Just my opinion
 

Let me say this first. I know OverandBack a little bit. He is just like a lot of other newer officials he is trying to find his way. He is rather successful in his career (he might not admit to this) and he seems to be struggling based on his words here. What I would suggest to OB and any other newer official is just take a deep breathe. Officiating is not easy, but it is not as bad as we make it either. Part of the problem is the fact that we really do not know what to expect when we start. I think if OB had a mentor, someone he can talk to on a much more regular basis, then he might figure out how to navigate through this thing we call officiating. He is going through what a lot of us go through early on. We just have to decide whether we like this and what we like about this. If I am not mistaken OB got out of basketball because of what happen to him during a Men's league game. One of the things that kept me officiating is I cut back heavily on those kind of games that had no accountabity. In football I only work HS leagues for the most part. The only league that I do work that is not HS/college is a Catholic Grade School League and it is with two officials that have worked State Finals in the past 2 years. That helps eliminate many bad experiences because my partners are solid and we all have similar expectations while working football. In basketball I pretty much only work HS games and college games and I try to avoid any lower level ball that is not associated with a large governing body (like the Illinois Elementary High School Association). OB, you have to be picky at what you do. My suggestion is to just stick to HS games and try to latch onto a crew that is going to work once or twice a week. You do not live in an area where you "have to work" when you do not want to. Those Pop Warner/Bill George type leagues burn out the best officials around. So stay away from them if you are tired of all the crap that goes along with them. Officiating should be fun, not a drudgery.

Peace

I have to piggy back on what Rich said. A few years ago I would work every Friday and Saturday during the football season and I thought that was rather long. I would work 18 varsity dates (mostly double headers) and I would be exhausted after each weekend. The last couple of years I am lucky to work 2 Saturdays and that is just fine for me. Now the playoffs are coming and I have likely only 3 more weeks left (hopefully 1 after that :D) and that is more than enough. I am finally trying to work some college football and I was working about 3 weeks of JV games that was a lot of fun, but the games were very close to my house.

Working football in my opinion takes a lot out of you in one setting (more than my other sports if you ask me). Probably the only thing that rivals this is when you are working the plate during a baseball game in the hot sun. But you do not work the plate every game so working baseball can be not as physically demanding quite a bit of the time. When you work multiple sports you are really trying to pace yourself so that you do not go crazy or drive the people you live with crazy because you are always gone.

Peace

When you work multiple sports.........
 

My wife fixed that problem rather quickly after my son was born when she told me to "pick one and live with it.":eek:

JRutledge, you just hit the nail on the head. Limit the type of ball. I like that, and until my wife put her foot down a few years ago, I couldn't see the forest for the trees. There is nothing like doing a football or baseball game, but doing it in a crappy setting just deflates it all.

O&B,

I'm in my 8th year of officiating. After my third year, I was seriously questioning if I wanted to keep working football (and my wife was pleased I was considering quitting). I was also working basketball and baseball. What helped me is cutting back on my schedule. I now only work football and I work a minimal schedule of underclassman games and rarely work anything that isn't sanctioned by our state association.

I also got away from the sidelines to get away from some of what I consider harrassment. After three years, I wasn't confident in my rules application. Things I heard from coaches also really bothered me. Now after my 8th year, I must be developing some thick skin and some confidence in my rules application because I rarely hear things that bother me and I have to smile at the ignorance of what I hear. I've evened occasionally moved back over to a wing position to work on my people skills. I'm also working D3 college ball at a wing.

Bottom line is that it gets easier with time.

I am available to talk to you about this if you would like to phone me. Send me an email at twinsears AT verizon DOT net if you would like to share your thoughts.

3 weeks to go ... and I still have SEVENTEEN more games. First year - 100 games on the nose. 70-80 each year since then. And I'm only a couple of years younger than you.

And I'd say my workload is pretty typical of the guys I work with.

If 26 is wearing you out, is it physical or mental? If mental, maybe working MORE would actually help. Can't focus on the nonsense from the coach last night (or even last game - 10 minutes ago) - I have 2 more games tonight. The coaches become just background noise after a while.

Who CARES how many games people work? This is an irrelevant yardstick. It's personal choice and personal makeup that are important in choosing how many games people work and someone who works 100 is in no way better than someone who chooses to work 25. I mean, how many games do D-IA officials work in a season?

Dang, Rich. Did I say anything at all about whether I think I'm better than OB or not, or whether that has anything at all to do with the number of games worked each season?

No.

My point was that if his issue was mental, and not physical, that sometimes working MORE games helps alleviate the problem. If you're constantly working, it's easier to let go of bad games or bad coaches, as you really have no choice but to forget it and move on.

As far as how many games is best, I'm sure it varies by person. I found out the hard way that 100 was too many, and included in that is that I learned that for me, 5 days a week is too many. I've cut back to 3-4 days per week, and about 75 in a year is much better for me - both mentally and physically. Everyone has his own sweet spot.

In my chapter our goal is to do all we can to keep everyone past 3 years. Once we get them to stick to it for 3 years, then they pretty much stick around on their own after that. It's just those first 3 years that we have a hard time keeping folks. Their primary reason is Coaches. Early on when I first started I didn't take too much crap from coaches. I'd stand my ground and even respond back. Well, that made things worse. Now, I just let them say what they need to say and don't respond. I hear them, but I'm not listening. I only respond when they have an actual question. 90% of the time they don't have a question, so there is no reason to respond. I just shake my head and tell them I hear them.

Actually, good point. It's easier to forget about yesterday's jerk when you have today's to think about. :D

I am not married but I live with my girlfriend. And I would not tolerate that kind of choice. The girlfriend I have now knew me as an official. If you have to give up things you love, why are you married?

Considering what I have read here, if you (not you but anyone this would apply to) stop working games every single night, maybe you would have time for your family. I do not work a 100 basketball games in a season. How in the hell do you work 100 football games?

Peace

I would never have to be subjected to that choice, either. My wife has said, "You were an official before we met."