Local politics blues

[w_sohl]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Coming from California, Texas has been...interesting as far as football is concerned. I did not call basketball in California so I don't have much to compare to in that sense. What I can say is that officiating was not nearly as politically disfunctional there as it is here.

The TASO v. UIL thing being a big one but in general, it's an ugly animal here in comparison. Coaches having so much influence on the whole process is another big one.

BNR, your situation sounds fairly similar. Are you just staying the course and doing what you can? I do have the option of joining the larger chapter in addition to the one I belong to but I'm not necessarily inclined to do so.

Coaches have WAY to much pull in Texas. First game last season coach starts dropping F-Bombs on my sideline. Knowing how much pull they have I tell him it isn't appropriate and he plays stupid, "What did I say". He does it a second time and I tell him "that is enough, next one gets a flag" and he calls my white hat over and refuses to let me be part of the conversation. My white hat then asks me if I'll move to the other side of the field and I tell him no, and ask him "who's team are you on?" It happens a third time and I flag the coach and he looses it, my white hat ask if I'll go to the other side now and I say "sure, but you need a new flank for the rest of the season."

In this sitch, not only did the coach have too much power, but my white hat decided to expand his power. He appologized to me after the game, and I worked the rest of the season, but I knew I wasn't going to remain on that crew if I had stayed in TX. The rest of the guys were OK, umpire needed some work from a rule book perspective. Heck, my white hat did too, I can't tell you how many times he came to me for rule clarifications during a game.