That is what I was thinking, too. Bigtimed by Sylvester McBean.

That is equivalent to saying that Fords are not as good as Chevy's because your last Ford was a Pinto and your recently purchased Chevy is a Volt.

One shirt where the side panels actually look good....

I like the look and it has nothing to do with "big timing", I just like the look of the side panels.

My basketball shirts are the Ultimate Referee shirts by Ump-Attire. I also wear a performance fabric undershirt underneath. I haven't ever noticed visible sweat marks on my grey shirts and I sweat quite a bit. I'll take a look next time to see if I've just been as blind as the fans think I am. :)

Around here, since we're not supposed to wear the panels for HS games, many would take you to be "big timing," no matter what you said to the contrary.

If they are not allowed, then that I can understand. Here they are optional and I've had quite a few partners that wear them. This is becoming a bit of a moot point since we seem to be phasing out the stripes completely.

I will never understand why anyone would see this as big timing. For one if the shirt is an option, then would that not be any different than any other type of clothing that has an option?

We cannot wear the shirt for HS games, usually when I see someone wearing this shirt it is out or ignorance more than anything. Considering I know most college officials that I will work with and have some idea of what they work, I would not consider this big timing. Who are they trying to big time? If anything this tells me they are too cheap to buy a different shirt (and we have patches).

Peace

+1

All it needs are a few logos and flag patches :D

I see your point, that said we have a guy up here who wears his just to let us know he does college. We have over/under bets on how many times he mentions "college" in pregame "In my college game, we like to..."

ZZZZZ

Interesting never had that situation.

Peace

Unless the shirt is normally worn in any area, would you see any of those same people wearing a byron collar? The answer to that says all you need to know about why they are wearing it instead of the standard shirt.

Here in VA you can only wear side-panels if the entire crew wears them.

I had a partner who only brought his side-panel shirt to a game because he assumed that's what I'd be wearing b/c I do some college ball but I don't even pack a side-panel when I work HS ball.

The other thing I have seen occur with some of these guys is the use of college mechanics even though they are instructed to use HS mechanics. Often, the big timing is the whole package...shirt, pre-game with college references, talk of the games they just did or will do at the college level, an NCAA logo on their travel bag [understood as those are not as inexpensive as a shirt--which should be covered by a big time game fee], the mechanics used [particularly on time out signals and when inbounding], etc.

Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye ...
 

Had a guy like that on our local board. Hated working with him. Thanks God he picked up and moved south.

Usually a guy wearing a Byron collar is too lazy or cheap to buy new equipment. Usually means they are officiating off of rules that have changed years ago too. Then again I have not seen one of these shirts in probably 8 or 9 years and before that was my first year when people still wore them and still in the NF book.