Having been officiating lots of games this month, I've had plenty of opportunity to observe coaches and how they employ game strategies and manage end of game situations. And in my estimation, there have been some really questionable decisions. Let's enumerate a few... A couple weeks ago I was working a high school football game where the home team was ahead late in the game 14-7. They had just stopped the visitors on 4th down and took over possession in or near the red zone with about 1:00 remaining on the game clock. The visitors were completely out of timeouts and so the logical conclusion is the home team would win by taking a knee two or three times to end the game. Wanna guess what the home team coach decided to do?? He had his squad running a hurry up offense. After the first two downs of the possession, they gained yardage close to the goal line for positioning into a potentially two-possession lead. On the third play, they fumbled the ball into the hands of a defender who raced with the ball down into the opposite red zone. Now only 4 seconds remained on the clock and the visitors had a final offensive play with the chance to pull off a stunning comeback either to tie or win the game! On that final play, their pass into the end zone fell incomplete. The question still remains! Why would a coach not simply "take a knee" and run out the clock for the win?? Again, there was a youth football game I was working about a week ago. There was a similar scenario. The team with the ball in the final minute of play was ahead by two points andin position to win by simply taking a knee. Instead, they pushed to score a touchdown, which they did, and then failed to convert on the PAT attempt. So now they were up 8 points and had to kickoff to their opponents, thus giving them another chance at a tying score. Is this bad coaching or is it just me? Now here's the final game situation... And in my book, this one really takes the cake!! Last weekend, the Steelers had possession, down by two scores (a touchdown and field goal would put them back in the game)! Coach Tomlin elected NOT to go for a field goal with time winding downwhile his offense had put them in range. He even "went for it" on 4th down instead of kicking the field goal. Why not get the points and then give your special teams the chance to recover an on-side kick to put your team in position to tie or get the win?? We're talking about NFL coaching here!? One thing I do know is that this isn't the philosophy of Bill Parcells. He had a similar situation a few years ago and talked about his strategy after the game. Had he not gotten an unexpected touchdown run by Julius Jones in his Cowboys game against the Seahawks, he would have settled for the field goal try to get that first needed score. As it turned out, he got the touchdown and then had the chance for the win after recovering the on-side kick. One thing that seperates great coaches from the rest is knowing how to manage and prepare for end of game situations. Are not the examples given here simply bad coaching or am I missing something? Is it just me?

This weekend I had the pleasure of officiating basketball games that included a team from Spain visiting the USA. It was a fun experience to make several observations that I'll now share...

These are not in any particular order...

1) Do you recall in the NBA Playoffs this year how commentator Jeff Van Gundy talked about the "European two step?" It had something to do with how international basketball players play the game of basketball differently and that travelling (at least in terms of how it is called) is different at the international level as opposed to other levels of play here in the USA. Well, anyhow, I observed these girls playing from Spain (they were approximately 14 years old) and they had an unusual way of attacking the rim with the ball. Sometimes they were called for steps, either by me or my officiating partner. As the game progressed and in the aftermath, I wondered how prevalent it was for players to move to the rim to try to score in the manner that they did. It's something to take note of for sure.

2)I met one of the coaching assistants for this Spanish team for a brief conversation after the game. She taught me that "Arbitro" is the Spanish word for referee and/or official. It was fun to try to understand what this assistant and the head coach was trying tocommunicate to the players. Having learned Spanish and used it in my visits to Mexico, I had to be careful not to get so caught up in the coaching that I let my work as an official lapse. In the final analysis, it wasn't all that difficult.

3) Finally, at the conclusion of the game, these international players shook hands and congratulated their American opponents on a well-played game. As they approached, they were well prepared to hand over gifts they had brought along for each player. There were even extras that they left for me and my partner. I gladly took enough for each of my five children to give to them upon my return home that afternoon!

So, you've now been kept in suspense for a while about this blog entry's title. I'm wondering... what is it that makes teams willing to travel? It doesn't even have to be from outside the country. I'm wondering, what draws a team, say from Maryland or New Jersey or even Massachusetts, to come over here to my home state of Pennsylvania and play in tournaments? I wonder, what's the hook that got them to play on the floor where I'm wearing my stripes! Any insights someone might have will be much appreciated!

Thanks for reading!

Well, folks, I had another potential dilemma arise yesterday and it follows right along with what I wrote about in the last blog post. Here it is...

Last night I was scheduled to work two summer league games (a very informal league operated at a private school). The home coach, as he had done before, paid me up front before the games started. He had me call the games, partnering with one of his assistants. (Like I said, it's a very informal kind of thing!) This was not a problem for me and each of the assistants I've worked with were easy-going and accepted my offer to give them a few bits of instruction on how to do the job of officiating better.

So we have the first game and all goes fine. Then as tip time for the second game is nearing, we observe that no visiting team is showing up. As I hear a few details about the likelihood the visitors won't show up, I'm starting to wonder in my own mind if this coach is going to ask for half the payment back. I start bracing myself for that possibility, all the while hoping something different will work out. Already within the past week I lost officiating work and income from this kind of thing. Was it going to happen again??

So as I am waiting there in the gymnasium, I start thinking of what my response will be to the coach, if in fact he does ask for some money back. It first comes to my memory that by virtue of being game assignor for another league that I could have been working that league on that night and generate the same amount of income as I would where I am. Then I remember that another fellow official called me early that afternoon telling me of yet another official who had game assignments in the evening that he was trying to get covered in his place. Had I been able to do THOSE games, I would have been able to generate even more income while also having about 20 extra minutes of travel time each way. With all this now in the forefront of my head, I was ready to negotiate something if necessary. I was thinking that if asked for a "refund," that I would say that I COULD do that, but first to consider what my options were for the evening and also to consider that I was loyal to my commitment to be there.

At this point, I see the home coach huddling with his players to start play. He arranged with a couple people (not team members) to get out on the court to have enough players for 5-on-5. Now a scrimmage was in place! There was no problem working the scrimmage... I was already there on site and had been fairly compensated for my time. So all worked out and in the end the coach asked me about my availability for another date to work at their school.

As a father of 5 young children, diligently seeking to support them, I was very grateful to have the work and to see this situation work out more favorably than the last one.

As always, comments are welcome. Thanks for reading and maybe this story is useful to you in some way.

In the process of helping run a basketball league in the capacity of an assistant, I've experienced some frustration. As I share this story, I hope some readers will also in return share with me some of their frustrations.

So, as you may recall from my previous blog post, I work as an official and as an assignor of officials. And for this one league, the founder/commissioner has me managing the game schedule as well. At different junctures, there has been a need for re-scheduling games. I made sure to do everything I could conceivably think of to be certain the make up games would be played at the new designated times. I used the on-line scheduling system to which we've been given access. I promptly emailed the commissioner details of the changes, reminding him to advise players, coaches, etc. in a timely manner. I also made sure the officials' schedule was properly updated and prepared, and that all officials would be at the courts ready to start on time. Upon arrival at the game site, the commissioner and his assistants were present, as well as all game officials. But no teams!! I asked where were the teams and it quickly became evident that they were not showing up until the next time slot for games! It had not been communicated to the teams of the schedule update. So then the games would have to be re-scheduled again!! And can you guess what happened to my officials? They were only paid for the actual games they worked, not for the time they had set aside and put in! What a frustrating situation!

And what further aggravates the situation is that some of the officials had previously worked for this commissioner and, while they had some frustrations about the situation, they had a degree of contentment that they were only getting paid for the actual games worked. Resulting from that, other fellow officials were left in a weakened negotiating position to get fair compensation for the time they had invested in the league that day. Can you imagine how frustrating this might be?? Rest assured that I myself have learned that any league I run will have a better chain of communication and have a greatly diminshed likelihood that such a problem as this would ever arise. And even if this should somehow occur, I would promptly recognize my responsibility (or rather lack thereof) and still compensate my officials for doing their part to help the league run smoothly.

So let me now ask you... what do you think is fair? I've been to game sites before and a team or teams didn't show up. My compensation was an "appearance fee" which amounted to half of what I would have earned had the game(s) been played. My own personal viewpoint is that an official has set aside the time to work what (s)he has been scheduled and should still get full pay. Think of it like this... what would they be able to do otherwise with their time upon getting advised at the last minute that they are without work and have therefore lost income? Should I think that this is merely a cost of doing business? Or should I "expect" more than what I actually get? I look forward to responses. Thanks for reading!

Hi everyone!

Currently I'm enjoying the experience of officiating several different summer basketball leagues. To varying degrees I'm getting to help with the operations, depending on the league.

One league in particular I'm helping has me setting the game schedule and the assigning of officials to work the games. This has been fun and challenging. The challenge has largely come in trying to identify precisely what the league commissioner wants and getting assured that this commissioner has properly communicated to everyone involved all the necessary details.

So, getting more and more into the depths of this experience, it is fun learning how to make the league the best it can be with the measure of responsibility I've been allowed to take on. And I'm thinking to write about this regularly so as to get comments and consider how I might one day myself create the ultimate basketball experience. This experience would be something to benefit everyone involved (parents, coaches, players, officials, sponsors, vendors of concessions, and anyone else participating in some way). [Did I leave anyone out?] I invite all readers here to write back their comments and thoughts.

Now here's a tidbit I'll start out with... One thing I really appreciate about this one league is how they're treating the youngest players, those just learning how to play the game of basketball. They have made special arrangements for each game played at this level to have lower hoops to shoot at AND to use the smallest ball I've ever seen! Yes, they're using a 27.5 basketball, which is even smaller than the women's ball, which is a 28.5. I'd not so much even known that there was such a small ball that was manufactured. But indeed there is! And to help very young players develop skills, the smaller ball that fits the size of their hands is absolutely great! The small ball and lower rim for young players gives them a greater opportunity to develop a proper form for shooting, among other things. So to anyone else that would be creating opportunities for the very young to learn basketball, I highly recommend using the 27.5 ball!

I hope you've liked this little tidbit and I eagerly await your comments. Thanks for reading!

This is my first blog entry as an official. The profession of officiating is very unique and very exciting. I enjoy it greatly and thank God for my health to be able to do it!

I'd be interested in learning others' success stories of how they have progressed in the profession.