Dear Athletic Directors: Please stop doing this.

Dear Athletic Directors:

I hope most of you remember me, but if not, I'll refresh your memories. I'm that big guy that used to write sports for the Attleboro paper for a million years, and I'm now doing either play-by-play or color commentary for cable TV stations covering three local high schools' basketball games. And I need your help.

No, it's not about where I can find electrical plugs or where I can sit. We'll discuss that another time. But on behalf of journalists, broadcasters, fans and aging Americans everywhere, I'm begging you to make better choices in the future about the visibility of the numbers that appear on your schools' athletic uniforms.

That may sound trivial or inconsequential to you, but I assure you, it's not. And here's why -- the numbers are the most important means of identifying the players that may be unfamiliar to those who aren't parents or siblings. And since the most important job of journalists or broadcasters is to identify the players accurately, we are at the mercy of the choices you make when you send out the order for new uniforms.

BC High's maroon numerals on the uniforms are difficult 

to identify from the stands or broadcast locations.

Here is the rule of thumb you should follow -- the numbers should be of a style that clearly allows someone at a distance to recognize them as the Arabic numbers we were taught even before kindergarten, and in colors that are in direct contrast to the color of the jersey. To make it even easier, light on dark or dark on light. It's a no-brainer.

I've included a couple of photographic examples from teams I recently saw in tournament play. This is not intended to denigrate the kids on the BC High boys' team or the Norwood girls' team, both fine teams and representatives of outstanding programs -- and indeed, I would rather have used photographs of only the uniforms in question.

In the action shot of the BC High game, you will note that the road jersey worn by the Eagles' players is black with deep maroon numbers trimmed in white. And in the Norwood game photo, the Mustangs' uniform is white with a yellow-gold numeral trimmed in blue. Now, I'm sure that from the perspective of these close-up still photos, you might say, "What the #&@% is he talking about? They look just fine." And maybe I'd agree if I was standing right next to the players.

But now, remove yourself from the immediate vicinity. Set yourself more than 50-70 feet away from the action, such as at a table at center court. Or go back even farther, into the stands, surrounded by screaming fans that are jumping up and down into your field of view. Or to another extreme, imagine yourself in an elevated broadcast location such as what you'd find at the TD Garden or DCU Center. And try to look those numerals, of stylized design and not contrasting to the body of the shirt, and tell me how easy it is to read them when everyone is moving around and weaving helter-skelter up and down the court.

From a distance, the yellow numerals on Norwood's 

basketball uniforms blend into the white background.

You might say, "Well, they don't have any trouble with that in the colleges or pros." And there's a reason. College and pro telecasts have multiple camera angles, monitors in front of the announcers and spotters pointing to rosters with giant numbers on them to help out the play-by-play guy. When I'm working a game, it's usually just me, an analyst and a cameraperson. I don't mind telling you, the local gyms aren't always illuminated as well as a major arena. And in only one instance do I have the benefit of a monitor -- and yet I rarely look at it while play is underway because it distracts me from my task of following the action.

Before you say, "Poor you," let me add just one more example. I'm 66 years old and nearsighted, with a very mild case of cataracts that will, someday, need surgery. But I have brand new glasses that do the job well, and yet there are still numbers on shirts that I cannot see from a distance. I found myself rooting against BC High and Norwood in recent games (passively, of course) because I did not want to have to try to call games in which I'd have to identify those players against the Mansfield boys and Foxboro girls.

Now, just imagine that you have a father or mother in their 60s or 70s. They still want to passionately follow their grandchildren's teams, but they have some vision issues. They still come to the games, but it is a hardship for them to follow the action completely because the numbers on the shirts are hard to read. Can't we give them a break as well?

I often use the "these aren't the pros" argument when discussing various issues in high school sports, and this is one of them. A player's number is still the best means of identifying him or her to people in the stands -- and yes, that includes journalists and broadcasters. We don't want to be wrong. We know you hate it when we are. All I'm asking for is a little help based in common sense.

Thanks for reading. And I'll see you at the games.

--"Fearless"