John Clougherty says it....

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by fiasco

Did you read the quote?

He says he lets his officials know he has first dibs on their schedules. Once he has them scheduled, though, he has no control over how many games outside of the ACC they take, since they're independent contractors.

What else would you have him do?

You must not understand what I said then. Because he could require things that would make it difficult to work other games before and even after his games.

I have a college assignor that told us that he does not want anyone double dipping on the day of his games. And if he finds out he will fire us from his league. Now what we do afterward is up to us, but we are not going to work a high school game in the morning and then his college league in the afternoon or evening (usually on a Saturday). Now a guy working D1 is more than likely on TV or there is a box score somewhere that will record who worked the games. Yes we are independent contractors but he can make a policy that will lessen what we work if we want to work his league. And if those that value his league (which is considered by many the best league in the country if you let the media tell it), then you will accommodate him. It is not that hard to do if he really wanted to do it.

Peace

[Adam]

Exactly. If he really wanted to, he could. What he really means is, "I'm not willing to take the steps to enforce it with my league." He even said as much, "I have an option not to assign them ACC games."

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Exactly. If he really wanted to, he could. What he really means is, "I'm not willing to take the steps to enforce it with my league." He even said as much, "I have an option not to assign them ACC games."

And he's not willing to take those steps because he knows he's going to lose some of the officials over it, and those are the officials that the coaches and the conference are most comfortable with.

While I agree he could take steps to make this happen - and I also agree there are more officials who can work that level than get to - I don't envy his situation.

[jeffpea]

fellas...this is the "which comes first? the chicken or the egg" debate....

it will all be solved by the NCAA and changes that will be made to regionalize the officiating assignment process. probably something like - each region has an assignor and you can only work games at schools located in your region (where you live); that way one assignor can control how many games you work (eliminate "tired" officials), where you work (cut down on travel expenses paid by schools), and what schools you work at (regardless of conference affiliation).

probably several years away, but a strong possibility of happening....

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by jeffpea

fellas...this is the "which comes first? the chicken or the egg" debate....

it will all be solved by the NCAA and changes that will be made to regionalize the officiating assignment process. probably something like - each region has an assignor and you can only work games at schools located in your region (where you live); that way one assignor can control how many games you work (eliminate "tired" officials), where you work (cut down on travel expenses paid by schools), and what schools you work at (regardless of conference affiliation).

probably several years away, but a strong possibility of happening....

Don't like that proposal.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Don't like that proposal.

Me neither. I don't think jeff has thought through all the ramifications.

edit: unless he's joking.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Me neither. I don't think jeff has thought through all the ramifications.

This is not Jeff's idea. This is actually an idea that John Adams has thrown out there and it already done with the football side. And honestly this is largely done at the D1 Women's side as there is really one person that assigns several regions and conferences. The ramifications are only bad if the conferences only want to see the same officials all the time. Other than that this is probably a good idea and will give more guys a shot to work many conferences and better games. You cannot tell me that the guys that work most of the top games are the only ones qualified to be on the floor.

Peace

[tballump]

"I wouldn’t even think about telling my top guys, who work multiple leagues, that they can’t do that. I have an option not to assign them ACC games. But once I assign them my ACC games, they have the right to go anywhere they want to referee after they get my games. Their commitment to me is to take my games first. They can then take those and go wherever they want. They’re independent contractors; I can’t tell them not to".

Maybe??, something similar happened to Mr. Clougherty during his career which he did not appreciate. Therefor he would not be inclined to do something to his staff that he did not appreciate being done to him years ago.

[M&M Guy]

Since the NCAA is nothing more than an association of member schools, everything the NCAA does is based on what the member schools want it to do. I was under the impression the NCAA either does not, or cannot, control what happens during regular season athletic contests, other than specific issues like eligibility and recruiting rules. All the other issues are handled at the school and conference level. The NCAA does however control their "championships", or the NCAA post-season. If the schools want the NCAA to take over the officiating scheduling, they would vote to have it done.

The other issue that isn't mentioned much is the fact that schools, conferences, and the NCAA have to be careful how much control they try to exert over officials. If they put too many conditions on them, officials might then be considered "employees" by federal labor and tax standards, and then would be subjected to a whole other set of rules and regulations, such as federal and state tax withholding, FICA, unemployment insurance, overtime (no, Mark, not that overtime...) rules, and so on. And, since the NCAA will have more expenses based on officials being employees, the overall amount paid to officials will be less than if they treated them as independent contractors.

[JRutledge]

I agree, but they still could set some standards that make it an option for those to agree to those conditions. I do not think you would in principle violate independent contractor laws if you required some things while taking an assignment. They already do this now, but it is not about where you work and when you work. But they do say what you wear, what mechanics you use and make decisions based on that. I am certainly not a lawyer, but what is asked of them now could be seen the same way if someone wanted to challenge that in court. Something tells me that would be a very difficult case to fight.

Peace