Cadet training
Students prepare to become officers and leaders
A local shop offers a tactile experience in a digital age Making a business of love
Wendy Strgar works to change society's view of intimacy Slow and steady wins this race
Developmental delays are no match for Tegan Wright Celebrating Spielberg
The English Department showcases the director's work A celebration of culture
The Elmira Pow-Wow honors veterans, elders and diversity A fresh approach to cocktails
It's the ingredients at Bel Ami Lounge From Quito to Eugene
A student's journey from the Universidad to the University Death Saddle
Three students try a new sound in a new band Behind the scenes
What goes on to make the show go on at the EMU Baseball is back
The sport returns to the university after 28 years Thompson's Mills
The oldest water-powered grain mill in the state A chance to shine
Intramural basketball provides an equal opportunity Lessons in teamwork
YMCA youth basketball molds future athletes Making the right call
Students find that officiating isn't as easy as it looks A soccer tradition
Local players get together to keep the game alive
Making the Right Call
UO students find out officiating isn't as easy as the professionals might make it seem
By WILLIE KELLEYFour seconds left, home team down one.
The player with the ball drives hard left engaging in some shoulder bumping with the defender. He casts up a wild shot and looks to you, the referee, for a whistle. In a half-second, a million different things happen. Was there enough contact for a foul? Is the guy flopping? Should a referee decide the outcome like this?
Five nights a week, University of Oregon student employees face dozens of situations like this. They either tweet loud and proud, arm raised in a fist, and call the foul. Or do nothing and let the afflicted party protest to no avail. It's all in a normal night's work.
"We get guys like that all the time," referee Kyle White said. "People want it to be the pros and get all the calls that Kobe or LeBron gets. It's not like that. We get a few hours of training and then we're doing the games. It's not perfect."
White, a senior majoring in business at the university, has officiated for the Rec Sports Department for two full seasons and says that experience is the best way to get someone confident.
"It just takes time. When you first start, everything happens so fast and you're sweating and it's intense. After a couple shifts, it's just work and not a big deal," he said.
For some, the best part of the job comes from the adrenaline rush. Sophomore Robby Morrissey, another business major, said he enjoys the authority being a referee gives him. It's always nice to let a jerk know you are controlling the situation, he said. And even though the university can only afford to pay its officials slightly above minimum wage, it's still about making some money.
"I first started doing it in fall term last year," Morrissey said. "I took it as a job because I just needed the money."
White, standing beside him, added: "We all needed the money."