MLS Cup Spoiler: Referees lose $498.45 + shipping
WARNING: This is a completely off-the-cuff opinion piece. I reserve the right to change my opinion at any time for any reason. However, being saddled with a potential uniform bill of $498.45 for next season (based on the "holiday special" prices from OSI), this feeling is likely to last a looooong time.
What we were expecting: a new color jersey, green, and after a press release, in a new style. Is the style any good? Judge for yourself. We were all expecting new socks, maybe to replace the "egg socks" that the USSF and OSI released (the one with the USSF logo on the sides), apparently without actually seeing what they'd look like when placed on a leg with a calf muscle. OK, fine. There's some grumbling - especially at my end, since I think they should have done green before blue (which every other team in the nation plays in). I think, given the age of the current jerseys (about ten years old) that we expected a phase-in of whatever new design came in over time. I mean, it's not fair to drop all four of the previous jerseys (eight when you consider short and log sleeves) in one fell swoop, right?
Apparently, yes. That's exactly what the USSF and OSI did. We now have, five colors of entirely new jerseys based on the design we saw at the MSL Cup, including new shorts (same short as before - just with the updated logo) and new socks (I don't know if the egg socks are official gone or not). No idea when the old jerseys will be officially phased out (like the fuschia ones were when the pinstriped jerseys we have now first came in), but if you go to the Official Sports website, you can't buy the old pinstripe jerseys anymore, except in the Clearance section.You're going to hear a lot of people being really annoyed about this, and I'm going to jump in. The USSF and OSI, while raking in the bucks, is really going to tick off a lot of people, because aside from green, we had no warning on that whatsoever. Now, if you look back at my previous thoughts on the green jersey, I said something to the effect of, if OSI uses a different fabric in their short-sleeved jerseys that breathe better (like the Adidas jerseys do - which are a joy to wear), that I'd happily fork over a large chunk of change. That doesn't appear to be the case, either: according to OSI's site, the new jerseys are wearing to misnamed "Coolwick" fabric - which is just short for saying "we hold all your sweat in the jersey, don't release it back to the atmosphere, and just make those hot and humid summer days under the sun that much more miserable.
I don't expect people to shell out the $498.45 it'll cost for a full set of ten jerseys, which, depending on which specials you order, include socks and shorts. Most referees don't have a full set of the eight we have... er, had. But those of us who enjoy doing higher level games like Regionals, what do we do? Pack 18 jerseys so we can go into either system in case the center wants to do old or new jerseys, or if someone only has one set? I enjoyed working that one semi-pro game (add fourth officials, I've done three): if I want to continue, I pretty much have to buy a complete set.
The sad thing is, USSF/OSI could have done this a whole lot better, with a whole lot less pain. They could have introduced the green, and the new socks, as planned, and left the other four jerseys alone. And following the MLS Cup, announced that they would be phasing in the same design in a different color once every one or two years, and go in the order of introduction. I'd space it out like this: 2008, green jersey; 2009, yellow jersey; 2010, black jersey; 2012, red and blue.
Is phasing them in over time so hard to do? Can't there be a little compassion for our wallets and budgets? Can't they just mug us instead? It may not hurt as bad.
I agree with you on pretty much everything you said in this post. I’m just glad that OSI had the long sleeve blue on seemingly continuous backorder this year, which saved me from blowing that $48 on a shirt that would be obsolete already.
There’s one minor detail about that Brian Hall picture that’s bothering me… It looks like his badge only has one word at the top, which is presumably “Referee”. I know he’s off the FIFA list due to his age, but shouldn’t he still have a National Badge, or do you suppose they are dropping the extra embroidery in 2008?
Tim - 18 November '07 - 21:52
I took a look at the larger picture (on OSI’s site), and I think you’re right. My guess is this: they wanted a 2008 badge with the updated logo on it, but the 2007’s still have the (better looking, IMHO) old logo on it. Perhaps all they could get was a 2008 Referee badge for the shoot.I remember a discussion about others, like you, who were waiting a long time for their blue jerseys – I think you were luckier than I was, because I bought four new jerseys over the winter, because I dropped a size (see: http://refblog.com/pivot/entry.php?id=76..). I feel like I really wasted a lot of money.
TheRef - 18 November '07 - 22:58
Absolute crap. Further evidence, albeit circumstantial, that the whole farce is a marketing gimmick designed to separate Americans from their money, despite whatever they try to sell us (yes, bad pun) about raising the level of soccer here. As to what I’m referring to as a “farce,” you can read whatever you like into that.Damian - 19 November '07 - 11:24
I found a very interesting comment on SocRef I want to share. It’s not an approval of the change, but it does help put things into perspective a bit (especially point 2.5). I’ll remove his name to be polite:
First, the green color was approved by the USSF National Board of
Directors almost a year ago. The website about referee uniforms was
updated to list green as an approved color at least three months ago.
Second, referee uniforms are determined by the NBOD. Julie Ilaqua and
the referee department, state referee administrators, etc. have no input
on their decisions in this area. Yes, USSF receives a royalty from OSI
for use of the USSF logo. I believe that it is $1 per shirt and fifty
cents on the logo socks.
Second and a half, the last color addition was over five years ago. As
a former club president, I had to deal with player uniform manufacturers
who can’t sit still in their design departments. There, we choose
adidas because they kept uniforms the same for three years, whereas Nike
wouldn’t keep anything in their line for more than two. Even so, it was
always hard to get the new uniforms in time for the season the first
year and there frequently were quality issues, so it effectively became
two and a half years in the product cycle. My point is that referees
are getting off, relatively, easy in our fashion conscious world. I
will note for the record that the fuschia came about because of comments
on this forum about only having two colors and what do you wear when
both teams are wearing those colors.
Third, before you start storming the castle, let’s remember that no one “has to” buy the green shirt. Gold is still the primary color and green is an alternate, along with the others. I would estimate that 90+% of referees do not have all of the color/sleeve lengths now. So you only
“need” the green if you turn up for a game where one team is wearing
yellow and nobody else has an alternate other than green.
Fourth, I bow to few in my curmudgeonliness about most things. I don’t
like the new logo in general and the new badge design in particular.
However, I am certainly “artistically challenged” myself, which perhaps
is the source of my resistence to any change in designs, period, soccer
or otherwise. Having said that, we lived through the pumpkin era (a
color of which those with large stomachs and little fashion sense were
inordinately fond), the fuschia era and, somehow, the Umbro “something
the dog threw up” era. I do have to admit that while I liked the black,
when you see pictures now of referees in the old (solid) black, they
look like they belong to a long ago era. Referees, soccer or otherwise,
don’t “own” black anymore. Plus fours and tweed jackets, anyone?
Finally, if you are really hot and bothered about this, perhaps you
should, instead, revisit your current collection of uniforms. I see too
many referees with shorts that have faded to brown, socks that are just
worn out, shoes that are on life support or at least haven’t been
polished since they left the factory, etc. And if you don’t have a warm
up, this would probably be a good time of the year to acquire one. I
saw four crews at the high school finals on Saturday and, despite my
asking them in advance to wear either USSF or NISOA warmups, too many
looked like they just fell off the turnip truck, wearing whatever they
found in their closet that morning.
TheRef - 19 November '07 - 11:48
It just would be really, really nice if they could produce a shirt that is really good in hot weather. As a runner, I notice that running shirts get lighter and lighter, and more ‘efficient,’ every year…why can’t they make a really light weight, breathable referee shirt..Also, I’ve always thought that if a soccer team wanted to play in black or yellow then they should be required to have a 3 alternate referee shirts, in multiple sizes of course…for the referees..
The old Law 5 Fuscia short sleeve shirt, as I recall, was very, very light weight.
Ben Glass () (URL) - 22 November '07 - 11:30
This is my first season as a referee. I had my parents get me red and blue short-sleeve for my birthday, essentially “using” my birthday gift on that.And now, as soon as I get them, my shirts are out of date…?
!@$#
Sean - 22 November '07 - 22:24
I will have to admit this is a money making thing for OS and all other manufacture people. I, however, am lucky. I am just starting this fall after certifying in July and pretty much every shirt I pick up will be the new style. I did get the old gold jersey, but noticed this past weekend that there is a mix of the two styles and that was just between the two fields in use for friendly games. Just ordered the black off of OS before realizing there was a store in town that sells all OS stuff….opps.Mark - 26 August '09 - 10:28