July 7, 2016
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SPORTSCENTRAL
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
In a narrow dark tunnel, the LSU athletic season wasn't too bad.
Football went 9-3 and won their bowl game in a rout. Men's basketball routed Kentucky, won 11 games in conference, had an All-American, and finished short of the NCAA Tournament which is the norm this century. Baseball got hot at the end of the year, was a national seed for the fifth year in a row, and was kept away from Omaha by the eventual National Champions. Softball finished one round short of the championship series for the second year in a row. Gymnastics had its best ever finish placing second in the country. The other Olympic sports were a mixed bag as is typical.
Step out from the tunnel though, and look around and you can easily see a different picture. The football season began with a weather cancellation, and finished with a storm of controversy that split the fan base in two. The basketball team was anything but a team. Their terrible finish that included many blowout losses left an awful taste in everyone's mouth. So much so that fans were not excited about having the number one pick in the draft representing the Tigers. Women's basketball had a historically poor season. Overall, for the first time since 1984 (as The Advocate reported), LSU did not have a team win any sort of SEC or NCAA Championship.
Individually, LSU fans entered the year with the dreams that LSU had the best players in each of the Big 3 sports. In October, things were going according to plan with people talking about Fournette and the Heisman as a forgone conclusion. Then everything imploded. Fournette did not make it to New York, and to make it worse Alabama had another Heisman winner. Simmons had a great year, but was not in the discussion for player of the year as the team floundered. Alex Lange had an ERA over 4.00 for the first half of the year.
As we all know, expectations can change the telling of history. Golden State set record for wins in the regular season, but the expectation was a championship, so this season was a failure in the eyes of many. To most Tiger fans, football and basketball did not live up to expectations. Whether softball, baseball, and gymnastics met or exceeded expectations is debatable. My point is that fans always feel better when their teams exceed expectations.
Softball and gymnastics had tremendous years and finished in the top 5 in their sports. There are two problems though. One problem is many fans discount their success since both teams were projected to finish that high. The other problem is that the most successful teams did not include one of the Big 3 revenue producing sports.
In addition, many LSU fans (myself included) are also Louisiana sports fans which means we are Saints fans and Pelican fans. Clearly, neither team uplifted the emotions of their supporters.
For better or worse, the athletic season is over. A new season begins next month, and next week, we will take an early look at what to expect.
HEY REF
Hey Ref 7 7 16
We’ve all heard these two cliché’s “Shooting thyself in the foot” or “Cutting off ‘da nose to spite ‘da face”? Sometime we think we’ve got a solution to a problem when in all actuality we’ve really just created an enormous “cluster”!!!! High school principals state wide a few short years back attempted to improve the officials and the officiating in all of their games and in all sports.
In a very bitter confrontation last year the football officials demanded a pay raise or they threatened to strike. I have to say I was shocked when the principals caved and promised to approve a raise in their annual January meeting. I was convinced the raise would be turned down once again since history has shown that the principals won’t hesitate to go back on their word. The approval I feel was partly due to a new executive director, Ed Bonine, taking office and him wanting time to get all his questions answered and have a smooth transition of power.
I do believe the officials were so blinded by a pay raise that none actually looked at the effects of a small requirement in the new agreement or better yet call it for what it is; A DEMAND that all officials will have to attend a camp every two years to keep their raise. Yes, a demand that each official attend a state wide, LHSAA approved camp every two years.
Many officials didn’t think twice about those strings that were silently attached to that clause in the new contract that had to be signed between said schools and each local association. The reason they very quickly looked the other way was simple. You might think common sense ruled the official’s decision but it was in all actuality copper cents as in currency.
Sad of me to think this way but many of my fellow officials weighed into account the sorry economic situation our country and more specifically the situation the state of Louisiana finds itself in many need the few dollars working high school games to feed their families and\or pay the rent. This is a very cold, hard fact of our modern day life in the Bayou State.
The camp attendance clause was thought by many of the voting principals to be THE answer! But there are too many questions for a simple answer to a very complex set of problems when we start talking on how to insure the game officials are up to the highest standard in rules knowledge.
I’ll share some very quick numbers to maybe help the principals understand that the attendance requirement is a loss cause at best. The main expense incurred by officials is of course the camp registration fee. The attendance requirement at its simplest forces each official to spend anywhere from $300.00 to $500.00 depending on the number of nights spent in another city to food, gas and other expenses.
Not a cost many of us can afford but the principals think it’s a great return on their investment and the money they’ll spend in increased fees on game night. And that’s where the vast majority of principal’s opinions lay. But it’s not that simple in the real world. The monster they’ve created actually binds the hands of all assignment secretaries in the state.
I’ll use my case to try and help the principals realize the system needs fixing because it is costing their schools in more ways than just the bottom line. I sat out about 10 years due to some severe health issues. I came back in Aug. 2012 with 20 years varsity experience, worked many playoff games, and even worked the state championship in the Dome between Curtis and Eunice in 1997.
I attended a mandatory camp in Aug. 2013 and also worked the ’13 regular season. You’d think I met the camp attendance rule since I’d only worked one year before I attended a camp. But you’re wrong as rain as I and many other officials found out when the next regular season started. A little unknown stipulation says you must attend a camp before the end of the FISCAL year which ends of course on June 30th.
So those like me that attended a camp after July 1 were out of luck and couldn’t keep their certification. We were bumped DOWN a classification which caused me to lose $25.00 a game in pay which totaled over $250.00. But the BIG penalty we had to pay was we aren’t allowed to work more than one playoff game instead of two, three or possibly four. Add a loss in playoff revenue of at least another $200.00.
When you add the cost of new shoes, pants, shorts, etc. we put up another $200 - $300.00 on top of the camp fees, dues ($75.00) and we’re talking a net loss in income somewhere between $400 to close to maybe $500 or more after figuring your game checks and the odd expenses you incurred through a regular football season. So when good officials start dropping out because of the not intended screwing we took you can understand why many drop out altogether.
So, principals when you scratch your head and wonder why you can’t attract or keep good officials try and remember this, it’s all about the bottom line nowadays. No more love of the game, it’s all about the bottom line. Sad that it’s come down to this but as personal incomes continue to nosedive in this one world economy you can’t blame many guys who walk away and don’t give a second thought about a career in officiating.
I’ve attended two camps the past four years and I can without hesitation tell you it was a total waste of time and MONEY. The little bit of classroom time to go over rules and situations are so lacking I wonder what kind of preparations these guys actually did. As I looked at the other officials in the classrooms I could tell most were somewhere other than a rules clinic. Total boredom ravaged the vast majority of attendees as whenever a question was asked it had to be repeated because so many were catching up on their missed sleep.
I can only compare these LHSAA approved rules clinics with the five other clinics I attended. Two were at UCLA (Yes, home of the Bruins in California) hosted by Chad Brown and the NFL. The difference was of course day and night because these guys were the real deal and not a bunch of BUTT-KISSERS wanting to add “atta-boys” they hoped would land them in the Dome in December.
The lowest point of my second venture into football officiating in Baton Rouge was the night at a regular meeting as the Assignment Secretary asked “Anybody attend a college clinic”. Not trying to get a laugh from the membership I raised my hand and said that yes I’d attended a total of five camps (Two at UCLA, one at either Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri. Wasn’t sure which it was since they’re across the river from each other and I was working there. I’d also attended two camps at Natchez, Mississippi at the start of my career).
But instead of being asked what I’d learned or what I could offer our membership, I was laughed into submission and I’d never felt pain like that in all my years of working football. I went home that night and started going through all my old boxes of pictures and mementos hoping to find the pics from these clinics. I found them and sent copies to the Assignment Secretary and the rules guru because I’m one who takes this job very seriously. But after a few days of silence is when I really got upset as not a single official that thought me at a college clinic was one of the funniest things they’d ever heard didn’t have the class it would take to call me and offer their apologies.
Yes, I’ve got plenty to offer these new, younger officials but the vast majority is doing this job I love for a few bucks. I turned 60 in January and am finding it very hard to get excited about officiating because it’s not like it used to be. There’s no more pride in doing a tough job the best you can because its all come down to simple economics, dollars speak and quality and love of the profession never make it onto the field anymore.
The system is broke but we should be able to fix this problem before every game is called by guys that just to do as a way to pay for a case of cold beer.
Till next week…
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