I guess anyone can write a blog.

[IowaMike]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

"As an official, you can't go into a game, any game, with an agenda, other than to do the best job possible".

"It is apparent some refs have an agenda. It may be subconscious but it is obvious nonetheless".

I give up. For the life of me I don't know of any officials having agendas other than to do the best job possible, especially in high school varsity games. Maybe, in some low level games, we get a few guys who want to get in, get out, and get paid, but that's the exception, not the rule.

Just what agenda are they blogging about? Are they implying that some of us are cheating? If so, I can feel my shirt ripping ...

I think that is what many of them are implying, that some of us cheat or try to screw over certain coaches or teams. I can honestly say that I have never worked a game where I cared who won, nor have I ever worked with another official who seemed to care either; and we have all worked games with certain coaches who are always unpleasant to deal with. That doesn't mean we try to influence the outcome of the game to get back at them. I wish some of these coaches and fans could listen in on my post game discussions with my partners. We don't talk about who won the game; we talk about how we worked as a team and critique our own performances. I think most officials are harder on themselves than fans and coaches would believe. I always try to be critical of myself in an attempt to improve and so do most of the guys I work with regularly.

Are there bad officials? Sure there are, just like there are bad coaches, players, doctors, salesmen, welders etc. It's been my experience that the bad ones don't last very long and that those of us who stick around awhile try very hard to improve and achieve excellence. To me that is the real beauty of officiating, being able to do a difficult task that most would be afraid to try, and to work well together as a crew and call a great game. People that have never worn a whistle don't understand what goes into it and never will.