“Good writers borrow, great writers steal”
It may sound like an excuse to be lazy, but there are some things that are difficult to write about. It takes a lot to get me emotional, it’s a skill that’s helped me in officiating as well as in life, I tend to avoid extreme emotions. When I do have emotions, they tend to swing more towards anger than sadness. It’s something I’m working on, and something officiating certainly helps with. One surefire way to get me emotional though is to get me thinking about my parents. I actually started writing this weeks ago because I knew it would take more than once to get through it.
Like so many people probably reading this, I would have to say it was my father who got me into sports, but it both my parents certainly supported it. Signing me up, driving me to practice, coming to my games and supporting me through the ups and downs that sports always bring. When it was time to go away to college, my parents didn’t want me to get a job the first semester and to focus on school until I figured out what the challenges of college were going to be. Taking their advice on school is probably something I should have done a better job of listening to them on. I don’t think my mother came closer to killing me as a teenager than when I commented after graduation that I could have been in the “Top Ten” students in my grade, but my peers in the top ten had simply worked harder and cared more than I did. Still, it was my dad who suggested I see about a job in intramural sports, because he knew how much I had enjoyed umpiring baseball in our hometown. That suggestion led me to a “day job” that I love as well as the passion I discovered for officiating. Finding these things has set me up for success in so many ways, doing something I love has created a life where, opposed to high school me, it’s difficult to out work or care more about the things that I chose to pursue.
It was my parents who when I got my certification in High School baseball as a Freshman in college, helped me pay the start up costs for the equipment, dues and let me bring my car to campus so that I could actually work games. They did the same thing the next year when I got into high school basketball. They’ve come to see me work games, even though I’m pretty sure it bothers my mother more to hear me criticized than me (unless of course she was the one doing the criticism.)
Although this is appearing on Fathers’ Day, it’s about more than Fathers. As you likely know if you are reading this site, nobody gets anywhere in officiating, or life alone. We may get there on our own merit, but others have encouraged and supported us along the way. It’s not just mentors on the court either. Anyone who has taught us how to communicate, be professional, be punctual and work hard has helped us become better officials. Anyone who supported us in failure, listened when we needed to vent, celebrated with us in good times, assisted us financially, or picked up the slack at home or work so that we could be involved in something we enjoy has contributed to our success. Most of all, the people who introduced us to the sports we love or to officiating, has helped us succeed.
Many people have hobbies, very few have hobbies that help us stay in shape, impact the lives of young people, and get paid in the process. Anyone who has helped us succeed to whatever degree which they have, deserves our sincere thanks.
As Stugotz said “How do you repay all the debt when you’ll never get back to even? How do you thank the person who believed in you when others didn’t? How do you thank the person who supported you financially well past the time he should have and emotionally in ways more valuable than that?”
Hopefully, this is a start.
Weekend Wisdom.
Nick D’Amato
