The World is Black. The World is White . . . Sometimes

Anyone who has ever been to a football match (that's soccer for the unenlightened) with me knows that I get quite passionate about my athletics. While most of my world is painted in shades of grey, sports are the one area where I am totally black and white. Let's just say that I have an overdeveloped sense of justice and fair play when it comes to sports, particularly at the high school level.

These activities have rules for a reason. Rules, first and foremost, protect the athletes. They guide the play of the game. They provide objective guidelines for those who officiate the games. Rules also teach sportsmanship and help the young athletes develop character.

Because of this last reason, it becomes incumbent upon the officials to do the best job possible. Before you even think it, I will concede that referees do not see everything that happens in the game. They must, however, officiate objectively, applying the rules without bias or arbitration. I am seeing less and less of this as the years go by and officials seek to inject themselves into the game.

I have seen soccer officials make calls in direct contradiction to the FIFA Laws of the Game. (And yes, I used to carry my own copy to the games.) Basketball referees have ignored the infractions of an aggressive team and charged the more passive team for touch fouls. I witnessed an assistant soccer referee turn his back on the field of play during the game to converse with the female players sitting on the bench. In what may be the worst dereliction of duty, a young man received a concussion after being thrown to the ground in violation of the rules and the official claimed the action was permissible in the game. Worse yet, the powers that be don't seem to care that this nonsense continues to happen.

I speak directly of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Athletic Commission (WVSSAC). That body, established to promote high school athletics and protect the student athlete, has lost sight of its true purpose and now focuses on what it can do for the adults affiliated with the organization.

After the incident of the referee who ignored the game, I reported him to WVSSAC. All they were concerned about was what he said to the girls on the bench. Wasn't it more important that he focus on the job for which he was being paid -- to officiate a game? Whatever he said to the girls (which I later discovered was inappropriate) was secondary to this. What if an incident had occurred during his flirtation that resulted in a player injury? My complaint was ignored because WVSSAC did not deem dereliction of duty by an official to be as important as the referee's feelings.

(I could provide details of the other incident, but the horse is dying. I'm not beating it anymore. I've gotten off and let it die.) And I'm not even going to start on the private school recruitment issue that WVSSAC refuses to address.

WVSSAC once was an auspicious body that set the standard for high school athletics in the state. Now it is a body that can't or won't make a decision that upsets its cushy little world. What leadership and character qualities are you teaching the student athletes by giving priority to your own importance?

And you wonder why my sports world is so black and white . . .