Womens D-I

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by CLH

You're right many of us do make choices. My choice was to not surround myself with the typical mentality that you are exhibiting; that mentality being that we who work women's ball are inferior to you. You are reminded of the pay in an effort to further remind you that your skill level is the same as mine. Clearly, if Men's officials were so much more skilled than the women's officials whom you choose to impune, then you would be compensated as such. I am only expecting the same respect I give others as a colleague and to not have my hard work, skill level and dedication impuned simply because my players have longer hair than yours....usually

I do not like Women's college basketball. I do not watch it. I did not watch it before I became an official. I did not consider doing Women's or Girl's basketball before I was officiating.

And if you want respect, why do Women's officials feel the need to justify to Men's officials why they are working that level? And if you really want respect tell your fellow Women's officials when I go into the locker room after their game I do not get a lecture as to why they are having an easier time then the crew that is following them is having. And then saying things like “I am getting paid the same you are. WTH???

If you are satisfied with what you are doing, just work and shut up. It is the same with softball umpires that spend all their time trying to tell someone that works baseball that they are crazy for working a game that generally takes longer. I do not work softball because I did not play softball. I enjoy the many aspects of working baseball, which is why I am there instead of on a softball field over 50 times a year. And gender has nothing to do with it, I stopped working slow pitch softball too because I was bored. I work the games I want to work, not the game that gives me the bigger check.

Honestly I could give a damn what others do. If I wanted to work Women's basketball I could pay the same money to go work those games by attending those camps. I choose not to. It has nothing to do with being inferior; it has everything to do with choice. When Men's basketball officials sit around and talk officiating we do not talk about we are missing or why we are there.

I went to a camp to watch a good friend of mine work some games. I was there not as a camper but to watch her work as it was someone I was mentoring. She is a great official and I was interested in her craft. Well I ran into many officials I knew that also attended the camp and you would have thought there was in infomercial to work Women's basketball by all the comments those said to me about, "Come over to the Women's game...blah....blah....blah." If you are confident in what you are doing, why are you trying to tell me what to do? Even in a many conversations we have here many Women's official try to convince everyone that "The Women's mechanic or philosophy is so much better......" But I have the problem with looking down on the Women's game? If you enjoy what you are doing, you do not need to justify that to others who are not working it. That is a big problem with many (not all) Women's officials. It is getting old. Just work your games and go home. Stop trying to convince the rest of us to work those games.

Peace