Pleated or flat front pants?
 

I'm a first year official and need to purchase some pants for officiating bball. I personally prefer flat front but have read that most wear pleated now. I would love any advice on that question along with brand and vendor suggestions. Thank you!

Most officials wear pleated. Check your local association.

Have your even ran for two hours in a pair of dress slacks?

That's why pleated is preferred. More room, more freedom to move.

It is a personal preference of course, but I do not see why anyone would want to wear flat front. I know some that do, but not the most preferred pair of pants for sure. Flat fronts are so rare that when I see them I notice.

Peace

It should also be added for anyone buying pants that while belted pants may be ok in some areas, beltless pants are usually the advisable way to go.

Beltless pleated.

MTD, Sr.

With Apologies To Moses ...
 

I will give up my black belt when they peel my cold dead fingers from around it.

How is that working out for you? ;)

Peace

Thanks for all the great advice. Where do you all get your Sansabelt's from?

Sansabelt Pants
 

Only place that still carries them that I know of is Officially Sports in Pittsburgh.... www.officiallysports.com

They cost a few more $$$ than the "Smitty" pants but well worth the price

differential.......imo :):):)

Gerry Davis Sports and Purchase Officials Supplies both sell Sansabelt pants. I am sure there are others, but these are the two I have used over the years.

Gerry Davis Sports

Purchase Officials Supplies

Peace

Just because no one has said flat fronts, that is what I wear. I see it as more of a fashion thing. I haven't worn a pair of pleated pants to my regular job in probably 8 years. So I'm definitely not going to wear them on the court. Whatever pants you wear, just make sure they fit you properly. Anything overly baggy looks awful, throw in pleats and it doubles the effect.

That's where I am on this. I only have pleated pants - and they've been tailored to fit. Even so, they feel "blousey", if not sloppy, in the front.

I've been wanting to switch to flat front primarily because they would look better. Seems like they wouldn't restrict movement either if made with the same type of fabric my pleated Smitty's are made from.

What brand of flat fronts do you wear, bg99?

Here is where I order mine from...

REFEREE PANT

I personally wear pleats and think they generally look nicer, however, I work with a couple shorter officials who wear flat front pants and I think they look much better on them than the pleats due to their height. Just to give reference, both of these guys are shorter than 5'10" and in decent shape. If this is you then you may want to at least try on a pair of the flat front pants just to take a look.......

And don't forget your white socks. :rolleyes:

I don't have the hips for beltless pants.
The key is the black buckle!

Maybe there's a real simple explanation, but could you just get a size that fits your hips? :confused:

You don't hips if you get the right pants. Most referee pants have a rubberized inner waistband to hold them up nicely. Additionally, there a few rubberized belts you can get that both hold the pants up nicely and keep your shirt tucked in nicely.

Double Up For Safety ...
 

Thanks for the reminder. I won't forget. I always wear white socks underneath my black socks. I've been wearing double socks since junior high school to prevent blisters. Mr. D'Amico, my junior high school physical education teacher, encouraged us to not only wear double socks, but to only wear white socks, because the dye in the colored socks would, according to him, infect any blisters that we may incur while participating in his class. I remember Mr. D'Amico telling us something about a president's son who died from an infected blister after wearing colored socks in some type of sports activity. Probably an old wives' tale, but here I am, forty-five years later, wearing two pairs of socks, and never wearing colored socks, in contact with my skin, while participating in sports.

There may be some truth to the colored vs. white sock suggestion. I recently had a bad case of poison ivy and had a number of scratches and blisters and the doctor advised wearing white socks only because the colored dye could irritate the cuts and blisters.

1) I don't think that's generally true today (but certainly different individuals will react to different substances)

2) "the president's son dying" is a myth.

Based on seconds of Googling:

President's son: MYTH: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/coolidge.asp

"In the early 1900s, Nap Lajoie, a former Phillie, was spiked and nearly died from a blood infection that was believed then to have been caused by colored dye in his sock."

Socks weren't colorfast then. The dye would run. These days I couldn't imagine wearing anything but a black pair of socks (usually Thorlos).

I do the same thing. Mainly for extra cushion and absorbancy. My nice black socks stay fresher, last longer and stink less as a result.

Keeps my feet warmer during colder football games too.

the color has nothing to do with "extra cushion and absorbancy". Black athletic socks are readily available.

Ya, I know. I still like wearing white under black for whatever reason. Probably because generic white cotton socks are cheaper than the nicer black, colorfast black socks I wear over the top.

The color has nothing to do with it I shouldn't think but the second sock would. I don't see any reason why the undersock need be any particular color.

I didn't mean to imply anything else.

Some Truth To The Myth ...
 

From Wikepedia:

On the afternoon on June 30, 1924, Calvin Coolidge, Jr. played a game of tennis with his brother John Coolidge. Because he wore tennis shoes without socks, Calvin Jr. developed a blister on his right foot, which progressed into blood poisoning and was the cause of his death on July 7, 1924, less than three months after his sixteenth birthday. His brother, John, described the loss of his brother as producing a depression in President Coolidge that lasted the rest of his life.

Colored socks had nothing to do with it. No socks caused the blisters that led to his death.

Moral of the story. If you're going to play tennis without socks, wait until antibiotics are invented.

Again, Apologies To Moses ...
 

I will give up my white socks under my black socks when they peel my cold dead fingers from around them.

The ultimate point is you do not need to wear two pair of socks if you buy the right socks. I bought the Gerry Davis socks years ago and they are so good I do not need to wear anything else on my feet. And when football went to black pants, these are the only socks I wear when officiating regular season contest in any of my sports.

Peace

Helllo ???????
 

Tip off is two weeks (for most hs) and we are talking about socks??????? (blk vs. white) as opposed to rthymn / speed / balance / quickness...or strong side officiating......

As they say on ESPN ...C'mon now !!!!!

See what happens when you let Bmac hijack threads !!!!!!! :D:D:D

Speak for yourself. Tip off starts on Monday (Started on Monday for those that do girls basketball). Scrimmage tonight. I just cannot wait. :eek:

Peace

You do realize we can have more than one thread on this here forum thing right? :)

Nothing is stopping you from starting a thread of your own MS.

Last thread I started was the mysterious name change by Adam......it had a good run!!!!!!!

Wore the same socks last night that I did on monday.....I can share with you

how my bag smells this morning if interested !!!!!!

Not This Time ...
 

Hey. You can't pin this one on me. Not this time. Blame BktBallRef.

Before his post we were discussing pleated pants versus flat front pants. Certainly a much more stimulating topic than socks.

Hear hear! :D

I'm willing to part ways with old habits and try something new. Perhaps I'll buy a pair of these Gerry Davis socks.

Try telling my wife that. She insists that multiple socks are the only way to keep her feet warm. I just live by man's golden rule: the wife is always right.

You cannot man up when she is not around? I know she cannot be in the locker room to know what you put on your feet before the game. ;)

Peace

That leads to the age old question. If a man says something and his wife doesn't hear him, is he still wrong?

I wash mine to achive those results.

LOL...nicely done, CR!

Glad I could inspire you. :)

Apparently my thread has been sock-jacked.

Welcome to the forum. Now that you've started a four page thread, you can call yourself an "Esteemed Member."

I wear pleated pants because they give me more room to move.

That being said I despise the look of them and really wish flat fronts were as comfortable as pleats.

Look Out Baby, 'Cause Here I Come ...
 

So that's the secret. I thought that it was number of posts. Give me a few days to come up with a four page thread topic. Can it have images? Does it have to be on a basketball topic? I wonder if I can, somehow, tie in the "fiscal cliff" to a basketball related topic? That would definitely generate four pages of posts.

Are you selling these pants or something? Don't bump old threads.