Details: Parent Category: Umpires

Who's Worth Watching?

By Michael Babicz

Officials, like anyone else, are never too old or experienced to learn. And sometimes the best way to do that is through observing others. Not only can you get better by watching other officials, it often gives you the chance to help other officials to improve.

Watch newer officials. Go to a game prior to your own varsity game. Get there early enough to watch a quarter or a few innings. Watch other officials work with their partners, players, coaches and even fans. Seeing how they respond to situations or calls may help you either give them suggestions or come up with ways to handle similar situations yourself.

After the game, if you’re familiar with the officials and they are able to spend a few minutes with you, give them some feedback. By caring enough to confront a fellow official, make suggestions and give pats on the back, it will help that official and you as well.

Watch experienced crews at your level. Don’t only watch the younger officials. Get out and watch experienced crews. Last football season, I helped out with a crew that included several younger officials along with an official being groomed to be a referee. After the game, we recapped what went well and what needed improvement.

When those officials left, I observed the varsity crew for a half. It was not much of a game, but I picked up some things to work on. Then I drove to where a crew that worked the state finals was working. I watched them for their second half and talked with them following the game.

In each case, I was able to pick up things from the officials I observed to incorporate into my mechanics and philosophy of officiating.

Watch officials in other sports. You can learn from all officials, even if you don’t work the sport they work. If you’re a basketball official, for example, watch baseball umpires handle confrontations with players or coaches. You may be able to use their game management techniques.

Watch how officials in other sports handle out-of-the-ordinary situations. Do they get together and talk about it? Do you see them discuss it and then give an explanation to not only the coaches, but to the players as well? Good communication skills are important and can help to calm potential problems. Officials in other sports may be able to help you improve yours.

Watch higher-level officials on TV. Watching how professional officials work, whether it be in person or on television, can help you advance in your officiating. They are working at that level for a reason. See where they position themselves, how they use different mechanics and how they work together. Incorporate some of their techniques into your own officiating.

Be aware of what you are doing as well as what others on the field or court are doing. Go that extra mile or stay to watch that experienced crew. When you’re done observing, make adjustments and changes for the better.

Michael Babicz has been a high school basketball and football official for more than 25 years. He lives in Gurnee, Ill.

Why I Can't Stand ESPN's NFL Crew

By Paul Hamann

Usually, I turn down the volume.

However, due to an unprecedented oversight, I had the volume up during ESPN’s telecast of the Jan. 7 playoff game between Washington and Tampa Bay.

That, of course, meant enduring Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire.

I’ve never been a fan of that team. I find them grating to both the ear and the brain. But as my digital recorder blitzed through the game, I could ignore them — until the third quarter. There was an off-screen altercation. Referee Mike Carey threw his flag, turned on his microphone, and said this:

“After the ball was dead: Unsportsmanlike conduct, defense number 21. Fifteen yards and an automatic first down. …”

He continued talking, but that was of no interest to Patrick and Theismann, who talked over the rest of his announcement.

Then, ESPN ran the replay. I’ll admit, at first glance, I thought Carey got the wrong guy. Washington’s Sean Taylor and Tampa Bay’s Michael Pittman jawed at each other, and Pittman slapped Taylor across the helmet. The call went against Taylor. I thought: “What a shame. Carey got confused and blew it.”

But then, I experienced something that the ESPN crew has never experienced: I had a thought.

Didn’t Mike Carey continue talking underneath the broadcasters’ yakking? Might that have been important? I rewound the digital recorder and heard the rest of Carey’s words: “… Spitting in the face of an opponent. Number 21 has been ejected.”

I don’t see how that could be any clearer, but everyone at ESPN managed to miss it. Patrick, Theismann and Maguire were listening to themselves instead of to Carey, and I guess the rest of the crew was too.

Joe Theismann howled: “Whoa! How do you do this? This is something that should be reviewed upstairs.”

I’m not a football official — I referee basketball — but I know that Carey’s call was correct. How do I know that? I listened to Carey’s explanation. Second, even if it were incorrect, it would not be reviewable, and third, even if it were reviewable, in the third quarter, the review would not come from upstairs. Theismann’s three fictions in seven words set a new American speed record.

Thus began nearly six minutes of the most intense ref-bashing I’ve ever heard on the air. It made my blood boil at the time, but in retrospect, it’s quite funny.

Let me be an English teacher for a moment. “Dramatic irony” occurs when someone on stage does not know something that the audience knows. It’s frequently used in Greek tragedy.

I wouldn’t call Patrick and Theismann’s demonstration of dramatic irony a tragedy, except to their own credibility. To me, it was a comedy. It wasn’t Carey’s call they described. It was their call of the game.

Patrick: “That’s terrible. … Oh, that’s awful. … This is a shocking call, … This is taking on ridiculous proportions.” Agreed!

Theismann: “In a game of this magnitude, the officials should not be allowed to make this kind of a mistake.” Nor should the broadcasters, Joe. “That is an absolute terrible, terrible call. That means that nobody saw anything!

Amazingly, only Paul Maguire thought that maybe Carey had a legitimate reason to penalize Taylor — something we couldn’t see. That’s right: Paul Maguire was the wisest man in the room. That’s a bit like Hugh Hefner being the biggest prude at the party.

Finally, nearly six minutes after Carey announced it, the broadcasters figured out that Taylor spat on Pittman. Incredibly, the game continued without the announcers apologizing or even acknowledging they were out of line.

I could blame so many people for this: the crew, the spotters, the directors, the people who hired the crew, the people who re-hired Theismann for Monday Night Football.

Instead, I have to blame myself.

I forgot to turn down the volume.

That won’t ever happen again.

Paul Hamann has officiated high school basketball since 1996. He is a high school teacher who lives in Vancouver, Wash.

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Register Online for the 2009
NASO Summit Today

NASO’s Sports Officiating 2009 Summit — Judgment & Decision Making — will be held in Tucson, Ariz., on July 26-28. The event will feature some of the best and brightest in officiating. Some of the Summit panelists include sports lawyer and legal author Alan Goldberger; John Adams, NCAA national coordinator for men’s basketball officiating; NBA referees Steve Javie and Violet Palmer; NFL referees Mike Carey, Terry McAulay and Ed Hochuli; Stephen Walkom, NHL vice-president and director of officiating; Ron Johnson, NBA senior vice president of referee operation, Mike Pereira, NFL vice president of officiating, as well as many more.

Information about the industry-leading event, visit naso.org/summit2009. The website contains details about Summit sessions and speakers. You can also sign up online.

Attendee registration includes: admission to all educational sessions, Opening Ceremony and Welcome Reception, Officiating Industry Luncheon, Exhibit Hall, Luncheon Workshops and the Gold Whistle Award Celebration.

Individual NASO and NASO-ON members save $100 with a reduced membership rate. Early registration and group discounts are also available.

The Sports Officiating Summit will be held at the J.W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, Ariz. For more information about the Summit and to register, visit naso.org/summit2009 or call 262/632-5448.

April Poll Results

Who should be responsible for making sure that a team's uniforms meet NFHS standards?

NASO members said:

40% Athletic directors

29% Coaches

18% School administrators

8% State associations

4% Officials

1% Other