Pecking order

[dbking]

I have worked in several states...IN, KY, CT, IL, MO, KS

For the biggest share of us, this is an avocation. We are not in it for the money and certainly put a great deal of time into being better.

You will find that if you seek to improve there will be someone to help you. You will get some good advice and some bad.
You will get some advice that you can adapt and apply quickly and some that is hard to do.

Listen with two ears and speak softly. Let your reputation be earned by what is done and court and how you handle yourself off the court.

I found the suburban Chicago area to be a difficult area. Many, many, many assignors to work with. Too many crews that work together every night. Cliques that thought they were better, so much so that they wore a different color jacket from everyone else to show themselves off.

Find people that you like to be with and try to be a great mentor for those that seek your help.

Peace.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by dbking

I have worked in several states...IN, KY, CT, IL, MO, KS

For the biggest share of us, this is an avocation. We are not in it for the money and certainly put a great deal of time into being better.

You will find that if you seek to improve there will be someone to help you. You will get some good advice and some bad.
You will get some advice that you can adapt and apply quickly and some that is hard to do.

Listen with two ears and speak softly. Let your reputation be earned by what is done and court and how you handle yourself off the court.

I found the suburban Chicago area to be a difficult area. Many, many, many assignors to work with. Too many crews that work together every night. Cliques that thought they were better, so much so that they wore a different color jacket from everyone else to show themselves off.

Find people that you like to be with and try to be a great mentor for those that seek your help.

Peace.

Chicago area is extremely competitive for officials. The state has over 6,000 officials with over 4,000 being in a 40 mile radius of Chicago as the rumor goes. I think the whole state of Nevada as posted here has just over 300 officials(about the size of one of our suburban associations)

It is a political animal and you'd better learn to play the game if you want to advance.

Regarding assignors, I'd rather have 7-8, which I do, and get a small schedule from each. That way I don't feel as dependent on any of them.

I also enjoy working different conferences. makes it more interesting. I had the same Varsity team 5 times last year and it seemed like I had a cot in the Ad's office.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by fullor30

I think the whole state of Nevada as posted here has just over 300 officials(about the size of one of our suburban associations)

Actually, that's about the size of the association in Las Vegas. The whole state is closer to 500, but this small difference doesn't change the point which you are making.

PS Those numbers are only for basketball. There are obviously many more officials in the state for other sports.

[JRutledge]

I have lived in the Chicago are for 10 years soon to be 11 years. I started officiating in West Central Illinois. I can say that my experience in the Chicago area has been much fairer and much less political. For one there are more games and opportunities in the Chicago area and if you do the right things you will get noticed. In other parts of the state, if you do not know the right people or liked by the right people, you will never get a shot. I also get a little tired of the politics talks that we have.

There is politics in everything. If you work in the Post Office there are people that have to play some politics to get certain jobs just like you would in any profession. Officiating is no different than any subjective, competitive adventure. Anytime you have people that are competing for spots, you will have jealousy and backbiting from time to time. I just try to treat others like I want to be treated and move on. You cannot handle how everyone treats you and whether people like you. There are people that will not like you as I learned early in my career because you get an opportunity they did not get. And you might get those opportunities just because you work harder than those not willing to work hard at all. Or you look the part and do all the right things mechanically and even rules application wise and you get a shot that some guy that never attends a camp will never get as well.

I am not sure what this has to do with the pecking order, but I think we are our best friends or worst enemies as officials.

Peace

[tomegun]

Rut, you have mentioned repeatedly that how things are depend on where you live. If I'm reading your comment right, you are saying you are tired of hearing about politics on this site. If that is the case, you should just ignore it because sometimes people have to vent. I have been in highly political associations and associations that simply put the best officials on the floor. I understand where both sides are coming from and I don't think there is anything wrong with the discussion.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by tomegun

Rut, you have mentioned repeatedly that how things are depend on where you live. If I'm reading your comment right, you are saying you are tired of hearing about politics on this site. If that is the case, you should just ignore it because sometimes people have to vent. I have been in highly political associations and associations that simply put the best officials on the floor. I understand where both sides are coming from and I don't think there is anything wrong with the discussion.

Tommy,

My point is that we all deal with it on some level. I am not totally convinced that everyone is hindered in their career by politics. I think a lot of people do not do the things they are supposed to do and when they do not get opportunities they say it is "politics" when actually it is them being lazy or not doing the right things. I live in a highly political area too. But we have people here that think they deserve to work varsity games just because one guy gives them games in some other conference. Well, the reality is that you are almost never going to work for someone if they have never seen you work. That means you probably have to go to someone's camp to get hired. That might mean you have to go to multiple camps. Take time out of your busy schedule. But if you think some assignor is just going to fire someone else that is reliable and has the respect of his conference for some guy that works in a conference that no one respects, you are crazy. Because in my area when guys say this, I start asking questions of what they do and it becomes obvious for a lot of reasons why they are not getting hired in certain places. And most of those things are self inflicted. I am sure that varies from one area to another. But I think it is often blown out of proportion. I could be wrong, but it sounds like a crutch for many people.

Peace

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Tommy,

My point is that we all deal with it on some level. I am not totally convinced that everyone is hindered in their career by politics. I think a lot of people do not do the things they are supposed to do and when they do not get opportunities they say it is "politics" when actually it is them being lazy or not doing the right things. I live in a highly political area too. But we have people here that think they deserve to work varsity games just because one guy gives them games in some other conference. Well, the reality is that you are almost never going to work for someone if they have never seen you work. That means you probably have to go to someone's camp to get hired. That might mean you have to go to multiple camps. Take time out of your busy schedule. But if you think some assignor is just going to fire someone else that is reliable and has the respect of his conference for some guy that works in a conference that no one respects, you are crazy. Because in my area when guys say this, I start asking questions of what they do and it becomes obvious for a lot of reasons why they are not getting hired in certain places. And most of those things are self inflicted. I am sure that varies from one area to another. But I think it is often blown out of proportion. I could be wrong, but it sounds like a crutch for many people.

Peace

The tread has meandered somewhat as the point originally was related to the acceptance of lower level HS officials by Varsity guys and the views of officials either now or when they were moving up.

I do agree Jeff, that I see officials complain about their schedule or the politics and yet, make no effort to improve themselves either by attending camps or being active in their associations. It can be frustrating though, if you put the time and effort into it and you are good not to get the schedule you want.

It is what it is and I don't ever see the system changing.

[tomegun]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Tommy,

My point is that we all deal with it on some level. I am not totally convinced that everyone is hindered in their career by politics. I think a lot of people do not do the things they are supposed to do and when they do not get opportunities they say it is "politics" when actually it is them being lazy or not doing the right things. I live in a highly political area too. But we have people here that think they deserve to work varsity games just because one guy gives them games in some other conference. Well, the reality is that you are almost never going to work for someone if they have never seen you work. That means you probably have to go to someone's camp to get hired. That might mean you have to go to multiple camps. Take time out of your busy schedule. But if you think some assignor is just going to fire someone else that is reliable and has the respect of his conference for some guy that works in a conference that no one respects, you are crazy. Because in my area when guys say this, I start asking questions of what they do and it becomes obvious for a lot of reasons why they are not getting hired in certain places. And most of those things are self inflicted. I am sure that varies from one area to another. But I think it is often blown out of proportion. I could be wrong, but it sounds like a crutch for many people.

Peace

Now you are saying something different and something I agree with. IMO, many people want to talk their way into a big game, better assignments, etc. People have been coming up to me this season complaining about their ranking and wanting to go before the board. My suggestion is to prove it on the court and stop talking about it. If you remember, I've talked about having a camp for people from this board and there is always an open invitation for forum members to officiate in some of the tournaments in Vegas.

There have been several times in our meetings this year when someone has made a remark and I turn to someone I know and ask, "Can he work?" Most of the time the answer is no. I think we have a problem, in high school officiating, with people wanting things simply because they have been warming the chair for X amount of years. If you want more, the first step is to become a better official. Politics will still exist once that is taken care of and there really isn't an answer at that point.