This past Thursday, Friday and Saturday was the big summer referee camp I've been looking forward to this off season.
It's the same one I went to last year, sponsored by the SWAC (Scenic West Athletic Conference), and held in conjuncition with Dave Rose's camp for high school teams at BYU. Referees from whatever level pay and register to go work the games over the 2-3 days and the SWAC brings in some of its top officials (one had just been hired by the MWC last year, another is a Pac-10 and FIBA international referee, and one is even in the NBA D-League) to watch, mentor, and critique us. Most of the referees there are already at least at the varsity high school level, some have broken into JC or lower college divisions, so I was definitely among the youngest.
I picked up a lot of things over the course of a few days that immediately made a huge difference in my game and will help me improve a lot during this coming season. The camp wears you out though. We started off Thursday afternoon and I did three games, not getting home until 10:30 or so. I had to be back at the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 a.m. Friday for a classroom session and did six games that day, again not getting home till after 10:30. At 7:00 Saturday morning it was back in the classroom and three more games before finishing up that afternoon.
The highlight for me was the second-to-last game I worked early Saturday afternoon. The last day of the camp they organize the teams into tournaments and I was working a varsity quarterfinal game with Mountain View and Alta. I was a bit apprehensive because I've had some unpleasant experiences with one of the coaches, but I went in trying to focus, work hard and apply the lessons I'd learned from the camp, and my previous times dealing with the coach.
Don't tell the kids this is just summer league, they wanted to win and the game was very intense. I was working with two great partners, though. We had a good crew chemistry and we all worked hard and did a good job managing things. I felt very comfortable and really started to get into a good flow after my first one or two whistles. The coach was in my ear from start to finish, but he was in everybody else's ear too and it made it easier to deal with knowing he was giving all of us the same dress down.
I reserve the right to brag a little bit here. I made what I think is one of the most beautiful calls I've ever made. An offensive foul on an MV kid driving toward the basket from my 'C' position. If you're ever interested in learning about three-man mechanics I can give you more detail, but to put it simply making a call like that from the C is one of my weaknesses right now. But, man it was beautiful! I had worked hard to get into the perfect position, I stepped down to follow the ball in, and when my whistle went off I sold it like a brand new Mercedes. It felt GREAT.
It wasn't a perfect game. One of my partners and I made somewhat of a hash of selling an intentional foul (right call, bad communication and mechanics), and I was a little sloppy in rotation at times, still being pretty new at working a three-man crew. But I was really in stride and made some other solid calls and managed the players and coaches well when I needed to.
As it was, the close, intense game came down to the last shot. MV had the ball, trailing by one point with less than 10 seconds left and the length of the floor to go. I had once again rotated over to the C at this point which meant I was responsible for watching the clock on the last second shot and determining of any made basket was good or no good. During the preceeding timeout I thought to myself that there was a very good chance the ball would come right down my side of the floor and I had to be ready to get in position, see the play and make the call. I could not afford to make a mistake here.
Just as I expected the ball came right down in front of me. I followed it down as the player went up for a running eight-foot layup. The shot missed but another MV kid jumped up and tipped the ball off the rim and in. I saw the tip, I saw the clock, I heard the buzzer and immediately made the call - the basket was good. I turned to the scorers table, made the big prerequisite gyration and threw my arm down indicating the shot counted, capping off all the drama.
It may sound a little silly, but after shaking hands with my crew, congratulating each other on a great game and spending a few minutes with the evaluator, I grabbed my bag and walked off the court with the most amazing adrenaline high. Going through all the twists and turns of a good, close game like that, being at the top of my game and getting it right at the end was an incredible buzz. It's what any referee lives for.
I've still got a lot to work on and many more hard learning experiences in front of me, but it feels good to see my effort and experience paying off in becoming a better referee. Unfortunately that's the end of the camp season and I have to wait till November or December to start doing games again.
Referee camp... and to think some people just spend their summer afternoons at boring barbecues.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Be it ever so humble...
Yesterday I left the BYU testing center for the last time. As of August 15 I will officially be a college graduate, which means it's high time I moved back out of my parents' house.
I spent two eight-month stints living in Provo between 2004-2006, but even since I've been back home saving money and getting through school debt free (with the exception of my car).
Leif, Davide, and I (I just realized how weird it must sound to introduce two friends with those names) have been checking out some places down in Provo and we've found a promising neighborhood of duplexes. The first one we checked out is nice, with four bedrooms and lots of space, but apparently the owner isn't big on lawn care. By that I mean I've seen better landscaping at abandoned properties. We also found one with the same floor plan a few blocks away that looks kept up much better and has rent about $40/month cheaper. We're pretty set on moving into that neighborhood and are just looking for a fourth roommate.
After looking at those places yesterday we dropped by another friend's apartment in Provo and I started thumbing through their BYU ward directory - you know, the ones with everybody's mug shots, a.k.a. "The Menu." Perusing the photographs neatly organized by apartment sure brought back some memories. Even in the small thumbnail-sized pictures you could tell all the girls looked awkward and nervous, and all the boys tried to look "cool" or "funny." I'm not the biggest fan of BYU singles wards and the complex Mormon sub-culture that accompanies them. I don't know if sociologists have ever done studies, but I'm sure there is a gold mine of research into bizarre and inexplicable human social behavior that could come out of observing your average college ward in Provo.
The neighborhood we're looking at doesn't have the high-density housing and huge complexes which usually means an older group and hopefully a slightly different ward scene. Either way I can't stay at home forever. At least this time I'll have the benefit of moving in with people I know and things presumably get a bit more stable when you're out of college and aren't wrapped up in the dating scene.
I spent two eight-month stints living in Provo between 2004-2006, but even since I've been back home saving money and getting through school debt free (with the exception of my car).
Leif, Davide, and I (I just realized how weird it must sound to introduce two friends with those names) have been checking out some places down in Provo and we've found a promising neighborhood of duplexes. The first one we checked out is nice, with four bedrooms and lots of space, but apparently the owner isn't big on lawn care. By that I mean I've seen better landscaping at abandoned properties. We also found one with the same floor plan a few blocks away that looks kept up much better and has rent about $40/month cheaper. We're pretty set on moving into that neighborhood and are just looking for a fourth roommate.
After looking at those places yesterday we dropped by another friend's apartment in Provo and I started thumbing through their BYU ward directory - you know, the ones with everybody's mug shots, a.k.a. "The Menu." Perusing the photographs neatly organized by apartment sure brought back some memories. Even in the small thumbnail-sized pictures you could tell all the girls looked awkward and nervous, and all the boys tried to look "cool" or "funny." I'm not the biggest fan of BYU singles wards and the complex Mormon sub-culture that accompanies them. I don't know if sociologists have ever done studies, but I'm sure there is a gold mine of research into bizarre and inexplicable human social behavior that could come out of observing your average college ward in Provo.
The neighborhood we're looking at doesn't have the high-density housing and huge complexes which usually means an older group and hopefully a slightly different ward scene. Either way I can't stay at home forever. At least this time I'll have the benefit of moving in with people I know and things presumably get a bit more stable when you're out of college and aren't wrapped up in the dating scene.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Referees Are From Mars, Coaches Are From Venus
The months of May and June offer a little fun in the form of off-season high school basketball camps. Coaches take their prospective teams for the next year to colleges and schools who host some three- or four-day semi-competitive "tournaments."
Most of these camps pay a little bit of money for HS referees to come and work, and the UHSAA formally sponsors some of the bigger ones and turns them into "referee camps" where we register and get mentored and critiqued by college officials and the HS higher-ups.
This week I've been working Dick Hunsaker's camp at UVSC to make a little cash on the side. These tournaments lack a lot of the formality and intensity of regular season games, but it's still remarkable how competitive some of the games can be, and we referees are certainly not immune from getting yelled at...
"How on EARTH could you call that a charge?!?"
(with hands thrown in the air and a look of incredulity that you'd expect from someone who'd just been told they were adopted from China)
"That's a foul! Hey!... Hey!... That's a foul!"
(repeated three times with accompanying foot-stomping and pointing)
"You're KILLING me! Turn around and watch when you're running down the court!!"
(sorry coach, I'm still working on being able to rotate my head a full 180-degrees)
Yes, it's all part of the fun. But the most interesting to me was a comment I got from a coach that wasn't coaching at the time. Hunsaker (UVSC's head coach) was sitting at the scorer's table watching the game I was doing Tuesday morning, when I called an offensive foul for an illegal screen...
"That's a good call! Good call. That's a GOOD call..."
It was a good call (and an easy one to make, the dumb kid was shoving the defender right in front of me), but I found Hunsaker's praise a little humorous. I've watched him coach enough to know he rides the officials as much as anybody, but he still took time to congratulate my "good call."
Most of the coaches I know are perfectly reasonable and personable off the court. I've interviewed a lot of them working for the newspaper and have never had any problems. There's just something about stepping into the competitive arena of sports that changes things. Normal standards of behavior do not apply.
I've learned that this also applies to referees. Since you can't expect coaches and players to act as they would off the court, I have to change the way I act and react as well. In a highly competitive environment where the No. 1 objective of everyone (but me and my partner) is to win, I've got to change my natural mindset to maintain control and respect.
I've learned that, most of the time, there's no need to (and in fact it's best not to) respond to a coach's or player's shouts of protest - it seems obvious, but it's not what we're naturally accustomed to doing in social settings. When a coach asks a legitimate question, I've learned to keep my answer accurate, but concise, and to resist the temptation of over-explaining myself in an attempt to "convince" the coach that I'm right. He'll never agree. I've also learned it's actually OK to just end the discussion and walk away at those times. As soon as I start arguing I lose respect and control. We naturally learn to make ourselves likable in society, but in refereeing, you can't be worried about people liking you. You can only be worried about making sure you're given proper respect.
It really is a different world when you step on the basketball court. But, the mental, physical, and emotional work of managing a good game between two competitive teams brings a lot of satisfaction, and I continuously find officiating to be an absolute blast - especially the better I get at doing it.
Most of these camps pay a little bit of money for HS referees to come and work, and the UHSAA formally sponsors some of the bigger ones and turns them into "referee camps" where we register and get mentored and critiqued by college officials and the HS higher-ups.
This week I've been working Dick Hunsaker's camp at UVSC to make a little cash on the side. These tournaments lack a lot of the formality and intensity of regular season games, but it's still remarkable how competitive some of the games can be, and we referees are certainly not immune from getting yelled at...
"How on EARTH could you call that a charge?!?"
(with hands thrown in the air and a look of incredulity that you'd expect from someone who'd just been told they were adopted from China)
"That's a foul! Hey!... Hey!... That's a foul!"
(repeated three times with accompanying foot-stomping and pointing)
"You're KILLING me! Turn around and watch when you're running down the court!!"
(sorry coach, I'm still working on being able to rotate my head a full 180-degrees)
Yes, it's all part of the fun. But the most interesting to me was a comment I got from a coach that wasn't coaching at the time. Hunsaker (UVSC's head coach) was sitting at the scorer's table watching the game I was doing Tuesday morning, when I called an offensive foul for an illegal screen...
"That's a good call! Good call. That's a GOOD call..."
It was a good call (and an easy one to make, the dumb kid was shoving the defender right in front of me), but I found Hunsaker's praise a little humorous. I've watched him coach enough to know he rides the officials as much as anybody, but he still took time to congratulate my "good call."
Most of the coaches I know are perfectly reasonable and personable off the court. I've interviewed a lot of them working for the newspaper and have never had any problems. There's just something about stepping into the competitive arena of sports that changes things. Normal standards of behavior do not apply.
I've learned that this also applies to referees. Since you can't expect coaches and players to act as they would off the court, I have to change the way I act and react as well. In a highly competitive environment where the No. 1 objective of everyone (but me and my partner) is to win, I've got to change my natural mindset to maintain control and respect.
I've learned that, most of the time, there's no need to (and in fact it's best not to) respond to a coach's or player's shouts of protest - it seems obvious, but it's not what we're naturally accustomed to doing in social settings. When a coach asks a legitimate question, I've learned to keep my answer accurate, but concise, and to resist the temptation of over-explaining myself in an attempt to "convince" the coach that I'm right. He'll never agree. I've also learned it's actually OK to just end the discussion and walk away at those times. As soon as I start arguing I lose respect and control. We naturally learn to make ourselves likable in society, but in refereeing, you can't be worried about people liking you. You can only be worried about making sure you're given proper respect.
It really is a different world when you step on the basketball court. But, the mental, physical, and emotional work of managing a good game between two competitive teams brings a lot of satisfaction, and I continuously find officiating to be an absolute blast - especially the better I get at doing it.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sage Words of Wisdom
The last class I'm taking to graduate is a course titled "Principles of Journalism." It was started as an introductory course to new and prospective journalism majors, but I've landed in it as a capstone. The bureaucracy of the communications department abruptly changed the graduation requirements in the middle of my major and then simply eliminated one course that was required when I started. So I'm stuck in this class to make up for it. It's really not so bad. The professor is helpful and the coursework is relatively light. But, everything we have studied and learned so far has only increased my cynicism about the journalism industry and my desire to continue my education in some other field.
The latest assignment we had to do was interview a current media professional and write a report on our findings. I actually interviewed two local media professionals, an entertainment critic at the Deseret News, and one of the prominent sportswriters at the Salt Lake Tribune.
Both interviews were good and fairly informative. The last question I asked them was what advice they would give students studying journalism. Below are quotes of their respective responses.
Deseret News Writer: "Don't. That sounds overly simplistic, but this is a horrible time for journalists because of falling ad revenue, buyouts, layoffs, etc. On the other hand, I think if you learn how to write well there are any number of jobs you can do."
Salt Lake Tribune Writer: "Changes majors. OK, I'm kidding -- but only slightly. Journalism is usually thought of as a profession of passion, and you definitely need that to survive a career. Make sure you REALLY want to be a journalist or you will probably be miserable."
Sage words of wisdom from some mentoring voices. Sometimes I can't help but chuckle to myself about the major I chose...
The latest assignment we had to do was interview a current media professional and write a report on our findings. I actually interviewed two local media professionals, an entertainment critic at the Deseret News, and one of the prominent sportswriters at the Salt Lake Tribune.
Both interviews were good and fairly informative. The last question I asked them was what advice they would give students studying journalism. Below are quotes of their respective responses.
Deseret News Writer: "Don't. That sounds overly simplistic, but this is a horrible time for journalists because of falling ad revenue, buyouts, layoffs, etc. On the other hand, I think if you learn how to write well there are any number of jobs you can do."
Salt Lake Tribune Writer: "Changes majors. OK, I'm kidding -- but only slightly. Journalism is usually thought of as a profession of passion, and you definitely need that to survive a career. Make sure you REALLY want to be a journalist or you will probably be miserable."
Sage words of wisdom from some mentoring voices. Sometimes I can't help but chuckle to myself about the major I chose...
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