March 19, 2004

Mr. Stanley Sigman, CEO
Cingular Wireless
5565 Glenridge Connector, Ste, 1401
Atlanta, GA 30342

Dear Mr. Sigman,

In our business, that of sports officiating, we are trained to be restrained. That
training is important today and specifically at this time. I will remain civil but
to the point.

I have just seen Cingular’s full page advertisement in the sports section of
today’s (weekend edition) USA Today, Section C, page 7. The theme of the ad
is that "sports officials are unfair."

Thousands upon thousands of men, women and young people officiate
games in this country and they do so fair-mindedly. That is the very essence
of being a sports official. To present an ad that calls into question the essence
of being a sports official is not only lousy advertising but grossly unfair in
and of itself. How would you like to be one of the men or women now
coming onto the floor to work the next NCAA game in front of thousands of
fans who unfortunately have seen your advertisement? Think about it.

Clearly your company and its ad agency did not care that hundreds of
thousands of officials themselves (a factual number) will see your ad. If the
thought is that this will help your company sell more wireless minutes, your
judgment is in question.

I personally officiated men’s Division I basketball games for years. I also have
been a Cingular wireless customer for many years. Now when I open my cell
phone and see the Cingular name, it makes me angry.

You should have known better. On behalf of the 16,000 members of the
National Association of Sports Officials and the 77,000 monthly readers of
Referee magazine, I urge you to go no further with such an advertising theme
and to offer an apology to this profession.

Sincerely,

Barry Mano
President