[ChuckElias]

Ok, first of all, I really don't feel that my news deserves this kind of attention. I certainly don't want anyone to feel that I'm trying to be a big shot, b/c honestly, I'm no big shot. But just in case anyone is actually interested in my answers, I'll give it my best.

Q: Tell us a little about the USBL, as far as what it is, who are the players and where do the officials come from.

The USBL started out in '85 with 7 teams, located primarily in MA, CT, NY, and NJ. After much expansion and contraction, the league is currently comprised of 10 teams, spread from NY to FL to Oklahoma. If you want to know more about the league's history and a list of players that have gone from the USBL to the NBA, they have a website that is fairly easy to navigate: http://www.USBL.com

They hold a draft every year, so I think most of the players come from colleges and I assume that the teams scout out talent. Several teams also held open tryouts this season. I heard that the St. Louis team had 250 players come to the tryout. If I had to make an analogy, I would guess that the USBL is kind of like DoubleA baseball in the minor leagues. Now that the NBA has the developmental league, I would think that the NBDL is AAA and the USBL is one of several "minor leagues" (like the IBL, ABA, etc) whose players hope to make the leap into the NBDL.

To become an official, I just filled out an application for the tryout. There were about 30 of us, just at LIU; and I think there were 3 other locations where they held officials' tryouts. The officials that I met at the tryout were mostly guys (and one woman) who had worked in Pro-Am leagues before, although there were several who had never worked above high school. I don't know how many of us were accepted.

Q: Why did they choose you? What are your attributes that make you an excellent official?

I wasn't told why I was selected, but I can tell you what I think my strengths as an official are. I am pretty good with rules. I tend to learn them quickly and retain them. I was able to study the NBA rulebook for a couple weeks before I went to the tryout. So I was able to ask intelligent questions about application of the rules, and maybe that showed that I was a little more prepared than some of the other officials there.

Also, I am in good shape and very quick. I was able to keep ahead of the play most of the day. I think I "looked the part" out on the floor. I moved well and could get to my position quickly. In fact, I was actually told that I was working too hard!! That's never happened to me before. When going from Lead to new Trail, I hustled into the frontcourt and was told to slow down and trail the play more.

Part of looking the part is good mechanics, and I've worked very very hard on my mechanics throughout my "career". One of the first things the evaluator at the tryout said to me was that I have excellent mechanics. I personally feel that counts, signals, and reporting to the table are vitally important.

Finally, I was able to adapt to new mechanics. I listened to the instructions I was given. There were several things that I do on the college level that they didn't like. So they told me how to do them, and I was able to change. Sounds simple, but not everyone was able to do it.

Q: What steps/breaks in your career let you move up through the levels to where you are currently?

My officiating career has been a "slow and steady" story. I've done high school since '93, HS varsity since '97, started college in '98, and finally cracked college varsity in '01.

As you can tell, I haven't made any dramatic leaps. In fact, I dealt with a lot of personal disappointment while waiting to move up to college varsity. But those things were really out of my control, so I simply decided to continue doing what I was doing and wait for somebody to notice.

Q: Where do you go from here?

I have no idea, because honestly, I never expected to be "here"!! I suppose that if I do very well this season in the USBL, I might send an application for the NBA summer camp next year. But that seems like a very unrealistic pipe-dream.

I think a more realistic next step for me is to move into NCAA Div 1 ball. That's probably not very realistic, either, but it seems a little more likely than the NBA in my case. I'm already 36, so I'm not sure I would be considered "young talent" to be groomed in the NBDL. I love college ball and I hope to someday work D1.

That is wayyyyyyy more than anybody needs to know about me. But thanks for asking

Chuck