Career No-nos.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

I'd add another one that I've observed more frequently in the past 5 years:

Engage in inappropriate behavior outside the lines.

Pretty broad I know but I've seen the following:
Officials charged with DUI's
Officials arrested for marijuana posession
Officials charged with domestic violence
Officials banned from school grounds for various reasons
Officials arrested for assault
Officials charged with indecent exposure

I used to believe sports officials were some of the highest character people around. Maybe it's because I'm in Florida and this place attracts whackos, but it seems like I see these occur more often than would be expected. In every instance noted above, the offending official ended up losing out on their schedule or being asked to leave the association, whether or not they were found guilty or charges dismissed.

Which is total bullshit.

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by Matt

Which is total bullshit.

Maybe so...but it's all about perception and credibility. Based on the arrest...those officials are usually blackballed by AD's regardless of outcome and the association is usually left with an unassignable official. I've seen it three times in 12 seasons.

I appreciate your strong disagreement but ya might choose a different decriptive term.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Matt

Which is total bullshit.

Not being found guilty doesn't mean they didn't do it. Perhaps they did but worked out a plea to not go to court. That doesn't make it right just because they got off with it. Perhaps in the above case, every one of them actually did what they were charged with.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Not being found guilty doesn't mean they didn't do it. Perhaps they did but worked out a plea to not go to court. That doesn't make it right just because they got off with it. Perhaps in the above case, every one of them actually did what they were charged with.

If you worked out a plea agreement, you have admitted to some kind of crime. You avoid court to not get the harshest of penalties if convicted.

Peace

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Not being found guilty doesn't mean they didn't do it. Perhaps they did but worked out a plea to not go to court. That doesn't make it right just because they got off with it. Perhaps in the above case, every one of them actually did what they were charged with.

Right on the money. In every case I noted, they were guilty as charged. In four instances, the offense took place (amazingly) either immediately before or after a HS contest...on school property or adjacent. At least two pleaded no contest to avoid a guilty verdict. Most others found guilty.

My whole point is that as an official for school contests, one should understand that any "outside the lines" transgression is going to reflect on your status as an official and affect your career. If that seems unfair, maybe consider another avocation. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

Right on the money. In every case I noted, they were guilty as charged. In four instances, the offense took place (amazingly) either immediately before or after a HS contest...on school property or adjacent. At least two pleaded no contest to avoid a guilty verdict. Most others found guilty.

My whole point is that as an official for school contests, one should understand that any "outside the lines" transgression is going to reflect on your status as an official and affect your career. If that seems unfair, maybe consider another avocation. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.

As long as each one was handled individually, it seems fair. I would just hate for there to be a situation where an official was black-balled because he was arrested for a crime that was actually committed by a one-armed intruder.