There’s no better feeling than going somewhere far away from home and having someone – no matter where you’re at – holler your name. Well, at least that’s the case in most situations.

 

There’s the peculiar case of Ron Romeo, better known to one and all as “Hawk” Romeo. It should be noted that he’s also been known for decades as Mr. Romeo. Last year, after spending 25 years as an educator at Bridgeport High School, he stepped down from the position after impacting thousands of students along the way.

 

He went about it quietly. The kids respected him in nearly every situation and when they needed his attention, a hand usually went up or a polite “Mr. Romeo” would be uttered from the students in one of his classes.

 

It’s when Hawk was away from the usually friendly confines of the classroom and day job where Romeo’s case became peculiar. From every corner of the state, whether it was in the southern part of the state or any of West Virginia’s panhandles – or any area in between – Hawk Romeo was greeted during his second job with a standard catcall.

 

“Hey Hawk, you suck.”

 

It most situations, that would prompt a reaction. For Hawk Romeo it was part of the job. After all, when you’ve officiated various sports, primarily football, for 43 years, the chances are pretty good that people get to you know you and even if they don't know you they're still going to yell at you. The thing with Hawk was that it could be the furthest outpost in the Mountain State and someone would either know him to talk to him before the game or someone would yell at him during the games. For whatever reason, he was a lightning rod from the crowd.

 

“It was always him they were mad at for the calls, which really was fun for the rest of the crew. It literally happened everywhere, every game. If any of had a tough call to make they would just start yelling at Hawk,” said Kirk Cistaro, who spent many years as part of Hawk’s officiating crew. “The thing was that a lot of people knew him beyond just yelling at him. No matter where we were at he would be approached by the coaches, the athletic director, the fans, the principals; it really didn’t matter because someone knew him.

 

“I can still see him talking to someone for five or 10 minutes once we’d get to a field just as polite as he could be,” Cistaro continued. “He’d get done and look at the guys with him and ask us as serious as he could be ‘do you know who that was?’ It was just part of being around Hawk.”

 

Here’s the thing – and this may bother a few folks out there in the coaching ranks or in the realm of fandom: Ron “Hawk” Romeo didn’t suck as an official. In fact, he was one of the best and whenever I would get a chance to see his crew, which was usually once a year since he hadn’t officiated a Bridgeport game for more than a quarter of a century, the crew was usually as good or better than any others that I saw.

 

Here’s the other thing – Ron “Hawk” Romeo won’t be able to yelled at on the field anymore. After 43 years of officiating, the last several of which were exclusively in football, he’s hanging up the whistle.

 

“It’s just age catching up to me,” said Romeo when asked why he was stepping down. “My legs hurt, and my back hurts, and that was just the main things. Even with that, my mind is still pretty sharp. The problem becomes when your mind is telling you to get somewhere and your body can’t get there fast enough.”

 

Understand that Hawk Romeo could have stepped down a long time ago and it would have been okay. Not because he was bad at what he did; far from it. Rather, most individuals don’t realize the amount of time spent traveling, prepping by doing clinics and all of those other things that are more than just showing up for a few hours Friday night to get yelled at from start to finish.

 

Romeo did it for a few reasons. The two biggest was that he like that he could work with youth in a sporting venue and he absolutely looked forward to working with his officiating crew.

 

“I started out doing Pop Warner and then moved up for freshman and junior high and then eventually got into high school. At one time, I applied for college and didn’t get accepted and then I decided I liked where I was at and never applied again,” said Romeo. “I ended up doing what I liked.”

 

What Hawk came to love was the aforementioned crew that he worked with. It, he said, solidified his love for officiating.

 

“I always enjoyed the game and the pressure involved and, yes, I even enjoyed hearing the stuff from the crowd, but what turned things around to make it so much more enjoyable was when we went to crews,” said Romeo. “I had the same crew for 17 or 18 years. We weren’t really a crew. We were actually more like a family.”

 

As it turned out, it would be kind of a dysfunctional family that literally put the fun in that word. Cistaro said a road trip with Romeo was comedy of the first order and a show that continued to rave reviews year after year.

 

“It was easy to get under his skin and we all did it. Hawks was the focal point,” said Cistaro, who stepped away from Hawk’s crew to spend time with his family several years ago. “We should have taped things that took place on those road trips, but once we got onto the field we may have still had fun, but we always took things serious. I can’t tell you how much respect I have for him because he commanded that from us and everyone around him.

 

“The last game I ever did with him, I told him that aside from my wedding day and the birth of my children, there was nothing better than Fridays from four to midnight, and sometimes longer, with Hawk and everyone,” Cistaro continued. “It was among the best times of my life because of who he was, but there was no one more serious about officiating than Hawk. I have no problem telling anyone that he had a great career. I wouldn’t ever want to work with another white hat (referee).”

 

Romeo enjoyed the time on the trips as well. He called it a fraternity party.

 

“We basically busted each other’s chops from the moment you got into the car; and we were all in one car,” said Romeo. “The great thing was that we didn’t have to worry about people yelling at us because we were our own worst critics and that made us better. We could laugh in that car, make fun of one another in that car and we could be constructively critical in that car. I knew, and the guys did too, that we put a lot of effort out there and you ended up valuing who you worked with.”

 

Romeo’s career featured dozens of playoff games in all three classifications. He was also on state championship games in 2000 and 2006. Yet, he still recalls his time with his crew as the best part of it all – and one more thing he valued.

 

“This sounds arrogant, but I knew that in most situations I had the respect of the coaches because they knew we were giving both teams a fair shot. If we blew it, and that happened, we blew it honestly,” said Romeo.

 

When asked about his fondest moment, it has little to do with him and everything about a man many in this area recall fondly years after his death. Hawk recalled a game involving the late Gary Barnette, who had a Class AA powerhouse for years at South Harrison High School. The game, several decades ago, was a high stakes game between Barnette’s Hawks and Washington Irving at Hite Field.

 

It ended in an almost unheard of three overtime scoreless tie. It was so unique that it got a mention in USA TODAY. And the game featured a call late that went against the Hawks that would have given them the win.

 

“There was a pass in that game late that one official on our crew ruled a touchdown for South Harrison and the other ruled incomplete,” said Romeo. “We got together as a crew and we ruled it incomplete and, you can imagine, the fans weren’t happy.”

 

Romeo said the mood after the game was less than friendly. Although he said he wasn’t fearful, he said the officials’ locker room had an unexpected post game visitor.

 

“Coach Barnette came in to tell us not to worry about everyone being upset and, just to be sure there weren't any problems, he was going to walk us to our cars. So we followed him and nothing at all happened, which may have been the case even without him, but that so strongly sticks out in my head to this day of the respect a coach had for what we did even in a tough situation,” said Romeo. “That, to me, was just pure class and something I’ll never forget.”

 

Of course, Romeo would like people to not forget something else. He HAS NOT officiated a Bridgeport High School football game in a quarter of a century. Yet, many have openly criticized Romeo on message boards and in open conversation as the reason the Indians won so many games because Hawk was taking care of them.

 

“Yeah, I heard it a few times and that my motivations were to help Bridgeport because I taught there,” he said. “What was odd was that my last officiated game was back when Smiley (Wayne Jamison) was coaching back in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Hell, I get blamed for everything even when I'm not there.”

 

Romeo won’t have to worry about that anymore. He won’t have to worry about being yelled at from the stands. And for those thinking he may make a return for a substitution or some other reason to the playing field, he said that won’t happen.

 

It's officially over.

 

But, he’s going to miss everything that officiating represented. And the one thing most people don’t realize as well.

 

“Believe it or not, you have real opportunities to teach kids. You teach them about communication and how to talk respectably and about sportsmanship,” said Romeo, who ended his run as a member of the Mason Dixon Board of Officials. “That’s an overlooked aspect of the game. I enjoyed talking with the kids when they had something to say. I’ll miss that.”

 

And yes he’ll also miss people yelling “you suck.” For those that may have wanted to do so, you missed your chance – no matter how wrong you would have been.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Ron "Hawk" Romeo in the middle with his white hat on, surrounded by his crew and a past crew member. Those shown, from left, include Eugene Weekley, Vic Moccia, Chad Riley, Romeo, Sam DeMarco, and Kirk Cistaro Middle photo shows Romeo having some fun as a teacher at BHS as he dance with fellow teacher Stephanie Morris to the Gong Show theme during the 2006 year. In the bottom photo, Romeo proves he can take the abuse as Bridgeport student Dustin Webster gives him a pie to the face during a homecoming assembly in 2011. Top  photo courtesy of Kirk Cistaro, bottom photos courtesy of Mrs. Alice Rowe and the BHS Journalism Department.