Saw something different Friday night

[High Drifter]

I watched playoff game Friday and have no clue where officials were from, but was wondering if anyone had seen such. The guy who was headlinesman was playing behind offensive line, much as an umpire in 11 man. The chain side had no one and presented a problem as only one person had forward progress. Had never seen such. Anyone?

Will hit one of my pet peeves: One team seemed to do a lot of holding (grabbing facemasks, etc) most officials have the attitude that holding happens every play so why call it. My contention is this, one hold may result in a touchdown and in 11 man you might a chance with more folks. Was not factor at game, just one of pet peeves.

 

[coachsatcher]

I saw more three man crews this season than ever before, and each time, they removed one of the side judges. This drove me insane, as there is no way to call out of bounds if the runner keeps going. Twice in one game, a runner went out of bounds, our defenders stopped, but the runner continued on and scored. Yes, we should have learned our lesson after the first time, but we've also been flagged for late hits, even when the whistle hadn't blown; so it's a double-edged sword. I sent each film to TASO, and each time I was given an apology, with the explanation on how tough scheduling has become with the shortage of officials. Needless to say, it's still a double-edged sword. You can't get too mad, because you want the officials to continue officiating, but you also can't stand not knowing how to prepare your kids. It makes it even worse, with each time I had three officials on the field, TASO also sent a three man chain crew.

**Worth noting - UIL has approved the base fee for officials to be $100/game next season, plus mileage. (Unless I read the email incorrectly). That means the average official, who will handle two subvarsity (Thursday), one varsity (Friday), and one varsity (Saturday), could easily topple the $500 mark per week. That means, an official, willing to work, could easily make $5,500 per season, not counting scrimmages or playoffs. Has anyone else done the math to realize officials are now making more than 90% of the 1A-3A coaching stipends for football?

**Disclaimer - I was very fortunate that most of my home games (Tyler Chapter) had five officials on the field, as well as a stats guy. And I can honestly say, NO officials, at any location, had any bearing on the outcome of the game - win or loss. The level of officiating this season, at least for me, was vastly improved of previous years. This was just the first season I saw as many games with three on the field.

 

[cowman52]

I think you had better re read the pay scale for next season. If it is the one voted on in October, the game fee is 100 for one game which includes a travel charge for each ring from the chapters center, which is 10 dollars for each 30 miles of radius per official. What is going to screw the deal up is west of I 35, most of the officials live some distance from the chapter center, which means my first 100 miles to pick up the rest of the crew is on me.
The UIL added 85 for the second game, Which on Friday is almost never. Thursday games are 60 for the first and 45 the second.
Four officials are not going to leave at 3 in the afternoon, drive 200 miles one way, work a game for 400 dollars and drive back home 200 miles, and get home at 3 a.m. And I am most certain the officials from say Austin are not going to drive twice as far for the same 400. Week zero next august may be some kind of thin.
In most cases, the weekly pay will be 250 at best minus the cost of gas, tires, and the 4 soda's and 4 allsup burritos.