Hank Nichols died last weekend at the age of 89. That name may not be familiar to everyone, but in the 1970s and 1980s, Hank Nichols was not just a college basketball referee; he was the best college basketball referee. Officiating basketball was something I did as an “outside activity” during the time Hank Nichols was doing it for real; I aspired to call a game and control a game as well as he did all the time. Needless to say, that was never the case.
Rest in peace, Hank Nichols …
Speaking about officiating, there was a report last week that all is not peaches and cream with NFL officials. ESPN.com said then that talks between the league and the union representing the NFL officials broke off talks after reaching an impasse in trying to come up with a new CBA for the officials. The current CBA expires at the end of May 2026.
The league says the union wants money and the league wants performance accountability. The union says the league does not respect the level of commitment and contribution that its members make to the NFL product. There are still two months to go until that current CBA goes away; so, this sort of rhetorical exchange is not unexpected. However, there needs to be some sensible interchange ongoing in both camps because that deadline is approaching.
The NFL has begun a process of “vetting” new officials. Like it or not, “new officials” will need to be considered “replacement refs” with all of the negative baggage that label carries with it from an earlier labor negotiation created. Now, if you are tempted to “pick a side” in this dispute, let me offer some data:
- There are about 150 NFL on-field officials, and I read a report that the average salary for an official is $205K. So total salary costs to the NFL would be about $30M. If travel expenses plus other “overhead expenses” were as much as 100% of salary, that would men total cost to the league is $60M.
- NFL officiating is a “part-time gig” for most officials. Let me just say that very few people in the US have “part time gigs” that pay more than $200K plus travel expenses.
The NFL is a business entity that has revenues in the $20B neighborhood; while a cost of $60M is not negligible, it is a charge that can be accommodated in the business structure. At the same time, those 150 or so officials have themselves a pretty sweet deal as it is; those terms do not lend themselves to expressions of “worker exploitation”.
Here is my Bottom Line:
- Do not let greed or ego stand in the way of a new CBA. Neither side can claim any sort of moral high ground here; settle down and make the numbers work.
Since I have been watching college basketball extensively over the past few weeks, I have noticed Geno Auriemma’s presence in a couple of ad campaigns. That prompted me to go and look at his record at UConn – – his only head coaching stop in women’s college basketball. It is important to note that when he took over the program at UConn, the Lady Huskies had only had one winning season in the program’s history. That all changed in the 1986-1987 season, which was Auriemma’s second year on the job. In his overall tenure at UConn, his teams have gone 1288-165, which is a win percentage of .886.
Looking at the UConn record a little more closely, you can see:
- 37 NCAA Tournament appearances
- 25 Final Four appearances – – including this season
- 12 National Championships
- 6 undefeated seasons – – with this season pending as a seventh undefeated season.
Saying that Geno Auriemma can coach a bit is like saying that guy Sinatra could sing a bit.
There is likely to be a community sense of euphoria in Storrs, CT today with both the mane’s and women’s basketball teams in the Final Four of their respective tournaments. The men’s team advanced on a miraculous comeback win last night over Duke. In the first half, it looked as if Duke could simply name the score of the game; the UConn offense was discombobulated, and the UConn defense was noting more than mediocre. All that changed in the final 15minutes of the game and UConn won the game on a last second shot “from the logo” and advanced to play Illinois next Saturday. The winner of that game will face a difficult task against the winner of the Michigan/Arizona game in the other bracket.
Finally, something from Geno Auriemma seems proper here:
“I’m a hardass, but we wouldn’t have had all the accomplishments we have as a basketball program if that’s all I was. Players would have stopped listening to me, and I would have been run out of coaching if that’s all I was. So, I think we win because I am, because I demand sometimes more than they can give. But I don’t know what that is until I find out you can’t give it.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………