Changing Crews & Telling Your Friends

[BG5]

I have been an official for 8 years and have been lucky enough to be with the same crew the entire time.  Over the years we have become great friends and we took our job seriously.  We improved over the years and had a solid schedule each year and worked our fair share of playoff games.  The only issue is I'm 33 and the rest of the crew is quite a bit older than me so speed started to become a small issue this season.

This past week I was approached by a top tier crew in our association who usually gets a lot of big games and they wanted me to join their crew.  I have worked with them before and they take their craft very seriously.  Two guys work college and they are a very young crew with a very bright future.

I had to make a tough decision this week and I decided to jump ship and join the new crew.  My goal is to be a college official and i feel this crew will give me the best shot at making this happen.  It was extremely tough because of the friends and bonds that I had formed with my old crew and I was extremely worried that friendships would be ruined over this.  I knew that I had to be totally honest with my old crew and I was dreading the conversation but I knew I had to do it.  I had saw and heard of other horror stories about crews breaking up and I was hoping this would not be the case with my crew.

I told my crew this evening and to my surprise everyone handled it with class.  They shook my hand and told me they were happy for the opportunity I had and all agreed it was the right move for me at this time in my career.  We all shared funny stories that our crew had over the years and everybody left with a smile on their face.  This just shows what a great group of guys I worked with and I know someday that somebody will leave my crew and I will be put in their same position and I plan to handle it the same way.....with Class.

[riffraft]

Glad you and your former crewmates handled it well. Good luck in continuing to develop your craft.

Now it could have been handled like the R on the crew that I have been the U. I received the following e-mail:

I hope all is well.
As far as the football crew goes I am going to pretty much tear the crew down and start over keeping only *****.  Knowing this will enable you to latch on to another crew now and not have you scrambling right before the season.I do want to thank you for you dedication to the crew and being very timely, this did mean a lot to the entire crew.
Thanks again,

I know that this was my first year working with this crew (I moved from Ohio after previous season) but I would have expect a little more after working the season together. Can't say I was totally surprised, he didn't like to be questioned and as the U, I tend to question to make sure things are done right. Also I can be quite strong in expressing my opinion on thing. That didn't go over well.

[NorCalMike]

I hope you at least took the crew out for pizza and beer to butter them up first.

It is great when everyone acts like adults. Good luck with your new crew.

[BG5]

I hope you at least took the crew out for pizza and beer to butter them up first.

It is great when everyone acts like adults. Good luck with your new crew.

Yes we had a few drinks on my dime   Glad it worked out so well.

[clearwall]

I find it funny how some people react to this situation. One of the more puzzling things to me is why all the secrecy that permeates the process. My crew was designed this year as a one-hit oneder as our R was set on leaving his role as a CC. So we knew going in we wouldnt last long. But at the end of the season, he is remaining very secretive in whose crew he is going to. Same with my H. I have seen this secrecy thing multiple times and I dont really get it. It doesnt bother me, I just find it strange. Everyone will know soon anyway.

Personally, if I were a CC(which I hope not to be until I can no longer run enough to be a B) I would hope that I wouldnt take something like this personally. We're all out there to get the best games we can possibly get, align ourselves with the right set of 4 guys that can make the best crew to get those best games and all improve as officials. It's just business and, at least for me, nothing personal if I think my opportunity is better elsewhere.