Tales From the Trenches …

Real stories by officials, for officials.

Ever have that feeling of dread as you enter the pregame locker room and discover you forgot something? Missing whistle? No problem; just borrow one from your partner. Missing uniform? Well, that could be a problem. What happened when you left your uniform at home? NASO LockerRoom readers had a few tales to tell.

Is It Breezy in Here?

"It was the first basketball game I ever officiated, ninth grade girls. I wanted to be prepared, so I started stretching out prior to the game. In the midst of stretching, I got a huge rip in the front of my pants right in the crotch! I had brought no other pants to the game, and I had no time to go get new pants. I attempted to tape up the hole, but that lasted all of about a minute. So, for the whole game, I was ‘hanging out,’ a very embarrasing situation! Now I bring a double set of everything (pants, shirts, shoes, socks, whistles, whatever, you name it), and I also wear dark underclothes, just in case!"

Forever in Blue Jeans

"I was early in my officiating career, working frosh and JV ball. I also sat at the bench and kept the scorebook for my high school’s varsity team. I wore the usual young persons’ blue jeans and school polo. One Saturday, one of the afternoon officials asked if I could cover for him on a Saturday evening pre-lim at a school in a new conference. I rushed home from my scoring duties, grabbed my gear and scrambled to where I thought the school was located. It was deep in a residential area and I couldn’t find the way in until I was almost late. Imagine my horror to find I had forgotten black slacks. I worked in my blue jeans. My partner was a rookie and I clearly had the advantage of mechanics and experience. But I was in blue jeans. We finished the game, retired to the locker room, only to find a varsity official had not shown up for the game. One of us had to stay to work a varsity game. It was the big break young officials hope for and I was in blue jeans! I couldn’t bear to stay and watch as the rookie took the assignment, and I had a miserable ride home. From that day on, I learned to wear an old pair of black slacks to the game just in case, and now carry a big bag with a spare of everything."

I Left My Pants in My Other Car

"I was working a varsity girls’ tournament game in New York and had arranged to ride with my partner to the game. We left from his house, so I left my car in his driveway. As we entered the locker room and started to dress, I realized I left my pants hanging in my car back at my partner’s house. After the embarrassment wore off, I handed the game over to one of the officials working the game before us and sat and watched the game until my ride was ready."

Hanging in There

"I had to do a game behind the plate and I didn’t have all my plate gear, namely my cup. The other ump didn’t have experience behind the plate and was very apprehensive about taking it. So I did the plate without a cup. I got through it, but never again."

A Little Tape Can Solve Any Problem

"When I used to work high school football games, I forgot my socks. I wore black socks from work, so I cut the toes out of them. I pulled them up and taped them to my legs. Worked great the whole game."

The 'Tent' Shirt

"One night I left my basketball shirt at home while I drove 30 miles to a game. My partner did not have a spare, but the assitant coach said he officiates ‘rec ball’ and told me he would call his wife and have her bring his shirt from home (five minutes away). I received the shirt right before we were to go onto the court. No state patch, but it was black and white. It was also a size XXL when I wore a medium. Needless to say it looked like I was wearing a tent that night."

Cheers for the Referee

"I went to a basketball game about 70 miles from my house and didn’t realize until I opened my bag that I'd forgotten my striped shirt! Fortunately, one of the referees from our local association lived about 15 minutes away, so he went home and got me a shirt to borrow for the varsity game while I worked the JV game in my black T shirt. He got back with the stripes in time for the fourth quarter of the JV game. When I came out wearing his stripes, it drew a cheer from the crowd. Boy, was I ever embarrassed!"

Instructions for Life – and Officiating

Officiating, like life, would be a great deal easier if you could go to one book for all of the answers. As well as rulebooks, casebooks and mechanics manuals are written, they simply cannot address every facet of every situation or predict every eventuality.

Sometimes the best guidance doesn’t come from a source with an officiating point of view. Advice that works for people in the workplace or in society often works equally well on the field or court.

Such is the case with Instructions for Life, a Nepalese good-luck mantra. Several of the concepts can easily be translated to officiating. Here are some of them:

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. Most officials would like to advance on the ladder, whether that means moving up from sub-varsity to varsity games, regular-season to postseason games or small college to major college games. But many officials permanently damage their careers by moving up too quickly.

Assigners and supervisors appreciate honesty. You’ll gain respect by turning down an assignment for which you’re not ready. Before you accept a game at a level above what you are used to working, talk to a trusted veteran official who knows your work. Ask for an honest assessment and let that opinion guide you.

When you lose, don’t lose the lesson. Jon Bible was fired from the NFL after the 1996 season. For some time after his dismissal, Bible was hurt, angry and embarrassed. But an honest self-assessment helped him to realize that not working in the NFL didn’t mean he had to stop officiating.

"It may be that the next level isn’t right for you, as I now know the NFL was not right for me," Bible wrote in a 7/99 baseball column for Referee. "But it may also be that given your judgment, people skills, ability to handle situations, general savvy, etc., you may not be right for the next level. In the long run, if each of us can appreciate the fact that not everyone is suited for every situation and can learn to enjoy wherever it is that we are, we’ll be a lot better off."

When you make a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. There are times when you will make a call that proves to be incorrect and you will simply have to live with it. But if the nature of the game allows you to correct the misapplication of a rule, you should do it.

If you make a call and a crewmate or partner asks, "Are you sure that’s what you saw?" you must trust that the official’s motives are pure. You must also set aside personal pride and yield to another official if you truly believe the crewmate or partner is correct.

Likewise, you must also trust that if you go to a crewmate or partner with the same question, he will have the proper reaction.

Under no circumstances should an official use "make-up calls" as a means of correcting a mistake. In officiating as in life, two wrongs do not make a right.

A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for all life. Dedication to officiating is admirable, but it should never come at the expense of your family. You can balance officiating and your personal life by remembering these tips:

• Don’t take the game home with you. Tell your spouse about the game, but be careful not to cross the line and heave mounds of emotion on your spouse.

• Call home when away. When your officiating takes you on the road, call home when you get into town. If you’re gone for a few days, check in often. Don’t forget to talk to the kids.

• Call if running late. Arguably, few things get officials in more trouble with spouses than getting home later than expected without calling home.

• Be careful when climbing. Before accepting that promotion or working those extra couple of night per week, consider the effect on your family. At the very least, discuss the time commitment with your family before accepting the assignments.

Share your knowledge; it’s a way to achieve immortality. Successful officials, especially those who have retired, do a disservice to the avocation by failing to pass on what they’ve learned to less-experienced officials. Advice should be given when it is solicited. Comments should be based on performance, not personality. Use phrases such as "you did" rather than "you are."

By the same token, it behooves relative newcomers to seek out the veterans. Many experienced officials hesitate to offer unsolicited advice for fear of coming off like a know-it-all. Make it easy for the veteran by initiating the conversation.

Improve Officiating Through Technology

Technology is a part of every level of officiating. If you, your officials association or your state is working to improve officiating through technology, the 2006 NASO Summit in Memphis, Tenn., is one event you won’t want to miss. Officiating and Technology: What Works is the theme for the premier event, which will be held July 30-Aug. 1. The Summit will provide answers to many officiating-related technology questions.

Does your association want to develop a website? The NASO Summit can help you find easy solutions to website development. And you can interact with other association leaders who already have successful websites. Is your state association moving to online testing? Find out how other states are running their web-based testing. Learn from their mistakes and adopt their successes. Do you want to know the best way to utilize video training, whether you have access to high quality video or regular game-tapes made available through the schools you officiate? Find out how from experts who know about what to look for when breaking down video.

Those are just some of the ways in which attending the 2006 NASO Summit can benefit you, your officiating and on a wider level, the officiating in your area. The Summit will provide effective, affordable and sustainable information and ideas for officials, state and local officiating leaders and officiating groups.

Technology isn’t just used for the pro leagues anymore. It’s an essential tool at the college and high school levels as well as for those who work youth games. Technology surrounds officiating every day. With ESPN, you can’t go a day without seeing a video replay of an official’s call during a game, whatever the level.

If you don’t want to be left behind in this age of officiating technology, sign up to attend the Officiating and Technology Summit. And while the 2006 Summit centers on technology, it will offer discussion on a number of other hot topics in officiating as well.

NASO is currently accepting registrations to the Memphis Summit. The Peabody Memphis is the host hotel for the premier event in all of officiating. To sign up, call 800/733-6100.

To view previous issues of NASO LockerRoom