Pink cancer pins

[BktBallRef]

Perhaps. But that doesn't make the local association right.

As rockyroad said, this isn't the first issue.

As I said, if this happened here, the NCHSAA would dump this group as soon as the season was over and create a new association.

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Perhaps. But that doesn't make the local association right.

As rockyroad said, this isn't the first issue.

As I said, if this happened here, the NCHSAA would dump this group as soon as the season was over and create a new association.

So how would they cover the games after losing an entire association's worth of officials (not to mention any collateral damage from other associations)?

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Eastshire

So how would they cover the games after losing an entire association's worth of officials (not to mention any collateral damage from other associations)?

From talking to several officials in Washington, I don't think either would be an issue. You do what you have to do.

[parepat]

My crew has been using white whistles for four years now. We are in deep trouble.

[Fon_Win]

interesting story... I have a friend in st. louis, thinks organized sports are about as intersting as lint. seriously, he knows that football is a sport, and that's about it.

We we're talking last night, and he asked me if i had heard about the referee's that were getting fired in washington state, because they wanted to support breast cancer awareness by wearing pink whistles. (I know this isn't accurate, but it's the story and impression that he was relating to me.)

That's the impression Todd and the woa chose to make.

[WAzebra24]

Let me clear up a few issues as someone in the mix:

1. No one has been suspended and no games have been lost at this point
2. The association was aware of the potential consequences prior to the use of the pink whistles and choose to go ahead anyway. They were aware prior.
3. Todd Stordahl is the commissioner for all officials in the state of Washington not just football.
4. The association in question did not follow the approved process for use of non approved uniformn equipment.
5. The issue is not breast cancer awareness or the whistle. It is id the official commissioner of the state interpretation of the WOA bylaws should have been followed a local association. Breast cancer awareness as all other noble causes are worthy of our support and money.
6. The association backed Todd into a corner and what options did he have? He headss 150 officials associations in the state. Each one can't go their own way otherwise there chaos.

I will add Todd has been unjustly villified and threats have been made to his wife and children. Come on it its just a whistle.

This is a local Washington issue and debating the righteous of either side in this forum is not warranted. Each state has it's own structure and decision making process. What works in state A does not apply in state B.

The real question is how the media was made aware of this issue and by whom? I know the answer and it was not the WOA!

Please stop passing judgement on WOA, Todd and the association in question.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by WAzebra24

Please stop passing judgement on WOA, Todd and the association in question.

No. Please stop joining forums just so you can try to tell long-time members what to do.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by WAzebra24

I will add Todd has been unjustly villified and threats have been made to his wife and children. Come on it its just a whistle.

This is a local Washington issue and debating the righteous of either side in this forum is not warranted. Each state has it's own structure and decision making process. What works in state A does not apply in state B.

The real question is how the media was made aware of this issue and by whom? I know the answer and it was not the WOA!

Please stop passing judgement on WOA, Todd and the association in question.

I know people that posted this story on FB and have nothing to do with this forum and they choose to contact Todd about this issue. This was just a bad PR move by the WOA and that is why they reversed some positions that were originally mentioned about this situation.

No sorry, I think people have the right to form their own opinion. That is what happens when you give an interview to the media to give your side. Same thing happened in my state about a year ago.

Peace

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by WAzebra24

Let me clear up a few issues as someone in the mix:

5. The issue is not breast cancer awareness or the whistle.

Sorry, this is the issue to everyone outside of WA.

This is a local Washington issue and debating the righteous of either side in this forum is not warranted. Each state has it's own structure and decision making process. What works in state A does not apply in state B.

When it hit national news it stopped being a local issue.

The real question is how the media was made aware of this issue and by whom? I know the answer and it was not the WOA!

It's really irrelevant how the media became aware of it. You don't get to call a foul on the person who alerted the media that you look bad. It's your fault for looking bad.

Please stop passing judgement on WOA, Todd and the association in question.

Then stop doing things that are so easy to pass judgement on. This one is a no-brainer and Todd and the WOA blew it.

[asdf]

Originally Posted by WAzebra24

Let me clear up a few issues as someone in the mix:

1. No one has been suspended and no games have been lost at this point
2. The association was aware of the potential consequences prior to the use of the pink whistles and choose to go ahead anyway. They were aware prior.
3. Todd Stordahl is the commissioner for all officials in the state of Washington not just football.
4. The association in question did not follow the approved process for use of non approved uniformn equipment.
5. The issue is not breast cancer awareness or the whistle. It is id the official commissioner of the state interpretation of the WOA bylaws should have been followed a local association. Breast cancer awareness as all other noble causes are worthy of our support and money.
6. The association backed Todd into a corner and what options did he have? He headss 150 officials associations in the state. Each one can't go their own way otherwise there chaos.

I will add Todd has been unjustly villified and threats have been made to his wife and children. Come on it its just a whistle.

This is a local Washington issue and debating the righteous of either side in this forum is not warranted. Each state has it's own structure and decision making process. What works in state A does not apply in state B.

The real question is how the media was made aware of this issue and by whom? I know the answer and it was not the WOA!

Please stop passing judgement on WOA, Todd and the association in question.

Do you have a cousin who lives in Piedmont, CA ??

This guy is the grand poobah of all officiating in Washnington and he couldn't handle it.

Blaming others for this makes him look worse than he did himself.

[jTheUmp]

Originally Posted by WAzebra24

Let me clear up a few issues as someone in the mix:

1. No one has been suspended and no games have been lost at this point

Ok, fair enough.

2. The association was aware of the potential consequences prior to the use of the pink whistles and choose to go ahead anyway. They were aware prior.

Why should there be consequences for the color of the whistles used by the officials? (see my comment to #4)

3. Todd Stordahl is the commissioner for all officials in the state of Washington not just football.

Your point being?

4. The association in question did not follow the approved process for use of non approved uniformn equipment.

Please enlighten us and point us to the document where it states that whistles must be a certain color in WA? As others have said earlier in the thread, there is no rule on whistle color in the NFHS manuals.

Additionally, does this document (which I must assume exists somewhere, or this pissing match is even more idiotic then it appears to an outsider), spell out the penalties for using improper/incorrect equipment?

5. The issue is not breast cancer awareness or the whistle. It is id the official commissioner of the state interpretation of the WOA bylaws should have been followed a local association. Breast cancer awareness as all other noble causes are worthy of our support and money.

Breast cancer research (and any cancer research), is definitely a noble cause. Nobody is questioning that fact.
Again, we need to know what the WOA bylaws state in regards to whistle color.

6. The association backed Todd into a corner and what options did he have? He headss 150 officials associations in the state. Each one can't go their own way otherwise there chaos.

How about this: Don't allow yourself to think you're 'backed into a corner' over something trivial like the color of a whistle. As others have said upthread, don't pick a battle you can't win.
Other options:
1) Explicitly tell officials that the use of pink (orange, blue, silver, white, etc) whistles is allowed prior to the start of the season.
2) If pink (orange, blue, siliver, white, etc) whistles are explicitly not allowed

a) let this go for now, address it at the end of the season.
b) Say nothing about the whistles, and don't assign the officials in question to any playoff games that they haven't previously been assigned. If asked, make up something about the officials "not rating higly enough" or somesuch. (NOTE: I strongly oppose this option, but would have been an option).

I will add Todd has been unjustly villified and threats have been made to his wife and children.

Villified, I'm sure. Unjustly, I don't know. However, I'm sure everyone else on this board would agree with me that any kind of threats made against Todd and/or his family are completely unacceptable.

Come on it its just a whistle.

Which is exactly the point that everyone else here has been trying to make. If Todd had taken that stance initially, we wouldn't be having this conversation AT ALL.

This is a local Washington issue and debating the righteous of either side in this forum is not warranted.

It certainly is warranted. We debate the correctness/widsom/intent of rules and interpretations thereof all the time here. That's one of the main reasons why this board exists.

Each state has it's own structure and decision making process. What works in state A does not apply in state B.

Quite true. However, if an official in state A learns that state B handles situation X in a different, and possibly better, way then state A, that official can use that knowledge to possibly make changes in his/her state. In the business world, this is known as "adopting best practices".

The real question is how the media was made aware of this issue and by whom? I know the answer and it was not the WOA!

Irrelevant.

Please stop passing judgement on WOA, Todd and the association in question.

This is The Internet. Passing judgment is what The Internet does. If you want some of The Internet to change its judgment, you to give The Internet a valid reason for doing so. Of course, you must realize that part of The Internet will never deviate from it's initial judgment.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Perhaps. But that doesn't make the local association right.

As rockyroad said, this isn't the first issue.

As I said, if this happened here, the NCHSAA would dump this group as soon as the season was over and create a new association.

One more reason I am glad I live in Illinois. We do not have these "association" issues as others do around the country. Too much drama over silly issues.

Peace