Smile, you’re on Candid Camera!

By Peter Caggiano

For 99% of you reading this, you never heard the saying before. It was from a TV show that would place hidden cameras and record people doing stupid and sometimes funny stuff.

Disclosure: I have experienced this from both sides.

I was a NIHOA official for 42 years and worked NJ HS hockey games all over the state. I also spent 35 years behind the mic broadcasting HS ice hockey games in the tri-state area. Back in the day when I was on air, it was obvious that the game was being televised. Big cameras both on top and at ice level as well as a lighted broadcast booth.

Fast forward to today, EVERYONE is on Candid Camera. We are being recorded in some way shape or form every minute we are in public. That includes when we referee our hockey games. Besides the companies that are streaming the game, just about everyone in the stands has their phones out recording parts of the game. Big brother is everywhere.

We must conduct ourselves appropriately. Watch what you say to players, coaches and even fans. In today’s critical environment, everything you say will be evaluated for political correctness. Even your posture and facial expressions are scrutinized. Never let your guard down and always be the professional that you are. You never know who is watching.

Next time I will talk about the strange, once in a lifetime, things that come up in a game that have no reference to the rule book.