The Chanticleer

Issue date: 3/17/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Amado Ortiz Evan Monson getting in position for the call.

"What are you doing," said the angry fan. "That's the worst call I have ever seen in my life." "Come on ref, I could have made that call with my eyes close," said the mad Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity member. "Next Halloween I am going to dress up like you, a blind referee."
Welcome to the life of an intramural referee. It is a world when everyone remembers the bad calls and all the good calls are never brought up.
It is a very tough and responsible job and none of the glory comes their way. It is a job that can decide the outcome of every game. It is a job that has to play no favorites in order to be fair and consistent. It is a job that requires true professionalism. Eight guys experience this every semester and these same eight guys are students just like you. You might not knew JD Davis, Evan Monson, Blake Arthur, Gerhard Mathangani, Stephen Parker, Tanner Maddox, Richard Cantrell or Brad Deaver but I bet you have talked about one of their calls.
" You don't ever want to miss up a call that will change the game, said first year IM referee Brad Deaver. "We know how important each game is to the teams."
Intramural sports is a department run by the JSU recreational department. Each semester, dozens of teams divided into different leagues participate in sports from flag -football to inner tube water polo. The teams compete for points that ultimately decides the winner of the All-Sports trophy in each division. The All Sports trophy is awarded to the team in each division that has compiled the most amounts of points from each sport.
Other University's pick their IM officials differently. They post signs asking anyone who is interested to show up and watch a video. The Rec department goes more in depth with the instruction of our officials. The Rec department watched the same video as the other schools, but we also have a class that is taught by Mark Jones. The officials not only get in depth instruction about how to officiate sports, but also get class credit for it. We put more time into training our officials to work the games
The All Sports Trophy means more to a fraternity or sorority member than a wood pecker needing to fly out of a concrete forest. It's life or death.

Continued...

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