Thoughts on Pink Whistle Controversy in Washington

After officials in Washington state showed their support for the Susan G. Komen For the Cure by donning pink whistles in support of local breast cancer awareness initiatives, the Washington Officials Association (WOA and the ones who assign the games) has thrown the flag against these officials saying they used a non-sanctioned color without their permission. Story and video here.

In light of our breast cancer awareness initiatives for Komen, Warren Workman of Umpire-Empire.com sent the link to me and wanted me to comment. I commented on his site and am paraphrasing and adding a few comments below.

First of all, I applaud the referees for not only wearing the pink whistles in support of the breast cancer campaigns going on through the region that night but for also donating their game fees. To me, that was a bigger sacrifice.

All too often, referees and umpires get a reputation as "the bad guy", as it is, especially when fans see they "made a bad call" and are against their team when we all know that most of you guys are just good people who are trying to do their jobs as professionally as possible.

So when umpires and referees do something overtly positive and provide an opportunity to share the goodwill they have not only for the good of the game but for the good of those involved (players, coaches, parents. loved ones who passed away, etc) and even the greater good (breast cancer research and awareness), then this should serve as a grand opportunity to help shed some of that "bad guy" reputation by saying "Way to Go!" and perhaps making someone pause to think, "Hey, that was really nice of them...maybe they're not so bad after all".

Instead, the WOA took away this perfect opportunity to look upon them and the profession favorably to basically say the officials had simply "made a bad call" in not asking for permission or for staying uniform. This is certainly understandable of a desire to stay uniform as you don't want your officials to wear their street clothes but also very unfortunate and short-sighted. It certainly speaks of a hierarchy within the profession that often serves the profession well but at times not so well.

It seems, however, as if the WOA is seeing the error of their ways in their over-reaction to this scenario. Sure, maybe the officials should have asked first and maybe the WOA would have said, "Yea, that would be great! Go for it!" I'm sure both parties will know better next time to follow protocol on the onehand, and common sense on the other.

This, however, serves as a lesson to you as officials or leaders in your association when considering a breast cancer awareness campaign involving pink whistles, shirts or wristbands. Ask your association first to clarify and support what you are doing or want to do. Association leaders, set clear guidelines that allow bending of the rules a little for a good and worthy cause.

In that way, everyone can get on the same page to doing the right thing in being a part of something good to fight something bad.