I had every intention of posting a lawsuit filed by a female official in the Pacific Northwest Section but after learning that one of the persons named in the lawsuit took his own life this past weekend, that article will not be published in its complete form on this site. There are two links at the bottom of this post that give a great deal of information about the lawsuit but out of respect for Perry Hines' family I will not give credibility to this lawsuit.
Instead, I would ask that each of us remember Perry's family in our thoughts and prayers during this most difficult time in their lives. He was part of our officials' family and will be remembered and missed by many friends and loved ones.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES CONCERNING THIS ISSUE
6 comments:
Sounds to me like PNW has some major issues.
Get the feeling only one side of story is being told as well.
I met several Portland Chair Officials early in the summer and they seemed very nice and well qualified.
There are some huge "holes" in that lawsuit to say the least. Methinks there is much more to this story but nothing is worth losing a life.
I hope Ms. Mattson feels justified in her actions, which resulted in one of her accusers committing suicide. This is what happens with the USTA when they promise to "fast-track" new officials whom aren't ready to take on added challenges, especially in Men's collegiate tennis matches.
Ms. Mattson claims to be a damn good umpire. If that is really the case, then how can she be suspended for 6 months due to her on-court performance. Suspensions don't come lightly unless you do something really stupid, like brag about how hot a certain player is on Facebook or brag about how you just checked another item off your bucket list by calling a footfault on Mike Bryan. She has been singled out for arriving late for her assignments and wearing improper attire. The kicker is getting a college coach irate over her calls. That tells me she's not ready for college tennis. Most college coaches don't go irate over an official unless that official is doing a really poor job.
Ms. Mattson has only been officiating for two years and seems to proud that she was able to officiate several high school state finals tournaments in the Pacific Northwest. Am I missing something here? Officiating high school tennis is no big deal, especially in the Pacific Northwest, where most of the elite high school players wouldn't be able to win a game at a Texas ZAT tournament. Equating working high school state finals as equivalent to collegiate matches is lacking reality.
Hate to say this, but it takes experienced officials to work higer-ranked matches. This isn't something you want to throw new officials into. In almost 100% of the time, they WILL fail. And remember, not everyone (male or female) is cut out to officiate college tennis, especially Men's matches.
In my opinion, I hope someone countersues Ms. Mattson.
Sharpie,
That is quite an astute post.
I doubt she was on the "fast-track" if she had already been suspended once. She was late due to an incident of domenstic violence the night before. Sounds like she needs to get her personal life in order, before she takes on being a tennis official. How could you possibly consentrate on a match with all that going on. This is sad on both sides and I suspect there is an attorney trying to make a name for themselves by sueing the USTA
A wonderful article that speaks to the true character of Perry Hines.
http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/200102-tennis-official-pushed-over-line
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