By Adam Roberts – 4/28/2021

As the alternate spring football season wraps up this week and baseball and softball games begin, we need to recognize an important issue in high school sports that has been exacerbated by the pandemic: a shortage of high school sports officials.

The problem is not just limited to Wisconsin; it is occurring in every state in the country. And because part of the problem involves unruly behavior by parents at sporting events, I feel it’s imperative to share an op-ed that came across my desk today. The following piece was co-written by executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations Karissa Niehoff and Dave Anderson, executive director of the WIAA:

“After months of working with state government, education and health leaders, schools in all 50 states have been given the go-ahead to resume high school sports at some level of competition. Schools in the District of Columbia were the last to receive the green light on April 1. This is great news and signals that a return to normalcy may be on the horizon by the time schools begin sports and activities this fall.

Unfortunately, there is an ever-increasing issue that could put a kink in the return-to-play plans in Wisconsin and across the country – a shortage of officials, as in referees and umpires, that borders on catastrophic in some sports and in some parts of the nation.    

The shortage of officials in high school – and middle school – sports has been a growing concern for several years; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has moved the issue to heightened levels. 

In some cases, schools that have waited months and months to “play ball” have had to cancel games or reschedule games. There are so many contests occurring, with some states currently playing football and other sports they were unable to offer last fall, coupled with regular spring sports now underway, there simply are not enough people to officiate all scheduled games.

According to the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO), registration of officials across the country is down about 30 percent this year. In Oregon, the number of football referees has dropped 34 percent compared to last year, and volleyball is down 45 percent. In a football officials association in California, nearly two-thirds of its members opted out of officiating this year. Tennessee and Georgia have reported declines in baseball umpires. In one county in Georgia, one middle school had to cancel its baseball season due to a lack of umpires.

In some cases, the number of available officials has declined due to health-related reasons – people opting out this year because of the pandemic. As vaccinations increase and the optics improve, many of these individuals hopefully will return.  

For other officials, however, the pandemic was a secondary concern compared to the verbal abuse they receive from fans – mostly parents. It is particularly hard for rookie officials to overcome the verbal shots they hear from parents. In an article in the Salt Lake City Deseret News, Jeff Cluff, assistant director in charge of officials for the UHSAA, had the following to say about unruly fans in his state: 

“Parents are out of control . . . Because of the club and super-league culture, they think these games mean everything; we don’t look at it that way in high school. Kids are learning, the officials are learning, the coaches are learning. We have lots of people who are interested in officiating. If we could keep these officials, we’d be fine.”

Schools in Wisconsin need two things: 1) more individuals to consider officiating high school sports and 2) an improvement in fan behavior so that officials don’t have to deal with verbal abuse and can feel good about continuing to officiate. Despite the fun and rewards that come with officiating high school sports, no one wants to continue if they are continually berated by fans.

The NFHS has been actively recruiting officials for four years through its #BecomeAnOfficial campaign. More than 50,000 individuals have expressed interest in officiating during this time. However, more individuals are desperately needed to keep the games going for the millions of students in middle school and high school sports. Anyone can sign up today to become a WIAA-licensed official at www.wiaawi.org/Officials/Become-an-Official.

More importantly, let’s do all we can to keep the men and women who are currently giving of their time to officiate middle school and high school sports. The next time you think about yelling at the referee during a high school contest, DON’T!

There is hope on the horizon that the pandemic will not keep kids off the playing fields and courts much longer. Let’s make sure boorish behavior doesn’t keep officials off the same fields and courts.”

UPDATE: Legislation has been proposed in Madison that would make it a Class A misdemeanor to harass or intimidate in official; it’s expected to be voted on in May.

By Adam Roberts – 4/27/2021

In an effort to continue COVID-19 vaccinations in the City of Milwaukee, the Bucks are teaming up with the Health Department to bring a mobile vaccination site to Fiserv Forum for this Sunday’s game against Brooklyn.

Fans aged 16 and older will be eligible to receive a vaccine at the clinic starting at 1pm Sunday afternoon. Fans should expect the process to take between 20 and 30 minutes, and officials will be on-site scheduling the second dose of the vaccine to be given at a later date.

“This is a critical time for all of us to take the necessary step that will help return our lives to normal.” said Bucks’ team president Peter Feigin. “Let’s make this happen together.”

We’ll also have coverage of Sunday’s Bucks-Nets game starting at 2pm Sunday afternoon.

By Adam Roberts – 4/26/2021

This Thursday in Cleveland, 32 individuals will hear their names called by the commissioner of the National Football League and their dreams of making it on the biggest stage will become a reality. As for us, we will observe the proceedings from the comfort of Buffalo Wild Wings in Onalaska. Between now and then, we’ll take a look each day at each NFC North team with a scheduled pick in round one. Let’s begin with Detroit.

While some Packers fans might say the wideout situation has been less than ideal outside of Davante Adams at times recently, I don’t think many would argue they have it much worse than the Lions do right now. Combine that with new leadership stepping in in GM Brad Holmes and first-year head coach Dan Campbell, and the Lions will likely want to get to biting their opponents ankles early with a splash pick at the position. Of the six teams in front of them in the draft, Cincinnati is likely the only one that may chase a receiver as well (perhaps Atlanta enters that conversation with the recent Julio Jones rumors). Pro Football Focus’s most recent mock draft has the Lions going with Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle, and assuming they don’t deal the pick like Holmes hinted at recently, that seems like a solid choice assuming he doesn’t go to Atlanta or Cincy. It could be between Ja’Maar Chase and Waddle, but I think Chase fits a little bit better with the Bengals. Again, keep an eye out for a draft day move or for the Falcons to jump on a receiver themselves.

Prediction: Jaylen Waddle, WR Alabama

By Adam Roberts – 4/26/2021

It’s hard to believe that going into Sunday afternoon’s Brewers-Cubs series finale, Milwaukee pitcher Brandon Woodruff hadn’t won a game against Chicago. He has firmly established himself along with Corbin Burnes as one of, if not the, most dominant 1-2 pitching duos in baseball this season so far. It’s was only a matter of time before he crossed a win against the Northsiders off the list.

Woodruff stuck out eight over six scoreless innings to earn his first win in 11 career appearances against the Cubs. Luis Urías hit a two-run single during Milwaukee’s five-run ninth inning as the Brewers took two-of-three in the series to conclude their road trip with a 5-and-1 record. As a team, Milwaukee surrendered just four hits on a chilly 44 degree day at Wrigley, and combined with a solid outing from Jake Arrieta, this win was no guarantee.

“There’s the familiarity there of just facing the guys,” Woodruff said after the game. “Obviously they’ve seen me a lot. I’ve seen them. I think the biggest thing it just comes down to is executing pitches.”

The Brewers are 13-and-8 and host the Marlins tonight.

By Adam Roberts – 4/23/2021

While some people believe The College Football Playoff needs to be expanded to eight, 16 or even more teams to give more teams a shot at the championship, it appears the CFP likely won’t be expanding from its current four teams.

Executive Director Bill Hancock said a working group affirmed its support in keeping the four-team playoff. This comes as the same group has looked at more than 60 possible changes, which include a playoff of up to 16 teams. Some fans have clamored for an expansion as teams like Alabama and Clemson routinely make the playoff and play for the title.

The management committee did present some possibilities for future expansion, with models including six, eight, 10, 12, and 16 teams. The current agreement doesn’t expire until after the 2025 season, meaning any change would likely be years away anyways.

Alabama is the defending national champion heading into next season, while Wisconsin finished well outside of the Top 25 at 4-3.