In Full View

The final session of the 21st annual NASO conference was presented by Ed Rush. Rush’s tasks included answering the following questions: Is the modern referee more or less accountable than old-school referees; why did it become necessary for the individual official to become regimented? Does the current level of accountability make it harder or easier to identify excellent officials?

Rush believes that accountability doesn’t stop for the modern official after the game ends. "The level of expectation for our overall behavior, both on the field or the court, and what we do off the field or the court, the bar is higher than [most other professions]," said Rush. It’s just higher. We are in a position where people are looking at us and they’re kind of waiting to see what bar do you go into after the game, and how long do you stay, and in what kind of shape are you in when you leave? That’s scrutiny. It used to mean absolutely nothing. Your personal life, what happened away from the field or the court didn’t mean a thing. Now there is such a higher level of expectation."