In baseball, softball and soccer, officials have been wearing whie on their shoes for years.

In NC, we're allowed to wear shoes with white on them. I wear them during football. We wear the black pants with the white stripe. I like the look of a shoe with a white swoosh or the Reebok stripes. Makes the uniform pop!

I don't wear them in basketball because we wear the gray shirt. But I don't object if others do.

Opening the door to shoes that are not 100% black allows officials a much wider variety of shoes to wear. Personally, I think it's something Mr. Adams really needs to get over it. That type of thinking is very old school.

Apparently, it is. Perhaps I need to spell it out more simply next time but my second post clearly stated that I was not commenting on that guy in that instance. If its fine with his group then by all means he can wear whatever they allow. I was commenting on those who are in associations, chapters, states, etc. that have requirements that they do not follow, which is not professional. And, for the record, in THOSE instances it is still unprofessional even if the one doing the hiring continues to hire them. It is on us to be professionals at all times and I expect my co-officials in my chapter to do exactly that -- not because it affects their ability to do the job but because it may affect their perceived ability do the job (I say this as an ex coach who could tell within miutes of seeing a crew who I would be "working" to get those 50/50 calls to go my way).

So, to recap:

1) original post asked about shoes
2) a joke was made about them being black
3) I posted about D1 official who wore blk/wht (remember, HE has said "never do that")

I will make an effort in the future to write posts that leave less room for feelings to get hurt.

Is this a joke? Must be.

Apparently not just coaches and players cranky at the end of the season...
 

Mmcfadden--welcome to the forum! Clearly there are some strong opinions on the topic of your first post. Basically you can never go wrong with all black. There is no one brand/model that is recommended or mandated. Find one that feels good to you. If you choose a shoe with white trim, some don't care, some will make a snap judgment about not only your shoes but your skills. You can also run afoul of your assignor/association, so proceed at your own risk.

There are other threads here on recommended shoes, but the search function isn't so great. Try this: go to Google and in the search bar type "site:forum.officiating.com/basketball shoe recommendation" (without the quotes) and you'll find several threads. Good luck!

If you are required to wear all-black and you need a specific shoe with white markings because fit is an issue, black out the white design. Simple, no?

Yep, but the simple fact is, not many require all black any more. They may say it, we've been told to have "all black", but when I ask about my Zigs everyone is ok (they have them anyway).

"All" means different things to different people, apparently.

It never hurts to ask.

Judging other officials based on this, though, is ridiculous unless you're privy to the relationship between that official and his supervisor.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 

At the college level, it is about the green. Years ago the CIAA had a contract with Reebok ( I think ) and the story is that an official had on a pair of Nike's with a big white swoosh. Jim Burch came into the lockeroom at half time and had the official darken the swoosh.....

So Reebok gave $ to the schools in the conference, but unless the officials were also being sponsored or signed something stating which shoes they would or wouldn't wear, then they are under no direct obligation. One could make the argument for indirect obligation as the conference is paying the officials. However, any argument based upon "better do what the assignor says or you may well lose games or even be dropped from the conference" amounts to nothing more than coercion.

Several years ago I was at a regional youth soccer event. One of the sponsors for the tournament was either Nike, Adidas, or Reebok,--I can't recall which--and after we arrived at the site there was a referee meeting at which the administrator stated that all of us were to wear only that brand of shoes! :eek:

There were no fees for the games. The individual states had paid to transport the officials, cover the hotel, and some food money.

I asked my state rep if the tournament would be providing shoes for those of us who normally wore another brand or funds for us to go purchase the desired shoes. When the answer came back in the negative, I let the rep know that I wouldn't be wearing the desired shoes as that info was not part of the tournament's preparation packet and it was unacceptable to be informed of such on-site. The tournament could remove me from any assignments, if so desired.
About six other refs from my state agreed.

I guess several other people must have been in the same position and the tournament couldn't replace us all because the next morning we were all told to work the games in whatever shoes we had.

Clearly the referees were an afterthought to the event and the sponsorship deal.

Aren't we always an afterthought? I would have done the same thing you did, but sadly there are to many that wouldn't say anything and just go and spend the money because they think that standing up for right would cause waves and hurt their chances of advancing.

This is true with so many things. I really wish people in positions of authority would actually be "fair" rather than so @#$#$ biased.

My big problem (and now a problem for Junior) is trying to find a high top (or at least a mid-high) because of ankle injuries. The shoe manufacturers are making all of these different types of shoes but ever since Converse stopped making basketball officials shoes no one as stepped into fill the void.

We found an all black Nike hi-top at Dick's this past fall for $50/pair and we each bought two pair and rotate switch them every game and hope they last at least four years that way. I have gone back to wearing a tie-up ankle brace on my right foot after not wearing one for the previous five years; it was the hold ankle injury that was causing my problems in my right knee much more that my arthritis.

MTD, Sr.

Mark, do you ever tape your ankles or have them taped?
When I tape my ankles, I am able to wear low tops and still get plenty of lateral support.

So you and Junior wear the same size? That's convenient. ;)

Mark:

Oh no. He is a 12-1/2 and I am a 10 for officiating.

MTD, Sr.

I can't stand to have my ankles taped. I have tried taping in the past by college trainers and there is no way that they can't keep from taping them too tight. By the time the game is five minutes old feel like the circulation is being cut off to my foot.

MTD, Sr.

No Underwrap ...
 

His partners usually prefer that Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. have his mouth taped.