year. Good luck.

[Brian Watson]

I did/could not read more than 4 lines.

This coulds be the longest post in history, and I have no idea if there was any value to it.

MTD Jr. move over, there is a new King.

[devdog69]

Originally posted by Brian Watson
I did/could not read more than 4 lines.

This coulds be the longest post in history, and I have no idea if there was any value to it.

MTD Jr. move over, there is a new King.

Speaking of MTD Jr., where has he been lately? Did you guys upset him?

[Hawks Coach]

I heard rumors that MTD is preparing a reply which he hopes to complete and post some time over the next couple of weeks.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by devdog69

Speaking of MTD Jr., where has he been lately? Did you guys upset him?

He might be upset if he reads this.His name is MTD Sr. I'm guessing "Junior" would be his eldest son.

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by Jeremy Hohn
I didn't offer him a reply, didn't "T" him, and just brushed him off. We were too experienced to even stoop to a "T" in that situation.

The chapter who is in charge of officials isn't mine, but I offered them advice that they don't take that crap from him

Jeremy, how do you reconcile these two statements? First, you say that you didn't assess a T for his behavior; your crew was too experienced to do that. But then your advice to other officials is not to tolerate his behavior? Well, which is it? I honestly don't understand. If you think that you handled him correctly, by not giving the T, then why should other officials give a T in similar circumstances?

My advice is to fight it, or find another league to ref in.

Why fight it? They obviously don't want him and have enough clout to make things miserable for him. Who would want to work in those circumstances? If it were me, I would simply find another youth league to work.

But in other situation, other coaches were seen calling him DURING GAMES on their cell phones to complain/offer concerns about officiating

Jeremy, how in the world could you know what they were talking about on the cell phone? I doubt that the coach himself told you, although I guess that's possible. I would be slow to make comments like that, simply b/c they make you sound paranoid. Especially if I didn't have first-hand knowledge of the content of their conversations. Just my opinion,

Chuck

[Brian Watson]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

He might be upset if he reads this.His name is MTD Sr. I'm guessing "Junior" would be his eldest son.

I did the jr. on purpose, since his no longer the king of long posts.

Subtle joke bombs, remember to tip your servers...

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by Brian Watson

I did the jr. on purpose, since his no longer the king of long posts.

Subtle joke bombs, remember to tip your servers...

Brian,you can't expect miracles from someone whose idols are the Three Stooges.Subtlety is not really our forte!
Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!