Officiating Article

[Bob M.]

Originally Posted by GPC2

I didn't necessarily get offended by that comment by Mac Chauvin, but I just wanted to clarify who he is. Chauvin is not just any athletic administrator, he is assistant commissioner of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association and one of his major responsibilities is to coordinate the officials in the state. Basically he is the top official in Louisiana.

REPLY: All the more reason that Mr. Chauvin should have thought about making such a comment and realized that it would offend the many of us non-doctor/lawyer officials. If such an official from my own state made a similar comment, I would be equally offended.

[Jim D]

It's really ironic that the person who made the comment insinuating that doctors and lawyers are a better class of people would actually be named Chauvin. His comment was totally chauvinistic! Mac must take after one of his distant relatives for whom the term is named.

[Texas Aggie]

he is assistant commissioner of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association and one of his major responsibilities is to coordinate the officials in the state. Basically he is the top official in Louisiana.

He is (or was) on the Fed hoops rules committee and worked hoops in the SEC (probably among others) as late as the early '90s. So he's a former working official.

I think some of you guys are being a bit over sensitive on his point. What I think he's saying is that (traditional) professional types have a different view of their time than others. It isn't that my time as a lawyer is more important than your time as a teacher or salesperson, or whatever. But its that I put a specific value on my time by the hour for my livelihood. Teachers and others don't do that specifically. so when we see we're paid $45 for two games that will take 3 hours, we immediately see $15 an hour when we charge, say, 10 times that much in our work. Teachers, for example, see $45, knowing their job is over for the day since school is out. They compare it to what they might earn working some other part time job. Thus, the pay rate is analyzed a lot more by professional types than it may be by folks in other vocations.

With that said, I need to get back to work!

[prosec34]

As a lawyer who has called ball for three years now, I feel most officials should feel offended by this guy's comments. What a horrible choice of words for the "top official" in the state.

I work games with guys who work in factories and other blue collar occupations, and I try to go out of my way to not act like I'm something better than them. Because I'm not. I don't even tell them what I do for a living unless they ask.

If you're dedicated to your sport(s), try to learn the rules/mechanics and try to act professional while wearing the uniform, you have what it takes to be a good official, no matter what college degrees you may possess.

[SouthGARef]

Those pay increases put them just a little below what we offer here in Georgia. The pay's not going to pay all of your bills, but it is a quality second income.

The days of "doing it for love of the game" are over. The middle class isn't doing that well, and often times they do it because they need the money. I don't have any problem with this, as long as it doesn't interfere with the job they do on the field/court.

I know it may not be a popular idea, but one area to concentrate recruiting is on college campuses. I know I began officiating at the intramural fields, and that's where I learned how to officiate. There are wealths of young bodies out there that have the extra time, are often available in the afternoons when games are being played (while the older officials are at their 'real' jobs), and the money made for college students has a lot more influence on their budgets than it does on a grown man providing for a family.

I know it's a sore subject, because I know I've received resentment from the experienced officials when they see a 21 year old kid walking up to call a game with them. But I know that in my (small) football officiating association that on Friday's where we've put 30 officials on the crew that around 7-10 of them were college students. At first coaches tend to give us little credit, but once we do the job well we gain their respect.

[HLin NC]

SouthGa,
I believe you are right on in recruiting the college student ranks. The only caveat I would add is you need to screen them carefully. I started umpiring LL baseball in a college town and we had a lot of students umpiring. Some tended to straggle in, be sloppily dressed, and lack focus and discipline. I always tried to arrive early, which meant I was always getting the plate gear on first.

I would make sure the intramural director offered a good recommendation

[SWFLguy]

We used to get some college kids for softball. They generally worked out
pretty good, except that when school was over--they were gone. I like the
idea of college kids for football. I may pass that on to our association. Their
might be some college age kids who played high school ball and would like to
give it a shot.
PS--I totally agree that "the days of doing it for the love of the game" are long gone. Quality I believe will come when you have quantity.

[TXFB&BBOff]

Originally Posted by Bob M.

REPLY: All the more reason that Mr. Chauvin should have thought about making such a comment and realized that it would offend the many of us non-doctor/lawyer officials. If such an official from my own state made a similar comment, I would be equally offended.

Notice there was a third criteria of people in his statement. Professional people. If you are an official that is not a doctor, lawyer, or dont handle yourself professionally, the by all means, complain. If you dont handle yourself professionally, I wouldnt consider you a quality official though.