Lines and Crimes

Before I retired, I worked for a boss who was possibly the best supervisor I’ve worked under in 43 years of drawing a paycheck.

He told the company’s employees, “There are lines, and there are crimes.” He said he would respond differently to someone who accidentally or purposefully crossed a line than to someone who deliberately did something illegal, immoral, or unethical.

Lines can be debriefed without punishment. Crimes may result in reprimand, suspension, or dismissal.

I think that concept translates to high school football officiating.

Here are some examples of “crossing the line”:

We forget to set the alarm on Saturday morning and show up late for a 9:00 am sub-varsity game
We brain-lock and incorrectly enforce a penalty
We are late getting to the goal line and don’t have a good look when the runner is tackled close to that money line
We become angry with a coach or player and say something snarky (we add fuel to the fire instead of de-escalating)
We confront a crewmate or become angry but then come to our senses and reconcile
We focus our eyes away from our initial key or primary coverage area (ball-watching) and miss a foul
We are lazy and fail to move to the proper position to correctly view a play
We fail to wash our uniform or shine our shoes and we look sloppy when we walk on the field

Some of those mistakes are “willful” (we choose to take the easy path). Some are the result of our human imperfection. As mentioned in a previous article, we will make mistakes every time we step on the field. How we respond to “crossing the line” is essential. We need to acknowledge the error, debrief it to determine the contributing factors and root cause, and learn from our mistake. Note that if we habitually “cross the line” and make the same mistake repeatedly, it could slide into the “crimes” category.

“Crimes” result from willful, deliberate actions that impact our crewmates, players, coaches, and fans.

We lose our temper with a coach or player and use profanity or hurl insults (“You’re stupid, Shut up, Get the “F” out of my face, You’re a horrible coach, etc.)
We belligerently argue with fans after the game
We angrily confront a crewmate in the locker room or parking lot. We don’t back off and it escalates into a shouting match
We are lazy on the field. We’re constantly walking. We don’t hustle or work hard to move to a position to properly view players
We willfully refuse to study the rules book and mechanics manual. We believe the other officials on the field will know the rules. We convince ourselves we’ll be just fine and can officiate the game without knowing the rules or mechanics
We use tobacco at the contest site or arrive hung over or under the influence of a controlled illicit substance
We ignore our assignor or crew chief. We habitually must be reminded to accept games. We habitually fail to confirm with our referee when he provides pre-game instructions
We act inappropriately near or on the field. We do not discreetly dress in the parking lot (sub-varsity games), or we do not respectfully warm up on the field (yes, there are stories)
We act unprofessionally while on the field. We make vulgar comments within earshot of players, coaches, and fans. We make vulgar/unprofessional comments on the crew radios.
We are toxic in crew or association meetings. We undermine the association instead of contributing to the association. (Think “Wormtongue” in the Lord of the Rings movies.)

We are professional football officials; we are paid to officiate. We receive training and certification through officiating organizations or state athletic associations. Although it is a recruitment selling point, we’re not just officiating for extra spending money.

We must always be aware of our surroundings and act professionally. We owe it to the players, coaches, and fans to apply ourselves to deliver the best possible “product” on the field.