Iowa high school basketball games postponed due to referee no-show

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by Rich

And, naturally, because you lived up to your end of the contract, you were paid in full for these dates. Right?

Rich:

ROFLMAO!!

MTD, Sr.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

Rich:

ROFLMAO!!

MTD, Sr.

I'm telling you -- this is a drum I'm going to bang (including here locally, when I have the opportunity) until things change.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by Rich

I'm telling you -- this is a drum I'm going to bang (including here locally, when I have the opportunity) until things change.

Rich:

You are preaching to the choir here.

MTD, Sr.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Rich

I'm telling you -- this is a drum I'm going to bang (including here locally, when I have the opportunity) until things change.

I don't blame you. We work through assignees here and there is standard language concerning cancellations. And if the officials are to blame for a cancellation our association has to reimburse the schools for school bus transportation costs.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

I don't blame you. We work through assignees here and there is standard language concerning cancellations. And if the officials are to blame for a cancellation our association has to reimburse the schools for school bus transportation costs.

We had two crews show up for a game last week. Turns out BOTH had contracts. The crew that went home is afraid to ask for pay because they don't want to get scratched by that commissioner / conference.

[ODog]

I see it's been mentioned already these are two rural schools, but does anyone else find it crazy the administration supposedly searched for local officials and found NOBODY able to do the games on short notice?

Are there only a few dozen officials on the board? Every board/association has its problems, but I think lack of #s would be a first.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by ODog

I see it's been mentioned already these are two rural schools, but does anyone else find it crazy the administration supposedly searched for local officials and found NOBODY able to do the games on short notice?

Are there only a few dozen officials on the board? Every board/association has its problems, but I think lack of #s would be a first.

You're assuming that there are well-defined boards/associations in the area. In rural schools around here, the schools would have to call from their contact list of officials -- it could be a small list.

[rockyroad]

Rich, around here if the schools cancel without letting us know and we show up, we get full game fee and mileage. If they cancelday of - unless it is weather related or some kind of emergency - we get paid our mileage. One of the perks of having an association that the schools have to contract through.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Rich

You're assuming that there are well-defined boards/associations in the area. In rural schools around here, the schools would have to call from their contact list of officials -- it could be a small list.

These towns are small enough, they may not have anyone qualified to work that level. And if they do, they're probably already working on a Tuesday night.

And you're right, associations in these areas, if they exist at all, don't look anything like associations in metro areas.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by ODog

I see it's been mentioned already these are two rural schools, but does anyone else find it crazy the administration supposedly searched for local officials and found NOBODY able to do the games on short notice?

Are there only a few dozen officials on the board? Every board/association has its problems, but I think lack of #s would be a first.

If Iowa is like it is when I used to work baseball, the answer is not really. For one this might be a busy night where officials are already working. Or there is no one close to just pick up and work to anyone's satisfaction.

Iowa is mostly a rural state. It is hard to get to a lot of places if you are not close. Probably at the last minute no, but if they had an issue earlier in the day and knew there was a problem, then probably someone could have covered the game.

Peace

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Rich

We had two crews show up for a game last week. Turns out BOTH had contracts. The crew that went home is afraid to ask for pay because they don't want to get scratched by that commissioner / conference.

Guess I'd be getting scratched.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Rich

We had two crews show up for a game last week. Turns out BOTH had contracts. The crew that went home is afraid to ask for pay because they don't want to get scratched by that commissioner / conference.

Glad we don't have to deal with such nonsense.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Glad we don't have to deal with such nonsense.

+1

I've been fortunate and never had an issue. Assignor, Arbiter and confirmation emails, have served it's purpose well for me. We don't deal with the schools.

[fullor30]

Has to be someone from Iowa here who has the poop on this?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Glad we don't have to deal with such nonsense.

As I've always said, there are plusses and minuses to our system. The plus is that I get to choose which conferences I want to work for and can work as many games or as few games as I want. When I lived in Tennessee, we all got assigned 2-3 dates a week and it was a closed shop -- even if I wanted to work more, I couldn't -- because I had to take what the association gave me.

The big minus is that I have to deal with about a dozen different assignors of varying quality.