And now, the rest of the story

The rest of the Advocate vs. officials story with Dave Ruden and Stamford's standout Khairi Fortt.

Read Ruden's post first, then I'll discuss:

Jones saved his choicest words for referee Tom Brown, who besides missing some obvious calls did something that was absolutely inexcusable for an official.

During the first quarter Brown almost made Fortt leave the game because he thought that Fortt’s pants did not extend far enough below the knee (they certainly appeared no different than any other players’). Jones complained during a stoppage, then raised the situation again with Brown while contending another call.

Brown said to Jones, “I’ve got to teach him a lesson, he’s not in college yet.”

This is not a case of Jones misunderstanding what Brown said or the story getting lost in translation: I was standing right next to Jones when it happened.

Jones was understandably livid at the time and had some choice words for Brown after the game, some of which can be repeated here.

“This is par for the course when you get people that think they are doing my job for me,” Jones said. “That guy should get fired and never do a game again. It was clearly a case of he just wanted us to have a problem. It was a rough night for Tom Brown. It hurt us having to deal with all that.”

OK:

1) Fortt never had to leave the game.

2) "besides missing some obvious calls". Inexcusable from a sportswriter, especially at the high school level without explaining what or how? Were they judgement calls or straight rule violations? If they were misinterpretations, as it could have been, you should tell us that. If they were judgement calls, what are you going to do?

Those that read me on a regular basis know that my relationship with the officials has had its ups and downs, but I always respect the job that they have to do. I feel, like everyone else, they should handle their job professionally, with respect to the athletes, and know the rules to their sport. There is a certain ribbing that goes on during a game, and for the most part, that's fine, but it should be never taken to a point where it goes after the contest, and never in the media.

Which leads to:

3) Jones's quote is ridiculous, and for Ruden to publish it without admonishing him makes him complicit, too. Go read it again. He mentions the official by name and says he "should get fired and never do a game again". Because he told your star player to push his pants down?

Both Ruden and Jones should be forced to read this (and you should too): When your dream dies

This posting from the Stamford Times sheds a little more light on the issue, but not much:

How Jones still has a job after his comments about Norwich Free Academy and the city of Norwich on Tim Parry's Live from the FC internet radio show last season is beyond me. You can hear the interview here. Jones is also going off about the same ref last year at the 16:00 mark. But he did call him a good guy after the fact. And then he ripped into NFA. "Bunch of trash up there in Norwich".

Anyway, people have to understand that high school football and professional sports are different animals and that officials are usually trying their best.