Why do officials...
 

Wear the black jackets before games? I've asked this question to everyone I've worked with this year and noone has an answer. I asked my Area Supervisor and he didn't know. I'm just curious...:confused:

Because black is slimming.

It's after Labor Day:p

...tradition.

Everybody else is jumping off the Empire State Building...so why not?

*ouch*

Allows equipment suppliers an additional profit item to sell. Especially since it can be changed on the whim of a state or local supervisor who has a buddy that owns the "approved" official supply company. ;)

Conceals the stripes, so they don't see us coming. Think of it as camo for officials.

I figure I wear the jacket for 30 minutes a night. It comes off during the introductions, spends a half at the table, and then gets carried back to the locker room (except for the handful of places that take the jackets back for us) folded and put into my bag.

I'd be more than happy to dispose of this tradition, personally.

+1.

Just another item that needs to be:
1. Purchased
2. Cared for.
3. Carried in an already overloaded bag.
4. ...and attended to after brief use (retireve, fold, launder, repeat)

Another one of those things we do without any discernable good reason. I used to think it was for the benefit of northern officials in a drafty gym, but I don't even think that's the case.

It's commonplace for officials in our area to have a stamp with our name and state officiating ID number. Without the jacket, we'd have nowhere to put our stamp. Ah crap, our jackets are the official's version of a purse. :eek:

I store the jacket inside out. When I take it off, I turn it inside out and zip it up -- it keeps dust from accumulating on the outside of the jacket. I *never* wash my officiating jacket since I only wear it pregame.

I do carry my needle in the pocket and when I'm the R probably use it 90% of the time, so maybe we do need it. :D

My association does not want us to wear jackets. I think it looks sharper to wear a jacket, but I won't miss leaving it in the locker room and having to go back the next day to pick it up. At least once a season...

I like it to warm me up a little or keep me warm during that famous 20 minutes

I wear mine so I have a place to keep my glasses to which I need to use, so I can see the numbers in the score book & so I can see to sign it!:eek:

Because they only let me wear my pink one for one week in January.

What happens when you need to make a call and your glasses are in your jacket pocket...awkward. ;)

I prefer "European Carry All".

So we know what association we're in.....

Last night at our meeting they announced they're probably going to change our "logo" and they will come out with NEW jackets in the near future. It was made perfectly clear however, that we would still be able to wear our old ones and not be "forced" to buy the new one, until the old one wears out (you know turns gray or gets holes in it).

Fourth Time This Happened In Thirty Years ...
 

Similar thing happened here in, you all guessed it, my little corner of the Constitution State. All must have the new jackets, with the new logo, by 2014-15.

We can wear officiating jackets if we want, but it's not required or even that common. I've worn nothing but a plain black jacket since moving to WI 10 years ago.

The worst jackets I ever had to wear were the TSSAA jackets in Tennessee. They were *navy*. That was 15 years ago.

Same reason (most) teams dont arrive on the court wearing just their playing uniform.

Sometimes it can be cool standing still in one spot for 15 minutes or so before you get moving up and down the court.

I may not move too far, but I'm certainly not standing in "one spot" for 15 minutes. Captain's meeting, coaches meet and greet, a little chat with a partner, walk the sideline a bit.......just saying.

Not in the past....
 

In the state I work, the HS Assn. mandated Black. My association first used a white jacket with black cuffs and collar when I started officiating in 1981. I still have the jacket, and it looks great. I wish we could still wear them.

We rarely wear them, except for tourneys and playoffs. It's a waste of money and it's a suckass jacket.

Sold mine when I left Tennessee. But it was a much more durable jacket than this thing we wear now.

We wear them for almost every single varsity game I work and most officials that I know do the exact same. Of course there are places like in the city you might not see officials have them on during the pre-game, but that is very rare in my experience.

I also do not find them to be a waste considering I jackets I have were purchased years ago and I have not needed to replace it or do much to keep up maintenance. I wear them around 50-60 games, so they have long been worth its money.

Peace

They're essentially mandatory for all levels of high school.

Must be a 6 thing, we only have to wear them for varsity in 8.

Same goes here. When I work a middle school game, my partner usually asks if I want to bother wearing the jacket. I do. If he insists on not wearing his, then I don't wear mine.

Still, if you want to be the part, you need to look the part.

Most of the ms guys here don't have a jacket.

I didn't even own a jacket until this year... but then again, I haven't worked any varsity games until this year either.

Everyone around here wears them for Varsity as far as I can tell.

I'm not terribly annoyed with it... it's relatively cheap ($45), and it should last for several years if I'm not wearing it outside of my officiating duties.

Yep, definitely a local requirement. For some reason, I prefer it, but I could easily adjust either way.

I like the jacket because I can get cold during the warm up.

Yeah I've heard this one before too. So when we are watching teams warmup, no one knows who the adults are in the black jackets?

I think it's someone silly too but whatever.

I share that though. When I was a student athletic trainer, I asked our AT why the referees wore jackets. he said it was so no one could identify the refs when they enter. I responded that A.) We all know that the serious looking guys who are walking around the court in all black are referees and B.) no one really cares. It's not like soccer where the referees lead the teams onto the field. No player or coach or fan ever says "hey look, it's the ref!" (except probably young children). However, it does help when one works in the inner city where everyone wants to hustle the ref just because they [think they] can. I guess, though, that it is less distracting then the stripes.

Based On My Experience ...
 

It keeps the hot, single, moms from attacking us. The striped shirt is a "chick magnet".

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VAnU9zT87j4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Our problem here is the "sexy satin" style jackets that draws the hot moms in anyway...it's a real challenge to stay focused when they're throwing themselves at us during warm ups.

So they only hustle in the hood huh?

Politicians, Corporate America & organized crime families couldn't have taught the "art of hustling" aka the *American Way* to those lowlife inner city folks... nah no way!
The fact that we all reside in America today is one of the greatest hustles of All-Times :rolleyes:


I sure hope you're no futuredoc of mine!

I honestly thought his comment sufficiently displayed his cluelessness. Maybe he only works in the inner city. The only time I've had folks try to hustle me is men's rec, and it never matters where the game is.

I have worked in the inner city often and I worry more about going in rural areas than I would ever in most inner city schools. One I blend in, the other I stand out like stain on a clean outfit. And I have never been hustled at any of those games, whatever that is supposed to mean.

Peace

Now that you mention it, I'm not exactly sure, either. Maybe our med student can shed some light.

Of Course, I Always Answer In The Affirmative, Nothing Wrong With Little White Lies .
 

Here, in my little corner of Connecticut, we use the same type of shiny, satin, jackets. Hot, single, moms are always asking me if I was an actor in the movie Boogie Nights. Of course the fact that I have the name, "Dirk Diggler", embroidered on my jacket may have something to do with the special attention that I get from hot, single, moms. I'm not going to tell you that it's unwanted attention.

Seriously Billy?

Peace

Glad it's not just me...
 

I've worked both inner city schools and the 'burbs my entire officiating career and I have no idea what that means either. Thought maybe I was missing out.

+1

Those new moderators sure are going to have their hands full.

Disco Inferno (Trammps) ...
 

Of course I was not being serious. We do not have any names, either real, or fictional, embroidered on our jackets. All we have is our local board affiliation patch.

However, I was being serious about the shiny, satin jacket. It really does look like a jacket from the disco roller skating era. In regard to this fashion faux pas, I am being serious, and you can take that to one of the big monster mega banks.

Color Me Confused In Connecticut ...
 

I've worked games in high schools in one of Connecticut's largest cities, where most parents either walk, or take the bus, to watch their kids play. I've worked games in suburban high schools where the parents park their BMW's outside the gym. I've worked games in rural high schools where they actually park their John Deere tractors in the gymnasium parking lot. Even after working in these various environments over the past thirty-one years, I still have no idea what these posts (above) mean? What am I missing here?

*Sigh* I guess that came out wrong. In my experience (btw I don't yet do HS because I'm not old enough) when I do rec/AAU games in certain neighborhoods (I'm in no way racist. I myself am black) and very rural areas, when I'm watching warm-ups we always have some teens and bums sitting on the bleacher just behind us trying to heckle us pre-game

eg. Hey look its the refs!
Ooh we got a new boy on this one
What's the jackets for? Trying to hide like we don't know who ya'll are?
Who are you, kid? you ain't from around here. They give ya some fancy shirt and whistle and you think you can ref just anywhere?
and etc.
We also have guys who hang out on the corner and try to mess with us or sell us stuff when we show up (we wear our uniforms to games as there are no private changing facilities)

The extremely rich neighborhoods are just as bad, with kids who think they can have whatever they want if 'Daddy buys it'. Then they come screaming and hollering with their parents when a call goes against them.
I think I'll get off my soapbox. I fear that I've started a highly controversial subject here.

I don't trust politicians and corporations either. We are where we are because of them and their greedy selves.

For the record, no one said anything about you being racist. I have been doing this for some time and had no idea what you were talking about as I have worked from the in the cornfields to the concrete jungle.

Peace

Say what? :confused:

They're doing this because you're young and the adults are letting them. I'll never understand why people think that behavior is acceptable.

:)

btdt

We have a number of crew chiefs who hate them, so they stay in the bag.

What ever happened to Annoying Grammar Guy?
 

I think you meant to use the word "hassle".

And when I'm crew chief, that's the first order of business..."Anybody opposed to leaving the jackets in the bag tonight?" If we get caught, it's a small fine for each crew member...but I haven't been caught in 12 seasons.

+1

Most athletics contests have some kind of warm-ups. The black jacket is ours. When we take them off it is the signal that we are ready to go.

Mr. Annoying Grammar Guy frequents facebook during the off-season. Allegedly.

I haven't done any varsity stuff yet, but I'll echo what JRut said. I've never seen Varsity officials without their pregame jackets on.

In my experience, for the underlevel stuff, main gym games get jackets 95% of the time. Maybe a Saturday morning Frosh B game might get the non-jacket treatment. Most back gym games will get the jacket treatment as well, though back gym games are more likely to get the non-jacket treatment.

I think the thing that contributes to the non-jacket treatment is either a doubleheader, or the fact that halftime is so short we won't even worry about heading back to the locker room, so we don't want to have worry about jackets.

Just as you said, we tend to treat varsity night games (prelim, sophomore or whatever you call JV) different than non-varsity night games. Really that is the approach here for the most part.

After all everyone else is out there in a warmup, so why not us? A lot of things we do anyway is ceremonial, so it really does not matter if it is practical at the end of the day.

Peace

The reason NFHS refs (yeah, yeah, yeah, local adoption) are told to wear jackets is simple.

the NBA does it.

NCAA does it.

We need to pretend that some obscure high school game in some backwater town in as important as hte NBA or NCAA.

So we wear jackets. So we can be like the big boys.

Here's an idea. We wear jackets (or not) based on the temperature. Around here when the small schools start in late October it can easily be in the 80's.
On these days, my jacket never leaves the house. Beyond that, it depends on the gym. Some places, if you leave your jacket at the table, it winds up on the floor, or someplace on the bleachers where it may get stepped on. With all this in mind, I lean toward leaving mine in the locker room.

Rule To Live By ...
 

From my pregame: Every game is the most important game being played anywhere tonight for these kids, fans, and coaches. Let’s make sure we officiate the game keeping that in mind, through effort, and attitude.

You may not believe me, but I abide by this statement about 95% of the time. The rare exception may be the fourth game of a Catholic middle school girls junior varsity (fifth and sixth graders) quadruple header, especially if it's a boring, blowout game. Other than that, I treat every game as if I'm officiating an NBA, or NCAA game, in Madison Square Garden. I don't have to pretend. I just love interscholastic basketball, I love officiating interscholastic basketball, and I always try to give it my 100% best effort.

Well in this part of the state we do not do games until November, so it is not that hot. Not an issue around here. ;)

It is usually typical here that the table puts the jackets in a relatively save place and it is not uncommon for the GM to take our jackets to the locker room before half-time.

But I thought they did not give you guys a locker room? ;)

Peace

Figure of speech, so you'd understand. :) We pretty much always have a room, just very seldom have lockers.

So you need lockers to change in that room?

If that is the case I would come dressed too. ;)

Peace

Coz' Every Girl's Crazy 'Bout A Sharp Dressed Man ...
 

As most officials do, here in my little corner of the Provision State, when they work middle school games. Maybe no dressing room, and even if there is one, it's not very secure, and seldom does one have access to a shower.

You need a shower every time you work a game?

Peace

I have no idea what you just said. But that's not unusual.:rolleyes:

Didn't you say that a room that you are often given by schools do not have lockers?

You really do not understand what I am asking? Again you made the issue out of having a locker in a room not me.

If I needed a locker in a room as the reason I get dressed, I would not ever change at the game site.

Say anything to keep up your ridiculous point of view.

Peace

Sweating The Oldies ...
 

Yes. Mr. Dimico, my junior high school physical education teacher, taught us good hygiene.

Either I take a shower at the site, get dressed back into my "business casual" street clothes, and stop on the way home for some adult beverages with my colleagues at the usual "watering holes". Or, I work a game where there is no shower, or no changing area, available, almost always a middle school site, and then I have to drive all the way home in my sweaty referee uniform (yuck), and take a shower at home. Since I live in the far southwest corner of my local board's geographic area, it's usually a long drive back to one of our "official" meeting spots, so I usually don't bother to go out, and just eat my dinner, and read my paper, or watch television. That's the "culture" of my local board. Been that way for over thirty years.

JRutledge: Do you not shower after every game when a shower, and changing area are available? Do you drive home wearing a sweaty uniform? I hope that you don't meet up with your colleagues wearing a sweaty uniform?

I've very rarely worked at a place that provided us lockers. That's never been a reason for me to come to a game dressed...which is what I got from JRut's post.

I do if the shower is not nasty and if they provide one.

If you have not figured out, I never wear my uniform out of the "locker room" ever. I always change from those clothes. Now some places you know do not have a good shower and I will still not come dressed.

I tend to not sweat that much at least not for what happens in a basketball game. And if I do the undergarments I wear do the job. Maybe it is my fitness level or just biology, but I am not one of these guys soaking with sweat after games. I take showers when I can, but even when one is not available I have gone right home. I also refuse to take a shower with cold water, so the shower is not an issue for me. But as stated previously most of the time there is never a locker. We are put coaches office or some lounge where they may not be a big room to shower or you have to go somewhere else.

Peace

Like The Only H**ker At A Shriners Convention ...
 

You are indeed very fortunate, so count your blessings. By the middle of the first period, even in a Catholic middle school girls junior varsity (fifth and sixth grader) game, I'm sweating like a horse at the end of the Kentucky Derby. In a high school boys varsity game, I'm sweating like a horse at the end of the Belmont Stakes after only one, or two, possessions after the jump ball. Thus, unlike you, I will jump quickly into, and quickly out of, a cold water only shower. With the exception of those middle school games where there may not be a shower, or a secure changing area, I'm taking a shower almost everytime, as do almost all of my colleagues.

For the record: I don't need or want a locker for anything. We are given a room, more often than anything else it is a coaches office. I could change in there if I wanted to, but I don't, and neither do 98% of my partners at all levels.

To each his own.

It's time.

http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/u...dead_horse.jpg

Not my fault.....this time.:D

I was talking about jackets.

Psht...we haven't even gotten to talking about belts yet! :D

Likewise...I've only shown up in uniform once and that was because I was late (mix up on playing site).

Agreed. I don't always shower at the site after a game, but 75% of my games are within 15 minutes of my house. Of the rest, I think maybe two or three offer showers. Of the schools far enough away to warrant a carpool, I don't know that any offer showers. I just change back into my street clothes, pack up my stuff, and go home to shower.

And I'm a guy who needs to shower by halftime, usually.

For Official Use Only ...
 

I'm amazed at the differences in changing area "culture" demonstrated in the previous posts.

My local board services over seventy high schools, and all, but one, offer a secure changing area, and a shower. In most of these schools the changing area is either a coaches office, or a combined coaches/officials dressing area. Many offer lockers, bring your own lock, to hang up street clothes. The newer high schools in our area, those constructed in the past ten years, usually have a changing area dedicated to officials only.

Varsity, and subvarsity, officials around here wouldn't dream of leaving a high school site in their uniform, or leaving a high school site without showering, and putting their "business casual" street clothes on over a sweaty (yuck) body.

Middle school sites are entirely different. Most don't have a secure dressing area, and almost none have showers available. Most officials come dressed in uniform, and leave in their sweaty uniform.

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbn...69e559d6882062

Not My Favorite Site ...
 

My local board recently began servicing a new school, a small, private, girls prep school. I worked there for the first time this past year. I showed up in my "business casual" street clothes and had to change in a men's lavatory, off the gymnasium, with a few lockers next to the urinals. No privacy. Several fans came in to use the facilities while I was changing. No showers. Next time I'm showing up in my uniform, and, again, I'll be forced to drive home in my sweaty uniform (yuck).

What's Behind Door Number Two ???
 

I was wrong. There is a second school with no secure dressing area, and no shower. We service a small Christian high school that does not have a gymnasium. They play their games in a nearby elementary school. The first time that I was assigned there I showed up in "business casual" street clothes and was told to get dressed in a lavatory, or behind the curtain on the stage at one end of the court. Needless to say, the next time that I was assigned there, I came in uniform, and left in a sweaty (yuck) uniform.