Local politics blues

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by Brad

It's interesting to me that the same guy is STILL president of the chapter, when his term and term limits have LONG expired. I can't understand why several hundred officials just stand there and let him get away with it.

Nevermind how long it took for bylaws, amongst other things, to be put into place once the organization switched over. And you know why on the second part. As long as people were still getting games, why rock the boat, right?

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Nevermind how long it took for bylaws, amongst other things, to be put into place once the organization switched over.

Exactly.

No one voted to rewrite the constitution or form a new organization, but the president took it upon himself to come up with an entirely new document, putting things in that were never voted on, nor discussed with the members. He simply has no respect for how organizations are run and thinks it's his own little playground.

There is also a question now of where the TASO money went that was in the bank at the time ... somewhere around $50,000 just "disappeared" ... and no one has provided any sort of financial documents for years.

There are some people looking into this now (legally) and it will all come out eventually ... I'm really going to enjoy telling a few people "I told you so!!"

[7IronRef]

Originally Posted by Brad

Not always.

In the case of the Houston UIL chapter they completely manipulated the schedule of those that they did not like. There was a group of us that sued the chapter because of a fraudulent "vote" that was pushed through by the current board to change from TASO to UIL. They did not follow Texas Law nor Robert's Rules of Order ... they simply did what they wanted to do because it was the president's agenda.

All of us that sued received schedules that were completely crap games -- places I hadn't worked in years!! It was clear the the president had decided to manipulate the assigning process to get some revenge. He also tried to tell officials assigning tournaments that they couldn't use certain people, which caused a huge uproar.

Keep in mind that those of us that sued were almost all college officials, some working at the Division I level, including myself. So, there was no issue based on "having what it takes" ... it was politics pure and simple.

It's interesting to me that the same guy is STILL president of the chapter, when his term and term limits have LONG expired. I can't understand why several hundred officials just stand there and let him get away with it.

you seem to think that you are entitled to games just because you have reached a certain level.

face it, when regimes change, so does the balance of power, whether it is officiating, business, or politics.

you think that you could remain neutral toward someone you do not care for? you would not take care of the people who supported you over the ones that didn't? btw you sued because you didn't get your way or felt you were not treated fairly, how did the lawsuit turn out? sounds like your group lost which indicates things were satisfactory in the eyes of the law

must be a very nice view from your tower

[Brad]

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

you seem to think that you are entitled to games just because you have reached a certain level.

Not sure how you came to that conclusion. I don't assume I'm entitled to anything. However, I did work to attain certain achievements.

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

face it, when regimes change, so does the balance of power, whether it is officiating, business, or politics.

I don't liken a non-profit organization to a "regime" and disagree that it should be run like one.

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

btw you sued because you didn't get your way or felt you were not treated fairly, how did the lawsuit turn out? sounds like your group lost which indicates things were satisfactory in the eyes of the law

No, we sued because the board of directors of the organization were not following the own organizations constitution, procedures and policies. If they had, there would have never been a lawsuit.

Also, your second statement is laughable. You must have never been involved in a lawsuit or the law at all to believe that a court's ruling, or a lawsuit not winning equals everything was "satisfactory in the eyes of the law".

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

must be a very nice view from your tower

Not sure what this is supposed to mean.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

you seem to think that you are entitled to games just because you have reached a certain level.

Also, I do think that members or an organization should be treated fairly based on what the organizations leaders have said they would do. There was a system in place to assign games. That system was manipulated so as to "punish" those that the board of directors did not like. That's not being fair -- it's being vindictive.

I still worked plenty of games. I was in a position where I was working a good lower-level college schedule as well as for two different D1 supervisors at the time. That was one of the reasons that I was able to put my name on a lawsuit. It was not a surprise that the leadership manipulated schedules -- that's why the majority of the organization just went along with it ... most are too scared to stick their neck out and put their name on the line, knowing that there will be payback.

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

you think that you could remain neutral toward someone you do not care for?

As far as my dislike for that person, possibly not. However, I hold the policies of an organization in higher regard than my own personal viewpoints.

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

you would not take care of the people who supported you over the ones that didn't?

It was not the president's place to "take care" of anyone as it relates to scheduling games in an organization with well over 500 members. The president is not in charge of scheduling. However, he used his influence and intimidation with members to get his way ... like a petulant child, rather than dealing with things like a rational adult.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

I did, you said "politics" and "you just wanted to work local games." If there is something more, it was not in the OP.

Politics around here seems synonymous with people complaining about why they cannot get ahead. Politics is an excuse, either you have what it takes or you don't.

Sorry you are unhappy with your situation, but you are an independent contractor. Which means you can pick and choose where you want to work, choose the games that suits your schedule. The choice is yours.

Perhaps a discussion with your assignor will give you the "local" schedule you had hoped would be available? Oh wait, that wasn't part of the OP, you are just bummed about having to go back into the larger group where you were not getting things your way, errr, I mean the politics were keeping you from getting what you wanted. Smaller group politics are difficult too, unless you are part of the good ol' boys there.

Good luck with your group. Just keep working hard and once you are trusted enough, you will have more say in your schedule. Sounds like a real job in the real world, become a leader within your organization and you can frequently write your own schedule. Or is that politics?

Well, my area is affected by politics and my concerns have nothing to do with getting games. I could join the other association and would be working a top flight schedule from day 1.

Sorry, but your broad brush strokes don't cover the entire canvass.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Same boat here. My association used to have the local private schools and 21 public schools (2 10-team conferences and 1 small school). New commissioner elected in 2010 and old commissioner started new association and got one of the conferences. 2011 we lost the other conference leaving us with the 1 small school plus the private schools. Now we are losing the small school b/c we are not sactioned by the state.

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

I have decided that as long as my association still has local HS contracts that I will not work for the competing organization. So I'll work whatever private school games get assigned to me, but to keep myself active in the VHSL (state-sanctioned public schools) I'm going to join an organization outside my immediate geographical area. They have some outlying schools that are closer to me than to the majority of their membership.

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

I did, you said "politics" and "you just wanted to work local games." If there is something more, it was not in the OP.

Politics around here seems synonymous with people complaining about why they cannot get ahead. Politics is an excuse, either you have what it takes or you don't.

Sorry you are unhappy with your situation, but you are an independent contractor. Which means you can pick and choose where you want to work, choose the games that suits your schedule. The choice is yours.

Perhaps a discussion with your assignor will give you the "local" schedule you had hoped would be available? Oh wait, that wasn't part of the OP, you are just bummed about having to go back into the larger group where you were not getting things your way, errr, I mean the politics were keeping you from getting what you wanted. Smaller group politics are difficult too, unless you are part of the good ol' boys there.

Good luck with your group. Just keep working hard and once you are trusted enough, you will have more say in your schedule. Sounds like a real job in the real world, become a leader within your organization and you can frequently write your own schedule. Or is that politics?

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Well, my area is affected by politics and my concerns have nothing to do with getting games. I could join the other association and would be working a top flight schedule from day 1.

Sorry, but your broad brush strokes don't cover the entire canvass.

My situation has nothing to do with getting games. I can get them, it has to do with not being happy with the local climate, from the ADs/principals on down.

[Smitty]

Another take on this, and forgive me if someone has already mentioned it, is that because of the ability in my area for school districts to team up with one association over another, the assigner has a vested interest in making sure the school district is happy with the product and will assign people he knows will do a good job to those schools. Whether I agree with that philosophy or not, I understand it. And as Camron has said, I would likely do the same thing. Earning your assigner's trust is a very important thing. I do believe that you can break into that "ring of trust" if you work hard enough and have some patience.

[DRJ1960]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Another take on this, and forgive me if someone has already mentioned it, is that because of the ability in my area for school districts to team up with one association over another, the assigner has a vested interest in making sure the school district is happy with the product and will assign people he knows will do a good job to those schools. Whether I agree with that philosophy or not, I understand it. And as Camron has said, I would likely do the same thing. Earning your assigner's trust is a very important thing. I do believe that you can break into that "ring of trust" if you work hard enough and have some patience.

+1
and... those officials can be trusted to call the game exactly as the coaches want.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Another take on this, and forgive me if someone has already mentioned it, is that because of the ability in my area for school districts to team up with one association over another, the assigner has a vested interest in making sure the school district is happy with the product and will assign people he knows will do a good job to those schools. Whether I agree with that philosophy or not, I understand it. And as Camron has said, I would likely do the same thing. Earning your assigner's trust is a very important thing. I do believe that you can break into that "ring of trust" if you work hard enough and have some patience.

Good job or the job the coaches want? If a coach shows his backside, will a crew in your area hesitate to whack/eject the coach because the coach has influence over the assignor?

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

I did, you said "politics" and "you just wanted to work local games." If there is something more, it was not in the OP.

Politics around here seems synonymous with people complaining about why they cannot get ahead. Politics is an excuse, either you have what it takes or you don't.

Sorry you are unhappy with your situation, but you are an independent contractor. Which means you can pick and choose where you want to work, choose the games that suits your schedule. The choice is yours.

Perhaps a discussion with your assignor will give you the "local" schedule you had hoped would be available? Oh wait, that wasn't part of the OP, you are just bummed about having to go back into the larger group where you were not getting things your way, errr, I mean the politics were keeping you from getting what you wanted. Smaller group politics are difficult too, unless you are part of the good ol' boys there.

Good luck with your group. Just keep working hard and once you are trusted enough, you will have more say in your schedule. Sounds like a real job in the real world, become a leader within your organization and you can frequently write your own schedule. Or is that politics?

Lots of words for someone who has no experience with the problem Welpe is referring to. Nice advice - become a leader in an organization ... problem is, the organization in question is run entirely by the good-ole-boy network. Merit or ability has nothing to do with it.

[7IronRef]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Lots of words for someone who has no experience with the problem Welpe is referring to. Nice advice - become a leader in an organization ... problem is, the organization in question is run entirely by the good-ole-boy network. Merit or ability has nothing to do with it.

good ole boy network = i can't get ahead based on how good i think i am

the same principles apply to referees as they do to players, if they are good enough they will be identified.

sorry you are not getting the games you think you should be, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of sports officials that aren't getting the 1 BIG game had on any given night....STFU

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

STFU

Stay classy, San Diegeo.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

good ole boy network = i can't get ahead based on how good i think i am

the same principles apply to referees as they do to players, if they are good enough they will be identified.

...

That's a funny statement. Usually made by a "good ole boy". Or just an a$$-clown.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by 7IronRef

good ole boy network = i can't get ahead based on how good i think i am

Spoken like a good ole boy. This had nothing to do with whether I could get ahead or not, nor anything to do with my own talent level.

the same principles apply to referees as they do to players, if they are good enough they will be identified.

If things were run right, you would be correct. That fact that what you say here is NOT the way things work is the problem.

sorry you are not getting the games you think you should be, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of sports officials that aren't getting the 1 BIG game had on any given night....STFU

I stopped working here - not because of the games I got, but rather because I could no longer in good conscious support a group that was run so corruptly. When you show up week after week and work with officials that clearly have no idea what they are doing, but continue to get work because they were drinking buds with the scheduler or the nephew of the VP, or whatever - it grinds on you.

You make a lot of assumptions, and you clearly have no grasp of what the actual problems were (and still are).