An official chat with a local man used to wearning stripes
By DICK STEELE - Keep Sporting, Keep Fit
The dictionary defines a referee as, 1. a judge of play in games and sports, 2. person to
whom something is referred for decision or settlement. This is not an easy job.
Half of the crowd in attendance at any sporting event will not enjoy the call that
is made and the other half is very happy. It all depends on what side your favorite
team is on .
Mark Cheshareck of Morris has been a certified official with the Iliinois High School Association for 21 years. He has officiated three IHSA state football championships in 1997 (Kaneland and Harrisburg), 1999 (Byron and St. Joseph Ogden) and 2008 (Metamora and Wheaton St. Francis).
Mark was associated with the Grundy County Chiefs and worked the chains for the Morris High School games and got to know some of the officials working the games. He became friends with Ed Stanley, a head official, who also recruited new officials and was a assigner for several school districts. Mr. Stanley got Mark started in officiating, and to this day, Mark says he still stays in contact with him.
Mr. Cheshareck said if anyone has an interest in becoming a registered IHSA official, contact the IHSA and they will forward the information to you along with an open-book test. Officials are tested yearly. You must register and then be recognized or rated by several coaches, in addition a closed book test. It takes five years to become a certified official. When an official becomes certified, he or she will be able to officiate the state playoff games from the second round up to the championship game.
Mark says what makes officiating difficult is the variation of the rules from high school to the pros. The fans watch the college and professional games and expect the same calls for high school games. Pass interference calls get the fans up in arms all the time.
"The defensive player can be three feet away from the offensive player and get a penalty," said Cheshareck. "If the defensive player has his back to quarterback and he has his arms stretched over the receiver, that’s defensive face guarding. That’s not allowing the receiver to see the ball. Fans also don’t understand the 'bump.' You can’t touch a receiver five yards down field, unless he is trying to block you.”
Mark indicated to me that It did not bother him when the fans get on the officials for the calls that they make.
"The crew I work on that never really bothered us," he said. "We’re neutral and just out there officiating the game and play by the rules.The best way to say that an officiating crew did a real good job is when you don’t see them all night.”
Mark is taking two years off from officiating games (other than Saturday) because his son, Derrick, is the staring center on the Morris Redskins as a junior. He also said that he had been with the same officiating crew for 12 years and hopes to hook up with them again in the future. He only officials football games.
The Cheshareck family in years gone by also went by the name of Shock. The modern families are staying with Cheshareck as the family name. Mark’s Father, Frank Cheshareck, who only passed away, recently was called “Shockie” by his friends. Frank was an excellent athlete at Morris Community High School and excelled in basketball, football and baseball in the late 1940s and 1950s. He was a member of the state-ranked 1953 basketball team.
Frank's relative, Frank Shock, was a member of the 1932 undefeated MCHS squad that was upset by Dwight in the regionals. Many in the state felt that team would win the state championship. Shock went on to play college football at St.Mary’s in California,when the school played a tough schedule which included Notre Dame. He was the star running back for the team.
Here’s a breakdown on the five officials at each game. The referee watches the quarterback and the running backs for violations. The umpire, which is stationed by the linebackers, will watch for false starts at the line. The linesman, who is charge of the chain crew, watches the sidelines and observes the tight end or wide receiver. He will let each player know if they are on the line of scrimmage or not. The line judge is located on the home side and his duties are the same as the linesman on the other side of the field. The back judge controls the timing, such as the 25-second clock and deep receivers and also helps on passes to each side. The
head official is the referee who makes the calls to each team on any infraction.
"A lot of people don’t like to see it.but
when the officials get together to discuss a play, they are trying to get it right," Mark said.
After taking a week’s vacation,it’s time to get back to our NFL predictions. Nick was really “All Business” Vidito, as he recorded 12 correct and only one wrong for the week. Professor Don Neushwander Jr. had a mark of 10-3. Guest predictor and former MCHS star running back and kicker Bill Button Sr. and this writer were both 9-4 for the week. The overall leader in the predictions, Tony “The Wonder Boy” Darin, had an off week at 8-5.
For the season, Tony still leads with a mark of 54-21,but Nick Is closing in with great week at 53-22. Nuesh, the guest and this writer are tied at 52-23. The only game that Nick Vidito missed was the Buffalo and Carolina game. He selected Carolina, as everyone else did also.
Nuesh and Nick picked Cincinnati over the Bears. Are the Bengals that great, or were the Bears just plain bad for the week? The Bears play Cleveland Sunday and they better win that one or this season is over. Minnesota is at Green Bay this Sunday.
Good Luck to all the local football teams this weekend during the first week of the playoffs.
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