Welmer out...

[jritchie]

Hate to hear that about anyone, do you think it may be because they have them call somewhere about 5 or 6 nights a week????? Maybe they should take this into consideration.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by jritchie

Hate to hear that about anyone, do you think it may be because they have them call somewhere about 5 or 6 nights a week????? Maybe they should take this into consideration.

Who should? Who is "they?"

[Mr. Ref]

My nonprofessional opinion is maybe the foot was not all the way healed and he was compensating for that and thus causing strain elsewhere (knee).

He certainly looked to be laboring a little bit while running.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ref

...

He certainly looked to be laboring a little bit while running.

You think???

[biz]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ref

He certainly looked to be laboring a little bit while running.

He's been laboring running for the last decade, but the coaches and the conference assignors obviously love him.

For my money I think he calls a good game, but one has to wonder if he had scaled down his schedule, like some of his contemporaries (Higgins and Burr to name two), he might have been able to avoid some of the injuries.

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by biz

He's been laboring running for the last decade, but the coaches and the conference assignors obviously love him.

For my money I think he calls a good game, but one has to wonder if he had scaled down his schedule, like some of his contemporaries (Higgins and Burr to name two), he might have been able to avoid some of the injuries.

Scaling down obviously would have decreased his chances of injury. But, it also decreases (pretty significantly) his earning potential. When you're to the point he is, if that's your primary source of income, it's easy to take a "get it while you can" mentality.

It's easy for us to sit here and say he should take some time off. But it's awful hard when taking a night off means giving up more than what many take home every two weeks.

[biz]

Originally Posted by jdw3018

Scaling down obviously would have decreased his chances of injury. But, it also decreases (pretty significantly) his earning potential. When you're to the point he is, if that's your primary source of income, it's easy to take a "get it while you can" mentality.

It's easy for us to sit here and say he should take some time off. But it's awful hard when taking a night off means giving up more than what many take home every two weeks.

I totally agree with you, but some of the guys his age have realized that reducing their schedule might allow them to continue working.

If I were Welmer I'd want to keep doing games for as long as possible and doing 100 games (along with the requisite travel) every year is going to shorten his career.

To the Final Four point...He hasn't worked the 2nd weekend in a long time, so I think that he knew the Final Four ship sailed long ago. I wonder (and there's probably no answer to this) if he worked fewer games if he would have been fresher at the end of the season and might have got that FF assignment that every DI ref dreams of somewhere along the way.

[bigdogrunnin]

Welmer is almost 60 years old. He has been at the highest level for more than 25 years. He isn't worried about "extending" his career, he wants another shot at THE Dance!

As for INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, well, they are their own business, and they are able to dictate how much or how little they can handle.

As for the rest of us who wish we were in his shoes . . . the door is opening, now what are we going to do about it.

[jritchie]

Assignors! I'm sure he is not the only one that has had something like this happen. They work them guys way to hard, different city 5 or 6 nights a week. Sure it's great money, but at what price?

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by jritchie

Assignors! I'm sure he is not the only one that has had something like this happen. They work them guys way to hard, different city 5 or 6 nights a week. Sure it's great money, but at what price?

No is always an answer.......

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by jritchie

Assignors! I'm sure he is not the only one that has had something like this happen. They work them guys way to hard, different city 5 or 6 nights a week. Sure it's great money, but at what price?

They don't work them any harder than he wants to be worked. He can refuse assignments anytime he gets ready too.

[jritchie]

When he is ready to quit calling, that is when they start turning down games. Turn down a couple and they quit calling. The assignors should realize this and not put them in this position to have to turn down games. That is my point.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by jritchie

When he is ready to quit calling, that is when they start turning down games. Turn down a couple and they quit calling. The assignors should realize this and not put them in this position to have to turn down games. That is my point.

So, do you propose the assigners all get together and determine which of them can have Welmer on which days? How do they determine his days off? How do they enforce it?

Do you get with other customers and determine how many people your local McDonald's can provide meals for in week? No, the market sets it by their performance. Same goes for officials like Welmer. As long as he's performing up to the standards desired by the assigners, he'll be able to work 7 days a week if he wants.

[jritchie]

And look what it got him?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

So, do you propose the assigners all get together and determine which of them can have Welmer on which days? How do they determine his days off? How do they enforce it?

Do you get with other customers and determine how many people your local McDonald's can provide meals for in week? No, the market sets it by their performance. Same goes for officials like Welmer. As long as he's performing up to the standards desired by the assigners, he'll be able to work 7 days a week if he wants.

Welmer is offered a pick of the games from multiple conferences and schools (for nonconference games). He sits down and chooses his schedule based on travel and sends the rest of the possible games back to be assigned to other officials. Do a Google search and you'll be able to find an article that describes this well.

Also, I'm sure that Welmer has game fee insurance that will ensure he doesn't hurt financially from missing these games. I'm sure it bothers him to miss the end of the season 2 years in a row, but it's not like he's on Adams's speed dial for the NCAA tourney anyway.