Should referee work his Alma Mater?

[ogor]

I am questioning an official's ethical and professional obligation to remove himself from a "potential" biased situation which is required by the TSSAA and an official's responsibilities.

 

The only emphasis I made was a question- "Should a referee umpire is alma mater?" which is a valid question and has gotten plenty of valid answers - all NO.

 

I have a lot more respect for someone that understood what the word bias means and was able to remove themselves from those situations (expecially when it is required for their position).

 

Your explanation that you could care less about your alma mater above is a perfect example of bias. Denial, ignoring information that conflicts with your own beliefs and past. Someone attempting to explain how impartial and unbiased they are can be funny sometimes. I assume you get picked for every jury duty you attend Despite your extreme ability to have no predetermined perceptions (feelings) due to your past life experiences - as a professional, would you umpire or referee your alma mater?

 

I am still not sure if you answered the original question of this thread.

[ksgovols]

I just said I wouldn't have a problem officiating a game in which my alma mater is participating. I probably wouldn't 'choose' that game, but CHS's participation would not prevent me from calling a fair game. Calls, even judgement calls, are split second decisions that anyone that has ever officiated learns how to make based on the information in front of them. If you are professional in your endeavors, you make the call without regard to who is playing. I would feel obligated to tell my assignor that one of the team's is my alma mater. Based on his knowledge of my officiating skills and my integrity, I'd expect him to assign me accordingly.

 

I contend that the reason for the rule is the perception of bias by fans. My points were that there could be any number of reasons a person might be biased. Professionals have an ethical responsibility to do the right thing regardless. Officials will blow a call in any game. To suggest that they'll blow more calls when their alma mater is involved just would not be the case in my opinion. If officials were that easily swayed, they shouldn't be calling games in the first place. Other officials wouldn't want to work with those that are blowing obvious calls in their alma mater (or any other school's) favor.

 

It's no surprise to me that the average fan out there that's never officiated at this level would have such a dim view of officials. I don't even know the guy you are questioning, but I take it from this thread, that you didn't get the response you desired on the first take and you decided to take a more generic route. That doesn't change facts. Officials can't afford to be biased and expect to keep officiating very long. I can tell you from experience that officials want a well called game and they don't care what the outcome is so long as they've done their job to the best of their ability.

 

I have been picked for every jury duty I've ever participated in.

[ogor]

Thanks for the insight and response. Actually this topic came up on another thread, and I attempted to enlighten some folks on the responsiblities of officiating and the problems associated with this situation, including the lack of ownership the TSSAA takes with regard to officials. I was asked to start another thread and did. No dim view of officials here, too much time spent playing and coaching over the years not to respect these guys and the garbage they put up with. Thanks again for the insight and friendly debate.

[letsgodevils]

I'm the one that suggested the new thread, and for the reason that the referee in question and the issues in question had nothing to do with the game being discussed in the thread.

 

Someone made a comment about questionable officiating in the game, to which another made an assumption that perhaps the same referee worked his alma mater (and he didn't).

 

This is a fair discussion. It just had nothing to do with the game last Friday.