Agreed, but I also don't look down on officials who choose to remove themselves or block themselves from games where there could be a conflict of interest, perceived or otherwise. What works for you may just not work for someone else.

To each his (or her) own.

I block myself from games involving my sons' middle and high schools (exhibition games notwithstanding). While I know I would be objective at them, there are plenty of schools to serve, so I don't see why I would even put myself in that position.

As for what fans think, consider the source.

Verb 1. give a damn - show no concern or interest; always used in the negative; "I don't give a hoot"; "She doesn't give a damn about her job"
care a hang, give a hang,

I know what you were going for here.....had to look it up.

I live in a BIG town for almost 15 yrs. I have coached my kids and hundreds more for that much time and think I've been a pretty solid member of the community. I can do any one of ~ 75-100 local HS, ~ 10 of which are w/in 15 minutes of my house. Chances of me knowing or having coached someone is pretty good. I don't do my son's school, but other than that, I'm not avoiding them. I can do the job and be fair and impartial.

I've shook hands with the Captains and had them say, "Hey Mr. G how are ya?" (No one has called me by my first name - but, that's another thread) :eek:

That being said, in a small town, with few officials, what are the choices?

The other choice is all officials travel 50-100 miles to call their games on a given night, sometimes literally passing each other in the road on the way.

JAR - I know we've had that discussion on the Forum before - "How far do you travel for a game?" I am very thankful I don't have to concern myself with that. Those are some dedicated folk!

OK if it matters to you.

Peace

Live in a small town, but just moved here from out of state. My partners all know someone either on the team, coaching or playing.

As I tell my friends, when I make a mistake in passing on a call or making a call it's because I made an error in judgement, not because I have any bias.

Meet Mr Annoying Cliche Guy.

And if you made officials do that on a regular basis, you'd probably have no officials for some of the more rural small-town schools. These small areas have a tough enough time getting good officials and they'd be a lot less likely to work at all if all of their games were 100+ miles away.

Northeast part of Colorado. Closest towns are Ft. Morgan, New Raymer, Sterling. Crop prices are WAY WAY up, by the way. Everybody's in a good mood.

And that's just it. Many a Middle School game has been officiated by one of the Dads, wearing a black shirt and whistle purchased at the hardware store on the way to the game.

One of the coaches at a school where I work a lot of non-conference games played the town I live in a BV contest last night. Over Christmas (I was working a holiday tourney), he mentioned his next game, looked at me, and said, "Of course I didn't ask you to work that game."

I was a bit disappointed -- not with the snub (I can't work every game *and* I was already booked nonetheless), but with the mindset. The coach is an excellent high school baseball umpire in the area and seems pretty happy with my work (considering he has me back, I'm assuming that's true).

(BTW, I've lived here for 3.5 years and still work non-conference games at the HS, which is about a 2 minute drive from my house. Hiring me doesn't buy a single call -- I still don't care who wins and I don't have any relatives or children working or going to school at the HS. I'm just thrilled that it's close to home and a pretty nice place to work.)

You Can Look It Up ...
 

From our recently approved Code of Ethics and Conduct:

Board members shall recognize that anything which may lead to a conflict of interest either real or
apparent must be avoided. Gifts, favors, special treatment, privileges, employment or personal
relationship with a school or team which can compromise the perceived impartiality of officiating must be
avoided.

I drive almost 100 miles a few times a season. The rural conferences here do something that the more urban and suburban conferences do not -- they pay higher game fees and also pay travel money (I'll work some schools that pay up to $50 travel). To me, it's a sign that they *want* officials from my area to come and work or that there's a shortage of varsity level officials in the area. And those schools pack the gym and provide an atmosphere rarely seen at bigger schools, where the gyms can be less than half full. It's OK to do this once in a while, but I do appreciate the rare occasion where I have to drive less than 20 miles, too.

Zip Code To Zip Code ...
 

I had Catholic middle school games (not my parish) last night in the town that I live in. The distance, as listed on Arbiter, was 0 miles. Two "varsity" games, girls, then boys. Walked into the gym at 5:50 p.m. Home before my car warmed up. Eating dinner at 8:20 p.m. $82.00. Cash. As Jackie Gleason used to say, "How sweet it is".