Armchair refs: Put yourselves on the list
- col-aaron-dorksen
- April 14, 2022
- 882
A few thoughts from the week in sports …
The content on social media never stops, whether it be entertaining, enlightening or ridiculous; correct, false or confusing.
Social media has many pros and cons as most of us are well aware.
I read a post on Twitter that Granville girls basketball coach Tate Moore posted on March 10. It really made me stop and think about sportsmanship and the lack of it in sports today.
Moore, whose school is located in Licking County, said, “I reffed 10 AAU girls games this weekend as they couldn’t find anyone else. The last one ended in a fight where parents came onto the court, a player got smacked, punches thrown and a coach grabbed an opposing player. I see why there’s a ref shortage. Take me off the list.”
Unfortunately, mistreatment of officials is all too common these days at all levels of amateur sports. It usually doesn’t wind up with violence, but verbal abuse happens all the time.
If you enjoy sports, please pay special attention to the last sentence of Moore’s post: “Take me off the list.”
The number of officials, referees and umpires who work sports like football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, et cetera, keeps shrinking year after year. Older officials retire, and there isn’t someone in line to take their place, whether it be AAU, OHSAA, travel or rec leagues. More and more young refs are quitting too.
The OHSAA has experienced a decrease of 1,282 officials for its junior high through high school varsity sanctioned sports compared to the 2019-20 school year.
No one in this area understands the shortage of officials better than Orrville resident Ron Dessecker.
“Yeah, I’ve heard about what happened to (Moore),” said Dessecker, the Ohio Cardinal Conference commissioner since its inception in 2002 and longtime secretary/treasurer of the Wayne County Officials Association. “It’s an ongoing issue, nothing new. I hear about this kind of stuff all the time. It’s not a good situation. Officiating is on life support at the high school and middle school level.”
Dessecker, a 1966 Dover graduate, was a baseball umpire for 33 years and football official for 38 years. The 2006 Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame inductee wishes a few of the people who routinely bash officials would try it themselves.
“Just one time I’d like to see one of these big complainers take to the floor or field and give it a shot,” Dessecker said, “see how they like it. We had an abundance of officials back in the day, and it took a long time to work their way up the ranks to become a high school varsity official. We’re just not getting many people involved anymore, despite trying lots of different things, like going out and talking to high school and college kids.”
Just last week Dessecker had to cancel a local JV baseball game because he couldn’t find a single umpire. He recalled a few years ago, a JV football game had to be played with just one official.
Officials can help themselves by learning to “filter out comments,” Dessecker said, but that’s easier said than done.
“There are lots of young people these days who’ve never been yelled at by parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, et cetera, like us older folks used to get back in the day,” Dessecker said.
We’re all human and make mistakes.
If you watch pro sports, it’s amazing how often the best officials in the world miss calls when they’re reviewed on instant replay.
Is a summer league or AAU contest really that important to go ballistic over?
A day after reading Moore’s Tweet, it was reported a Mississippi woman was allegedly punched in the face by an irate mom after umpiring a 12U softball game.
Unfortunately, the people who are the biggest problem with youth sports don’t realize they’re the problem. They probably wouldn’t get the message of this column.
The next time you want to scream at an official, do us all a favor and mutter under your breath or walk away. Better yet, if you can do it better, then sign up to help.
If you see a hot head in action, try to talk some sense into them.
We can’t afford to have another official say “take me off the list.”
Parting shots
Prayers go out to the family and friends of former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who was killed at age 24 after being hit by a truck in Florida on April 9.
The Buckeyes grieved his death, remembering his infectious smile and big heart.
Buckeyes fans like myself will always remember Haskins’ incredible one season as a starter in 2018 when he threw for a Big Ten record 50 TD passes and set 27 other Ohio State marks.
Haskins’ NFL career hadn’t played out like he’d hoped, but he was optimistic about the opportunity awaiting with the Steelers.
It’s just another reminder to live every day to the fullest and try to treat people the right way.
—Cleveland Guardians rookie outfielder Steven Kwan has been an incredible surprise. The 24-year-old had one of the best four-game starts to a career in MLB history.
In Cleveland’s four-game series against Kansas City, Kwan became the first player in the live-ball era (since 1920) to reach base 15 times in his first four career games. He ended his first big-league series with a Little League like .692 batting average.
The law of averages will catch up to Kwan, of course, but he’s been a great contact hitter in the minors and at Oregon State. Hopefully, the Guardians have a future star on their hands.
Aaron Dorksen can be emailed at aarondorksen24@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AaronDorksen.