What would make you quit?

[jTheUmp]

Reasons I'll eventually give it up, in no particular order:

• Health/Mobility issues that make it difficult to get to the right position anymore.
• Family situation changing such that I can't be away from them for the length of time needed to officiate a game.
• I stop having fun when I'm on the field/court/diamond.

[Altor]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

• Health/Mobility issues that make it difficult to get to the right position anymore.

This is one that I think too many officials don't take into consideration early enough in their career. And it's not just physical abilities either. Even good officials simply start making mental mistakes as they get older that they would not have made previously.

[Canned Heat]

In the same boat as a lot of you and our crew actually talked about this after our last playoff game of the year here a week ago. I thought about throwing this thread out there myself.

I'll preface a bit. I'm 45, with 70 year old knees...lost all 3 ligaments in my right knee in 2000 in a freak injury. Recovered from that well and I am active to the point my ortho told me to take it a little easier. My left knee is actually worse than the right at this point. I get up and down and out of the way as good as I always did...just pay for it more now.

I've worked with the same Friday night crew for 10 or 11 years where I primarily U but work the WH on a handful of our contests as needed. I WH with another crew for JV/FR games and these were the guys that I've worked with for over 15 years. This year, we weeded out youth football commitments and we also decided to back down on the number of commitments we did for JV/FR.

Since scaling our schedule back, the games have become more fun, we're more fresh, and I think we do a better job over the course of the year. I see so many guys or crews working games and you can sense the real reason they're there is to burn thru it, get paid, and get out of Dodge. 2 guys on my V crew are going so hard....I'm not sure how they even do it. I've never looked at it like that...even when I needed the money.

I have watched the coaching at all levels really turn a 180 from when I was younger and even from when I started officiating. Working those youth games especially, where every parent/coach or fan in the stands pretending to be the next Lombardi or thinks their kid is the next Peyton Manning can be tasking at times....you guys all know that. It's really gotten ridiculous in the last 5 years though. I don't miss any of that, and I have more respect for the wings than I did early on. Not sure how some of you guys do it.

"The HC lost his marbles, screaming at me and would not calm down. I flagged him for UNS and my white hat picked up my flag and then basically went over and kissed the coach's ass. That was the closest I've ever been to just walking off of the field."
That may have been the last gasp with that crew...at least that WH. Simply a case of a CC caring more about his rating than the integrity of his crew or the game. I bet that HC went ape$*** the rest of the game afterward too, knowing he had already set the table with no recourse. Asinine.

[CT1]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

Reasons I'll eventually give it up, in no particular order:

• Health/Mobility issues that make it difficult to get to the right position anymore.
• Family situation changing such that I can't be away from them for the length of time needed to officiate a game.
• I stop having fun when I'm on the field/court/diamond.

Agree with all three.

I gave up basketball this season for reasons 1 & 3. I think I still have a few more football seasons left, & I'll try to work baseball for as long as I possibly can.

Fortunately, I have good friends in each group that wouldn't hesitate to tell me if I'm dragging them down.

[bisonlj]

The #1 reason for me is the playoff assignment system. It's a coach vote system which tends to benefit crews who know a lot of coaches. It's not really and old boys network because nobody is getting together to decide who gets the assignments. The state just takes the numbers based on the coach vote and the more votes you get the more likely your score is high (any coach can vote for any crew). The last couple years there have been major errors with following the process which has also frustrated a lot of officials.

I've been working small college ball so it has crossed my mind to not play the game any longer and just focus on college football. My wife would appreciate the extra time I'd have at home as well.

[whitehat]

I echo what most have said. I have been doing football since 1983, right out of college, worked college (D2) for several years and now just High School.

One of the thoughts that came to mind is that as fortunate as I am to have worked numerous playoffs and finals games already at the young age of 52, I realize that I want some younger officials, (good ones mind you) to be able to work big games and especially a championship game. I know that as long as me and a couple other guys hang around we will be the ones blessed to get the call to do the big games... and, of course we are not going to turn those games down.

So, that's a long winded way of saying that I could see myself hanging up my whistle in the near future to move onto other things and to give younger guys a chance to move up and enjoy the thrill of those big games.

I've seen too many officials, good and bad, hang around a few years too long...I don't want to be one of those. This is a fun hobby, but its just a small piece of what I enjoy in life.
...enjoyed reading all the posts!

[zebra2955]

When it is no longer fun, or the knees give out. Which ever comes first