The Official Lowdown on Sports Officiating with Alan Goldberger

Somewhere along my journey I met Alan Goldberger who, aside from having an excellent first name, has an extremely interesting career. First, he’s an attorney with whom I enjoy talking. Part of that miracle is that he’s a nice guy, and part is because his specialty is sports law. Yes, there are such people. Alan chats with me here about the challenges and troubles of amateur sports officials as well as high school, collegiate, and professional officials. Did you know that many have insurance akin to professional malpractice insurance that so many of us carry? I’ve always been fascinated that baseball, football, basketball, and hockey have a better official-to-player ratio than (what we in America call) soccer. I’ve been horrified by the abuse cast upon officials by parents, and the illegal activities perpetrated by parents to give their kids an unfair advantage (e.g., sharpening the metal attachments on a football helmet). A colleague of mine who officiates amateur hockey in Canada told me that by the end of the game pretty much every person in the stands wants to pummel him. In this episode of Alan Weiss’s The Uncomfortable Truth® I ask Alan if this is getting worse, how it’s best being handled, and if it will affect the popularity of sports. (Many leagues have to cancel games because of a dearth of people willing to officiate.) So join us as we “call ‘em as we see ‘em.”

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