everyone probably has "this guy"

[chapmaja]

One other thing about assigning. I think each decent assigner does have a policy along the lines of what I use.

In life you have multiple commitments officiating has it's spot in those commitments.

1) Your family comes first. If there is a serious family issue, that is more important than officiating. If an official is honest and lets me know they have a family issue, it is generally not a problem. (Now if you had grandma die for the fifth time in two seasons, I do question it).

2) Your primary job comes second. Sometimes there are issues that come up that just absolutely can not be avoided. Depending on the primary job, you may be required to work at the bosses discretion. If this happens, let me know. Most assigners are good about this happening once in awhile.

3) Officiating - This generally falls third in line. Officiating is a job, but it is not a primary job for most people. It is a commitment that you make however.

4) Friends - I don't want to hear you say I have something with my friends. It better be really important if I am getting you a replacement for something with a friend. I'm not saying I will never allow the friend reason to be used, but it is rare. (I have allowed it once. An official found out a friend from high school was coming back on leave from the military and would only be in town for a couple days. That was a legit reason in my opinion.)

999999) I got a better paying assignment elsewhere. There are almost a million better excuses than this one.