"Continuing Friday Night Lights" - Time Out #204

After 52 seasons of officiating high school football, am I ready to stop working during "Friday Night Lights?"

No!

In early March, I renewed my long-time membership in the Greater Tulsa Officials' Association (GTOA), and in early June, I did the same thing at the state level with the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activity Association (OSSAA) in Oklahoma City. I have been a member of the latter organization since 1967---WHAT??? Just who does ANYTHING that long??

Why, you just might wonder, does anyone in their right mind want to continue an avocation that requires you to run, be constantly alert, and possibly be run over by 16-18-year-old fast, muscular male athlete as he races down the football field?

Simply put, officiating high school football is an integral part of my body's DNA, and is certainly one of my life's real passions!

Oh, my goodness, officiating requires SO much preparation on my part.

For starters, year-round, I try to walk over 2 miles each day, regardless of where I am or what the weather conditions are on that particular day. This daily exercise helps me maintain my body into retaining a level of physical endurance for the 2-3 hour once a week games I work. This demanding game schedule lasts for over 3 months, beginning in the heat of late August each season. My next annual requirement is the many highway miles traveled to southeast Tulsa's Union High School, and to the Stillwater area local football association rules meetings. When these 2 locations are added together, I usually physically attend at least 8 total group meetings, each about 2 hours long. Of course, the GTOA outings each demand about a 3-hour roundtrip highway drive. The pre-season rules meetings begin in early July, and are scheduled until just before the regular season begins in late August.

What else do I do each year, you ask?

A state-sponsored rules meeting is required to attend out-of-town, or to "attend" an hour session on the internet; the choice I have made for the last couple of seasons. In addition, a state on-line rules test to take and pass is required during the summer, then a statewide, closed-book, proctored, crew test taken each September. This crew test is a choice if a football official has aspirations of being selected to work during the post-season playoffs. These playoff games begin the second week of November, and are scheduled for 4-5 weeks, culminating in the various classes of state championships in early December.

By far, the absolute largest time-consuming element of this "hobby" is the rules and mechanics study at home, work, or wherever I decide to pull out my reference material to review this information I have studied every season for over half a century. I can honestly say over the years, every time I have picked up my study material and reviewed it for an hour or so, I have always learned something new. This regular new information "discovery" never ceases to amaze and excite me! The constant private study lasts from June into December, because I never really know when I just might need that little piece of information, buried deep in the rule book, to help my crew through a critical situation during a game. I always strive to get the call or rule interpretation correct on the football field.

Lastly, before the regular season begins, there are 2 weeks of pre-season scrimmages; again, these are experienced in the height of the August heat. These are worked to help not only the players and coaches with their preparation, but greatly help the officials adjust to their upcoming game conditions. Remember, after several months of absence away from the gridiron game, the officials need to reacquaint themselves with the game, too; thus, the necessity of the scrimmage games.

So, all the miles driving, the many organized meetings, and the hours of individual studying, are all well underway once again. I certainly hope I am up to the challenge once again, as I have done successfully now for a long, long, long time. For me, Friday Night Lights are truly the never-ending story...…..