Well, I have another topic to play with. Officials at state. Now I know I am going to catch some crap for this but I believe that officiating in the state is in overall bad shape. There are a some good officials out there. However, there are some bad ones also.

So how do we fix this problem.....

Here is what I propose..

1) Pay them more...
I do believe they are very much underpaid for their job. Maybe 25-50% unerpaid. Add taxes being taken out in many cases and they don't make crap. If we pay them more, we might be able to get more people to do it, which in turns gives us a better shot at having good officials.

2)However, with this pay raise will come evaluations. I know we have evaluations now, but this good ole boy system is not working. WE NEED EVALUATIONS THAT COUNT. Have coaches during the year send in evaluation on the officials at the duals and tourneys. Have a person go take a look at the ones that are getting bad evaluations. Heck, also praise the ones that are doing good.

3)We need to find a way to get all officials together to get on the same page. What is stalling, what is near fall, what is a reversal, etc. It seemed that East Officials and West officials call a match totally different.

I know I am going to get at least one response that says, why don't you try officiating and see how hard it is. Well, I have, and it's hard as hell. I don't ever want to do it again. But you are getting paid for what you are doing. These kids have worked too hard for an official to take a match from him. We have to get this right and soon. Some need to retire, some need to speed up, some need to get on the mat to count near fall, need to read a rule book, some need to give it up. However, there are some good ones! Let's get them to teach the bad ones and make them better.

P.S. and some might want to invest in a bigger shirt and realize that the fans are watching the kids wrestle, not the officials officiate.