Facial Hair

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by Doug
The drop 25, i agree with. that is a major poe w/ assignors. as to the mustache, i think the main thing is that you get the dam* call right, and they will be fine!!

But you still have to be believable. You cannot get a call right and think everything is all good, if they do not believe you as a person. That is why the weight and facial hair or lack there of is important to many assignors.

But that is just my opinion.

Peace

[zebraman]

But you still have to be believable. You cannot get a call right and think everything is all good, if they do not believe you as a person. That is why the weight and facial hair or lack there of is important to many assignors.

I would hope these assignors who are worried about facial hair aren't also using factors in their "believability scale" like race, gender, and other factors that are out of an official's control.

Define believability for me. I've worked with guys who are overweight, and I must admit that I wondered about their ability briefly. All it takes is a couple trips up and down the floor to know that they are quite competent.

Z

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by zebraman


I would hope these assignors who are worried about facial hair aren't also using factors in their "believability scale" like race, gender, and other factors that are out of an official's control.

Well they are. Officials are hired all the time because of race and gender, or at least that is a major factor to why they are hired. Girl's and Women's Basketball Officials are hired all the time based on gender. Mostly Black Conferences or teams with many mostly Black teams will have mostly or many Black officials. Ever heard of the MEAC or the SWAC. I can almost guarantee that you could probably count on one had the amount of white officials in those conferences.

Define believability for me.

I cannot define it for you, every person has their own definition. You might have worked with a guy or two that is overweight and had no problem. But unfortunately it is not you that has to believe whether an official is believeable or not. The coaches, ADs and yes sometimes the fans have a bigger say in this. If a guy walks out onto a court and weighs 300 pounds, there is not much that guy is going to be able to overcome. He might get every call right, but the first call that a coach does not like, things might get out of hand. Maybe not so much at the HS level, but coaches have a much bigger say as the level gets higher. College coaches send tape complaints all the time. And it is not very uncommon for officials to have to explain calls that they make at the college level. BTW, I am not talking D1 either. That happens at D3 all the time.

This happens all the time in my experience. If you are a certain gender, race or weight, you will get hired more likely than those not fitting a certain discription.

[zebraman]

This happens all the time in my experience. If you are a certain gender, race or weight, you will get hired more likely than those not fitting a certain discription.

I agree with you. It's too bad isn't it? Didn't some famous civil rights leader say that we should be judged not by the color of our skin (or the hair on our face?), but rather by our character? It's almost taboo to talk about though isn't it?

Z

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by zebraman
This happens all the time in my experience. If you are a certain gender, race or weight, you will get hired more likely than those not fitting a certain discription.

I agree with you. It's too bad isn't it? Didn't some famous civil rights leader say that we should be judged not by the color of our skin (or the hair on our face?), but rather by our character? It's almost taboo to talk about though isn't it?

Z

Well that is life. We will always be judged by what we look like, the way we dress and the color of our skin. You cannot worry about that. Just work on the things you can and worry about the things you can control. Life is too short.

Peace

[JRutledge]

I treat officiating like a business. Everything I do has a reason. When I go to a game that is why I always wear professional clothes or look very nice. I always want to portray that I take this game or this situation very seriously. I feel when you do that, the people that see you take this very seriously. To me it is the same impression you want to give before a job interview or a business meeting. If you go in a T-shirt and ripped up all jeans, you might suggest things you do not want to about your abilities. To me this is where the believablity begins. Then when you get out on the court you do not start off with the coaches thinking you are not believable. But you still have to make calls and handle yourself in a professional way. You just might not get the change, just like a job interview if you do not do the proper things before you officiate.

Peace