Unshaven

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

I doubt any evaluators at my games mentioned my goatee.

So doesn't this prove it's not an issue?

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by Terrapins Fan

BTW, I don't think we should be judged by our facial hair, provided, it's neat and groomed.

I also do not think we should be judged by our weight, again, provided we can keep up with the game. It should be about our calls and our mechanics.

We have to look the part. However, it's only referees who think a person with facial hair can't possible be good. No one else cares so long as it's neatly groomed. On the other hand, everyone is going to notice a referee being overweight.

Can you imagine a fan saying, "If you'd just have shaved off your beard you wouldn't have missed that call."? I can't. On the other hand, "Lose some weight so you can actually get a call right." is well within the realm of possibilities.

Originally Posted by Rich

And the reality is I've never seen a top D1 official with facial hair (I'm sure there are some, I just can't think of one) or glasses.

When I work college football, I'm expected to squint rather than wear sunglasses -- in baseball, I wear sunglasses everywhere.

Some of these things hold on when they probably should've died years ago.

The whole thing reminds me of an experiment that was done either with monkeys or chimps (can't remember which). They were put in a cage with a bunch of bananas hanging from the ceiling and a ladder underneath them to access them. Then whenever one would try to climb the ladder to get one they'd be sprayed with water from a fire hose until they stopped. Eventually, they stopped trying to get the bananas.

At this point they started rotating out the original animals and replacing them with new ones. The new one of course would go for the banana but the others would stop him so they wouldn't be sprayed. Eventually, not a single one remained of those who had been sprayed but they group still wouldn't let the newcomer get a banana.

It's the same kind of self-perpetuating thing. For some reason lost to time (and almost certainly having nothing to do with basketball), the college referees didn't have facial hair. So the people who want to be college referees go clean shaven. By the time they get there, they have no desire to have facial hair so they don't grow any causing the next group to think they have to ditch the facial hair to get there.

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by just another ref

So doesn't this prove it's not an issue?

Maybe...but it's one less thing to worry about. Truthfully, grooming this thing has gotten to be a bother and I doubt I'll miss it anyway.

[jeschmit]

Originally Posted by APG

I go clean-shaven...even if it means I sometimes get mistaken for a player instead of an official (and it's happened before).

I feel ya there... I go clean shaven before every game, and last night at my NCAAW-DII game I got asked if I was still in HS! It was a serious question too!

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich

And the reality is I've never seen a top D1 official with facial hair (I'm sure there are some, I just can't think of one) or glasses.

When I work college football, I'm expected to squint rather than wear sunglasses -- in baseball, I wear sunglasses everywhere.

Some of these things hold on when they probably should've died years ago.

Well you do see mustaches from African-American officials often but that is it. And even that is hit and miss, but your point is point on otherwise.

Peace

[SCalScoreKeeper]

Ok as a scorer here are my rules on this topic-

2 day tournament-shave on first day only
3 day tournament-shave on first and last days
4 day tournament-shave on first,third,and last days

Regular game days-shave on every game day.

[tomegun]

In all my years I have only had one D1 official tell me I should shave my mustache. Other than that, I shave daily with clippers to prevent other problems. Also, I can't shake a habit I developed for 20 years - my mustache is still within military regulations.

Having said all of that, I will have some additional facial hair this time next week.

[BillyMac]

I wear a black belt and I got a great schedule this season. Best in several years. Maybe next year I'll wear two black belts at the same time.

[The_Rookie]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I can tell you the vast majority of officials I come in contact have no facial hair. I do see some mustaches, but nothing else. I do see some officials with a beard but that is rare. Basically that standard is not as strict at the HS level, but rather strict at the college level. It was suggested to me to cut my beard in order to work for certain people, I have done that and was never hurt by that issue. Still have a clean mustache but I can do that.

Peace

Lets see a picture

[JRutledge]

Several posted if you are a friend.

Peace