Rocky,

I have tried to see this from their point of view too. I had a friend that lives in that state and is more familiar with the situation than I will ever be and makes similar statements that you have made (ironically he has been on this site).

Here is what I do not get, this is just a whistle. We are not talking about changing the entire uniform or something that most people would care about. If this was not made and issue through the media, I doubt many people would even know the officials were doing this in the first place outside of the field. We all know the media can blow a situation out of proportion, but this is partly based on the comments from Todd. Todd should realize that what he was saying is going to get used maybe the way he does not want to it to be used. Heck officials know that, why not him?

And I met Todd over a year ago and he seemed like a very good guy and tries to help out with officials and their issues. He represented his state well when he was at our conference. Many officials in my state asked him questions and he was nothing but accommodating. Of course none of us are going to totally understand, but to get all upset about this very specific issue and to talk about that to the media is kind of silly. If that was the issue then talk about the other things that are at hand and not allow the issue to only be about the pink whistles. I am sure there is some radio show or some forum they could talk about all the issues not this issue. I remember that was the case when my state was going through the uniform issue in basketball a few years ago.

BTW, we contacted our person over the "Official's Department" and who also is the Administrator of Football that assigns all officials to the State Football Playoffs and he was asked about the pink whistles. His email response was quick and simple and said there is "No problem with pink whistles in our state." And I am sure he could have made it clear there was a policy or some standard and he just allowed them and we moved on. I think the WOA could have done the same in this case.

Peace

That all may be true, but it doesn't change two important things: 1) Washington even cares in the first place what color whistle is used. 2) They chose to use this instance to finally do something.

The color of whistle used is a pretty insignificant thing. If their uniform rule really dictates this, they are being far too controlling in the first place.

If the association has been bucking the state's authority for some time, there was no particular reason to make this time the straw that broke the camel's back. As much as Todd may try to say it has nothing to do with breast cancer awareness, he can't get past the fact that he's suspending them for an act that was to promote breast cancer awareness when he (apparently) let other acts go unpunished. This is, at the very least, an unforced PR error and one that was completely unnecessary.

Did the crew knowingly subvert the state's authority? Apparently yes.

However, what the rest of the world sees are bureaucrats that are so consumed with their own power that they can't make reasonable exceptions for charity. It's all about deciding to fight the battles you can win, and the state can't win this one.

Life is all about choosing which battlefieds you want to fight about, and unfortunately, this was an extremely poor choice for WIAA-WOA to make.
Before you start spinning your wheels you have to determine whether or not you're sitting in soft sand.

And all of you need to understand that this is a progression...the first time the local association bucked the State, they were warned. The second time, there were meetings. The third time...it goes on. The loss of possible play-off berths is a progressive consequence. They knew it and bucked the State anyway.

Look, our local football and basketball associations in this part of the State do the pink whistles and blue flags and all of thet - but we go through the proper channels and get the proper waivers. These clowns have been telling the State to stick it for the last few years, and it has built up to this point. This is not some knee-jerk reaction by some bureaucrat, no matter how badly some of you may want to make it seem like that.

It looks like one of two things:
1. The state finally got fed up with the behavior with this issue.
2. The state has been following procedure with progressively stronger statements. The locals knew the next step before hand and did this anyway.

If officials can't be expected to follow the proper procedures and rules, who can?

Does Washington have a football officials manual that specifies a color of whistle or not? The NFHS manual does not, so if the WIAA (Washington)'s manual does not, Todd is making rules up that don't exist. Someone please answer this question and post the relevant written section of the WOA's manual.

Todd has the head of the WOA has per the WOA By-laws the right to determine the proper uniform fo officials in the state of Washington:

ARTICLE III – UNIFORMS
Section 1. Officials shall wear the uniform as approved by the WOA, including the WOA patch.
Section 2. Uniform exceptions may be requested by Associations/Boards to the WOA Executive Board thirty (30) days prior to each scheduled meeting.

This association was told prior as was the entire state by the WOA in their newsletter not to use the pink whistle. They decided to use the whistles anyway.

Hi, Todd, question for you. Where are the written details of what is the approved uniform? Or do you get to decide week by week, depending on your current whim?

We'll wear our pink whistles in support of two groups tomorrow night.

Trust me the issue is really about the color of the whistle as is it really about the recent history between the local assocoation and WOA.

I am not Todd just an observer to the events in question.....

If that is the case, the state fell directly into the trap that the local association laid. By not making an exception for something that everyone's in favor of, they acted like jerks, even if their actions were justified.

You can't get past the fact that the proximate cause of their suspension had to do with breast cancer awareness. The state should have taken a pass on this one and dinged them on the next one.

From the NFHS Football Forum:

This paragraph appeared in a newsletter emailed to all Washington State officals 2 days prior to Seattle going off the reservation:

Pink Whistles
Although the idea of officials using pink whistles in tribute to Breast Cancer Awareness is a great idea, the WOA has made the decision that football officials will participate in the Prostate Cancer Awareness efforts, while the volleyball and soccer officials will participate in the Breast Cancer Awareness programs. We hate to say no to such great causes, but it is important that we do not over commit in our support. By doing this, the WOA is supporting a wide variety of events without overtaxing the men and women who are out officiating on a daily basis. Although some may not like the position taken by the WOA, there has to be a line drawn and the WOA feels comfortable with the rational used to reach this decision.

No one has a problem with an official using the media to make the state look like jerks?

Nope. Not when the state makes a poor choice of a situation to demonstrate its authoritah.

The state made itself look like a jerk. The media just let us know about it.

How about this gem from Stordahl...

"There's one person who has the authority to make that decision, and it's not PNFOA." Stordahl says he already turned down three other referee groups that wanted to use the whistles.

It's good to be the king....