Why do refs wear black & white stripes

Did you know that the zebras – the referees as we know them – didn’t always wear black-and-white stripes?

Like most changes, the move was evolutionary. The first ‘ref’s’ started in soccer, after players agreed that they couldn’t adequately police themselves; and they wore white shirts with bow ties.

However, that was often confusing when playing teams who also wore white. Meet Lloyd Olds – he designed the stripes because teams often mistook him for a player.

Olds told his alma mater, Eastern Michigan, that, “The lads often threw the ball to me, or bounced it off of my head,” according to a WBIR report Do you think expanded penalty replay will be the next evolution in officiating?