Sports officiating?

This is a post about my upbringing and sports. My upbringing has burned some bridges in my life and caused people to be angry with me... What does that mean?

We are all taught specific values, beliefs, and habits by our parents, teachers, friends, employers, and government… Ultimately, no matter the influences, we become who we are when all that information is formed together.

There is one hard-taught lesson my father emphasized that has really come to light recently. My father held a strong belief that if you are going to criticize someone, you better walk in their shoes, and if you have anything bad to say about someone, if you can not (and do not) say it to their face, do not say it.

I have lived with this in-bread advice for over 4 decades. It has caused many problems and saved me many times. After I walk in someone's shoes, I am far more forgiving of their issues. That is why I have done it so many times. I had the urge to highly criticize someone. Still, before I did, I "walked in their shoes" like organizing a large running event, organizing a tennis tournament, being the director of a youth sports group, coached softball, baseball, tennis, hockey, football, basketball, soccer, and more. I had done so many things as I wanted to walk in their shoes and found that I did not have much to say anymore when I had.

There are so many criticisms I hear… The Doctor makes way to much for what he does, those overpaid government workers have it easy, salesmen are overpaid people who can charm the right person, teachers get overpaid for working 9 months a year, and so on. I recalled a friend complaining how his sister in pharmaceutical made $200,000 in one year and almost flunked out of college. He said, "She must have slept her way there," I said he really needs to understand that industry before he says things like that! I do not believe all these statements are true, just like many other comments about many professions. This is because I have not been in their shoes, so how would I know?

Why does this come up now? Recently I have had some heated e-mails about baseball umpires and mistakes they made recently. I am not arguing they were not mistakes. Criticizing so harshly, which has never been experienced by most, caused me to get on the offensive. If you watch ESPN, even John Kroch said there were clear errors but did not call for them to be fired. So many are calling them idiots and saying they should be fired. Now, this is a subject dear to heart, and in my dad's own words, if you have not been in their shoes, do not judge them.

I get offensive, as I have been there. For 7 years, I worked hard as a baseball umpire. Actually, I decided to make it a profession. Then I learned that most umpires are business owners, wealthy in some other way, or retired from another profession. You cannot raise a family in that profession.  Well, truthfully, a select few do. Since that time, I have been a tennis official. I have seen the same thing in this sport as well. I have worked at professional events where, after traveling and other costs, I earned $300 a week for working 10-hour days.

A good friend of mine is a top tennis official. He has attended the US Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon and is one of the top officials I know. I recently asked him about his income. He said he nets about $1000 a month, but he has other means of support.

But what hurts me most is the fact that society really does not understand what it is like in that position. No matter what you do, you will be hated. Imagine if every aspect of your job was played over and over again by the press. You cannot quit a gig late or risk losing the next assignment. Have a sick day, and there will be consequences…

The outstanding officials (like many old friends and myself who were very highly rated) left baseball to get a job where we have health coverage and a wage we could raise a family. As I said, some may make it, just like players in "The Rookie," the movie about Jimmy Morris and his quest to make it.  Almost broke his family. And two years later, he was out of the majors. In officiating, very few hang on long enough to make it to the golden spot unless they have another form of income.

So few solid officials continue, as it is not a stable and thankful job. That makes the pool thin to select from. Just like a few years ago, I commented the retail sector really hurt with solid customer service and skilled employees. What I heard is that this is the best applicant they can get... Like I said earlier, have your job every minute on film, and I bet there would be reasons to be fired if you hold them to that standard for a bonehead mistake, a misstated word, or another little issue that is on tape... 

So, in this life, when I look at someone and think they are just idiots, I look in the mirror and think, aren't we all at times? We just do not have ESPN showing it 20 times a day, placing it in the newspapers, or debating their job status at the water cooler…

Like I said, been there, done that… whole new perspective…

Carry on.