This is truly unbelievable!

[BktBallRef]

Ahah! So, now we do have the TRUTH!

Obviously, Mr. Graham was just covering his own a$$.

As I stated earlier, he is an embarassment to the IHSA.

Thank you, Old Ref, for your insight.

[arbiter]

Thanks old ref! You certainly exposed Mr. Graham for what he is.....a lackey for the league. An embarrasment to the IHSA?????? Not strong enough words. For a rat is a rat is a rat. And there is a rat trap in place for this one.

[Mike Simonds]

Thanks Old Ref for "exposing" the truth...

[Sleeper]

I don't think either Mike, especially TX, is espousing blind loyalty. There is a difference between blind loyalty and trying to be an agent for change. Officials refusing to call because of what occurred, regardless of the magnitude, are exercising one of the few ways we have to facilitate change. Your choosing to not support them is also your choice, but it is because of people that make your choice that the leverage is diminished. Your snide and sarcastic responses to the posts confronting what you did adds credence to their arguements. How much would it have cost you if it were your son who was assaulted and battered by the coach? How much would it have taken if it had been your child given drugs? It amazes me how cheap some people are willing to sell their loyalty.

Don't come here looking for sympathy or understanding. Most of the officials who post to this board don't do this for the money. I am probably in the minority when I say this is a part time job for me and the money is a big reason that I call. With that said, I also have to look at myself in the mirror in the morning. I couldn't support a coach that gave his kids drugs and assaulted an official. I couldn't support an organization that allowed the coach to continue to be involved. Your standards must be lower than the balance of the officials I know.

[Sleeper]

Old Ref,

I appreciate your frustration and share your sentiment about Mr. Graham. I wonder what the price per pound is for selling your spine. I hope he made a premium.

That being said, I would implore you to rethink your blackball decision. By doing so, you are sinking to his level and I would hope that you are not that kind of person. Officials should be chosen for assignments based on their skill, experience and the needs of the kids. I don't agree with what he did; frankly, it makes me ill. Blackballing smacks of politics and labor unions. The associations I have been exposed to have too much politics as it is, with qualified officials receiving sub-par games because they haven't made the right people happy. In addition, we aren't a union, we are independent contractors. By blackballing, we begin acting as an employer, which opens up another can of worms.

Mr. Graham should be assigned games according to his skills and qualifications. While this is hard for me to write, I still believe it is the right thing to do. If a coach wants to scratch him, that's another matter.

[Kelvin green]

Why on earth would any officials group work for a league like the one in discussion?

It is not blind loyalty to the officiating cause. Its open-eyed and enlightened.

A league that has not adopted rules about coaching behavior in 42 years does not care what a coach does.

A league that vindicates a coach for being out of control whether there was an assault or not.

A league that does not suspend for an ejection of a coach.

Sounds like to me there isnt much on site security either.

Even if the officials did not boyott with all the stuff Ive seen, I would find another league to work.

In a lot of places, including where I am from, the behavior in not tolerated at all. We have an official on the league board, and know we need to work together. The board in question does not look like they have figured it out.

Glad I'm not them dealing with all the liability issues...

particularly using untrained officials who dont know the rules (post boycott). Just wait until a kid gets hurt (because a coach or dad is out there without a clue) oh well not my organization.

[stevegarbs]

Rich Graham, you are an idiot.

I have no intention of ever working in the Southwest Midget Football League again until they act, as TWO local newspaper editorial boards printed on their editorial pages, to dismiss both coaches from the league.

I have never, ever, told any new assignment chairman I had any intention of working in that league again, and will show you the e-mails to prove it, you lying sack.

But, it is now clear you have your head up more than one behind in this league, you apologist disgrace to the officiating profession.

[Edited by stevegarbs on Oct 13th, 2002 at 08:49 AM]

[jemoore]

I'm new to this board and to this particular thread. I've carefully read through all three (3) pages of correspondence on this subject. If you'll allow my observations.

First, why is there so much discussion about coaches who have attacked a referee. It's a no-brainer, get rid of them permanently. I'm from the northern suburbs and I've seen this video a ton of times....it's grotesque.

Secondly, who is this snyping, irritating "telegrahams"? Apparently his name is Rich Graham? Why is he making personal attacks against individuals instead of sticking with the topic at hand, attacking referees? I see he has mentioned a "Hugg" guy a few times. Does this person even exist or is he a figment of Grahams imagination? Is he fighting his own shadow? And if this hugg guy exists it appears he has to much class and to many other things to do then to respond to this idiot. I haven't seen any post from this Hugg guy. What kind of coward attacks someone when they aren't even around? Graham, if you have a personal axe to grind with this Hugg guy take it off this board and approach him directly, in person, one on one, man to man. Kapish? And why haven't you addressed the poignant points An Old Ref brought up? Are you some kind of lap dog for this league? Answer those questions about your past coaching in that organization, you brother coaching with them now and all the other points An Old Ref brought up.

Thirdly, I emphatically agree that all referees must stick together and rally in the face of this crisis.

Finally, that Garbs guy is right...Graham is an idiot.

Just my obeservations.

[Edited by jemoore on Oct 12th, 2002 at 10:39 PM]

[stevegarbs]

Anyone else curious as to what happened to all those insightful posts from our clueless colleague Mr. Graham?

[snrmike]

You know that I am. I can only think that the Sysop hear is offended by the posts from RG and deleted them. I actually saw an email notifying me that he had responded yet again, but never saw that post, just the one from right before yours.

I have also been receiving disconnected and (slightly disturbing) rambling emails from people who have viewed our discussion threads.

Make sure you guys check out your profiles so that ANY personal info is hidden.

[TXMike]

I also received a strange e-mail, supposedly from a player. This is the message:

thank you! i was a player in the game and i never saw my coaches touch the refs. thank you for standing up to that Snrmike guy.


The message was supposedly from [email protected]

This whole affair is almost too bizarre to be real.

[snrmike]

I almost want to apologize because I feel guilty about posting this moronic incident in the first place.

Just hide all of your stuff. The posts actually came through this site, so I don't think the sender realizes what they can get off of this site.

I always like to hear from 14 year old players and their moms regarding the finer points of the game (which I haven't matered after 15 years of involvement at both coaching and officiating).

[stevegarbs]

SNRMike and TXMike (do I need to change my name to Mike?):

Thanks for sharing the info. I always keep my personal details hidden on these sites as best I can, and when I want someone to contact me via e-mail I put that in the message. I am sorry if either of you have received unwanted messages, believe me I have a bunch from Mr. Graham already.

And thanks also to TXMike for engaging us on the other side of this debate in a bit more constructive fashion. I still disagree with your posts here and on McGriff's board, but have enjoyed the exchange.

It is possible that Graham deleted his own messages...

[BktBallRef]

Well, he failed to delete some of his ramblings on other boards.

Originally posted by telegrahams:
So now that Good Morning America has contacted the Southwest Midget Football League, can we get back to football?

The assigner of the league has gotten the coach banned for the year because of the arrest that took place on October 7th. The coach came in willingly and posted bond. The arrest doesn't mean he's guilty but it does mean that the coach is in violation of the leauge's by-laws, thus he has been expelled from the league pending the outcome of the charges.

The assigner and his crew could have done this from the beginning, avoiding this whole mess. Their agenda was to oust this coach, not protect an official.

The witch-hunt is over, can we get back to the game now?

Thanks....

Originally posted by telegrahams:
Cecil,
I will give you the edited version. The coach got out of hand. The officials have stated that the coach attacked the official. I don't believe this to be true for many reasons. Regardless of whether he hit him or not the coach was out of line and should be reprimanded. The assigner for that league and many other officials chose to boycott the league's games until the coach was banned. The first week parents and coaches worked the games. The second week a number of officials went back to working the games. The coach has resigned his position and is not coaching pending the outcome of the assault charges that the official brought against him.

The other officials have stated that they still won't come back until he is banned from the league. The coach still remains AD of his program and continues to sit on the board. Everyone in this area knows how difficult it is to find officials to work games halfway into the season. The group that is not working is divided. Some won't come back because they think that the whole thing is just ugly, and others won't come back, in my opinion, because they have an agenda that goes beyond what they profess.

I have been in this particular league since I was 8 yrs old. I chose to put on the stripes just recently because I no longer had the time to spend during the week as a coach. I am really disgusted with some of those that are involved with this.

I was told that I would be blackballed if I worked the games. As a newer official, I took the threat serious. I made some phone calls though, and was assured that I would be able to work for others. Not everyone believes in this boycott.

There are many of us that feel this situation could have been handled more professionally. A boycott of this particular coach's games might have been more appropriate than boycotting the whole leauge.

What purpose has it served?

I have witnessed a lot of grown men act like children. It has been really enlightening.

I just want to make it clear that I have not chosen the side of the official nor have I chosen the side of the coach. I chose the side that will allow these thousands of children continue to play football for the rest of the season. The players, the cheerleaders, and the coaches that put in all that time during the season deserve at least that.

I don't always make the right call, but this time I got it right. It helps not to have rabbit ears.

I guess if this gets deleted, we'll know it wasn't Mr. Graham.

[jemoore]

Just curious...what boards were those two ramblings posted on. I'd like to visit those boards as well.