One of our customers and a good friend of Ump-Attire.com, Todd Skaggs, has recently released a book intended for aspiring football officials titled Forward Progress: Confessions from a Rookie College Football Official.
The book includes expert advice on how to to get noticed, move up and improve your officiating skills from over 20 officials from college and pro ranks including Mike Carey and John McGrath of the NFL and NCAA supervisors like Ken Rivera (Mountain West), Jim Jackson (Ohio Valley), Doug Rhoads (ACC) and Rogers Redding (SEC).
What he has done though gaining access to the Who's Who of officiating world and sharing his newfound knowledge on how to move up to the next level, all in one resource, is extraordinary. I have yet to read the book, but hope to very soon.
More About Todd Todd has been officiating high school football for over eight years and is currently in his second year as a college official in the Division II West Virgina Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He also publishes Profootballreferee.com, a blog about football officiating that includes in-depth interviews, video, articles and a podcast.
The 2010 Kentuckiana Baseball Umpire Association (KBUA - association for Louisville high school umpires) was a great success. Sharing some photos below.
2010 KBUA Golf Scramble Wining Team (l to r) Josh Wolff, Jimmy Smith, Paul Schardein
KBUA President Keith Shartzer Thanks Participants
KBUA Golf Scramble Organizers (l to r) Jim Kirk, Charlie Logsdon, Keith Shartzer, Dave Weber and Anthony Wilder
See Todd's review below. He is an author of two officiating books, publishes profootballreferee.com and has been officiating high school football for over eight years and is currently in his second year as a college official in the Division II West Virgina Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Black NFL-style style foul weather pants are new this year for college and high school football officials These uniform items were introduced at the professional level two years ago and have been approved by the NCAA and NFHS for wear in the 2010 season. Football officials I know in other conferences and associations are rapidly adopting this new uniform item and it should make a widespread appearance on football fields across the nation this season. The pants are to be worn only with long sleeve striped referee shirts but I suggest checking with your local conference or association for specific uniform guidelines. The following is a review of the pants I received from Ump-Attire.com.
Material These pants are manufactured by Smitty. The Smitty Comfortech 100 water-resistant material is a 97% polyester, 3% spandex blend. Normal wash procedures recommended. Don’t dry clean, don’t iron. The material is very soft and supple to touch with a smooth exterior finish. The black foul weather pants are much closer to a common pair of dress slacks in terms of touch and feel than compared to our traditional knickers.
Construction The pants are made with a permanent crease and a 1-1/4″ white high-visibility stripe down the outside of each leg. The 3″ Sansabelt style waistband will be familiar to basketball officials and provides a nice slimming effect when sized appropriately. Two button snaps and a heavy duty zipper fasten the pants. 3″ wide belt loops complete the waistband construction. The pants are equipped with 4 pockets: 2 – front slash pockets and 2 – back inset pockets. The back left pocket has a button flap. Note the back right pocket comes sewn shut much like a sports jacket pocket. You will need to take measures to open this pocket prior to wearing them as some officials like to store an extra flag in the back pocket. All pockets were nice and deep providing ample storage space for gear.
Fit At the recommendation of Ump-Attire’s owner, Jim Kirk*; I ordered a size above my normal pants size. These pants do tend to run a bit small. The size up approach will allow for layering in cold weather. I like to wear cold weather tights under my pants in the winter months and a size larger will provide comfort and room for additional layers. The pants come in a 38 UNHEMMED length. You will need to pay a visit to your local tailor or your grandmother to get these pants hemmed to proper length. Make sure you take your cleats with you when doing so in order to get the proper finished length measurement.
Overall The pants fit well and felt even better. I believe they provide a nice, clean look and are a great addition to our current uniform. The cut and fit provide room for athletic movement and I believe they will perform well in any officiating situation or circumstance. The water resistant material is beneficial during cold rainy environments and the black color might save a few pairs of knickers from being retired as “mudders” due to irremovable stains that we all know and love.
I’m looking forward to the first opportunity to don these new pants this season.
Note from Jim: Please be aware that Smitty has just increased the size of the pants so that sizing up is now unnecessary.
Cassie Stokes is our third new staff member this year, but first new one on the customer service and marketing side where our needs continue to grow.
So now instead of Anessa, Jeanne and Sherry, you will hear one more friendly female voice in the mix.
Cassie graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in Studio art in photography and new media. She spent several years designing and writing for the daily student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, eventually leading to a page design job with the Lexington Herald-Leader designing for the metro and feature sections.
She found her way to Louisville working for a small marketing and communications company where she assisted in managing projects and accounts for several clients as well as working as a graphic designer and photographer.
She has only worked with us for a few weeks and has already proven to be an integral part of the team. Once she gets settled in, we plan to utilize her talents in the marketing department as well. With her experience, personality and intelligence, I am very fortunate to have her here.
In her free time Cassie enjoys being outside playing tennis, ultimate frisbee, hiking and photography. When she has the time she likes to experiment in the kitchen and enjoys the multitude of interesting restaurants here in Louisville. Graduating from UK, it almost goes without saying that she is an avid University of Kentucky basketball and football fan.
One of our customers and a good friend of Ump-Attire.com, Todd Skaggs, has recently released a book intended for aspiring football officials titled Forward Progress: Confessions from a Rookie College Football Official.
