Not wanting to brag, but if you are a member, dont forget to go over there and read my article from today.

Man, (no pun intended...) are you young. But, that's the way to get started. I didn't get into officiating until I was over 30, and looking back I wish I had started earlier.

Keeping a journal is a great idea - it'll keep you focused on what to improve on as the season(s) progress. And, don't ever get too discouraged to just quit. Maybe you'll get to a certain level, and just stay there even though you think you're good enough to move up. But, don't forget to enjoy where you are.

I dont know if I am aloud to do that.

:) I dont know if I am aloud to discuss that matter either. :)

That's some mug! :D

For Pete's sake, it is allowed, not aloud. I hope people aren't paying to see these gaps in the English language.

Edit: fixed my shift key. LOL

[Edited by JugglingReferee on May 12th, 2005 at 09:50 PM]

Maybe he meant he wasn't allowed to discuss it aloud. ;)

Not fer nuthin, and it aint just you B, but how is it that every writer for officiating.com submits a police mug shot for their photo?

All you folks have a police record??

I am very close to joining!! However, I wish they had a two-year membership.

Yeah :(.

Nah it is in the requirements. You have to have a close-up picture to go along with your biography.

For Pete's sake, it's Pete's, not pete's. :D

Yeah but why use a photo from when you were a kid? :)

Just because you've been posting since before he was born is no reason to start taking shots at him! :p

Hmmm, Idk??

Hmmmm, I guess I need to start looking a little harder!! Found what I was looking for! :) <img src="http://www.illinoishighschoolsports.com/ubb/graemlins/pat.gif"><img src="http://www.illinoishighschoolsports.com/ubb/graemlins/pat.gif">

The hell it ain't!! :D

Tis, tis, tis, the trouble old people like to put this young generation in. :-p

brandan89,

Sorry but I can't read your article. How old are you? I just finished high school and I've been refereeing throughout it all. So I guess I'm young too, sort of. I've also kept a journal of every game I've ever done. My assignor said he did it when he started, so now I do it. I just started my third notebook.

It's pretty nice, every day I go out to work - if you can call officiating work - I try to think of something I want to improve on, and I put some emphasis on that one point the entire day. Then in my journal I can keep a log of what I've worked on, what I need to work on, what evaluators have said about me, and about the partners I've worked with. It's great. I assume your journal is somewhat the same?

Nice article Brandan. Kudos for landing the writing job as well. I didn't know that states allowed high school students to officiate the interscholastic games. Here in VA, you have to be 18 to do interscholastic games. It is good that people get to start officiating at a young age. Keep working hard, and I look forward to reading the next one.

Nice article. And yes.... I finally broke down an became a member! :) The only problem is, I've got so much catching up to do -- wow there are so many great articles!

Because none of his shots hit the rim!

tjones1,

What did you buy with your $50 Officiating.com product instant coupon?

And does anyone know if the videos are better than the CDs?

And which topics are the best?

Is it worth it? Should I take the plunge too?

Ummm I got a post game bag, 101 ways to ruin a baseball game and Working the Bases / Working the Plate. Can't wait to dig into them. Plus, I'm reading everything I can on the Baseball and Basketball section of the paid site. Great stuff.

So far so good! I would recommend joining. Certainly a lot of good reading material, in my opinion.

I have enjoyed the DVDs much more than the CDs. The CDs look like they're "burned" rather than stamped or pressed or whatever it is they do with normal mass-produced CDs. So I have a hard time playing the CDs in my car.

Maybe I'll rip 'em to MP3s when I get some time and go that route.

Gaps? Or gaffes? :D

Excellent first article, Brandan. I look forward to reading more.

Back in the Saddle

I have enjoyed the DVDs much more than the CDs. The CDs look like they're "burned" rather than stamped or pressed or whatever it is they do with normal mass-produced CDs. So I have a hard time playing the CDs in my car.


Do the DVDs and videos just show the person talking or is there something "extra' you don't get with the CD?

I'm now in my 3rd day of my 2-year membership and I just can't get enough. I've been sitting here reading for about 2 hours now! If you haven't joined.... you're certainly missing out on some great thoughts! :)

I'm not so sure that's much of a bargain. :p

Like Cinder-Reffa? Timeless, indeed!!

Indeed!! :) BTW: "Five minutes to a Better Three Seconds" was a very nice article!

How about three seconds to a better three seconds? Here you go: Don't call three seconds unless the kid is lying down and asleep in the lane. :)

And even then, if there's a cute cheerleader anywhere in the gym, allow yourself to be distracted and 'lose your count.'

Ha Ha... good point. Actually if I recall correctly, I don't think I had a 3-seconds call this year -- well, maybe 1, just to be safe.

Gaffes would work too. Gap was used to show that something was missing - such as knowing which word to use.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ChuckElias

Quote:

How about three seconds to a better three seconds? Here you go: Don't call three seconds unless the kid is lying down and asleep in the lane. :)

My favorite response:

Coach: Three seconds, Ref.

Ref: If he doesn't have a lounge chair and suntan lotion, I'm not calling it.

Oh, I thought this article was about something else. Whoops, my bad, carry on.

OOOOOOHHHHH!!!! The shameless plugs of one's own writing skills!! :p

It depends on the DVD. Most of these are recordings of talks given at camps, it looks like. Sometimes the DVD will show some Powerpoint slides or chalkboard drawings that you can't get on the CD. Dave Libby's three-whistle DVD takes you out onto the court and shows some stuff. But some are just talk talk talk, and thus are equivalent to the CD.

It had international appeal! ;)

Yup, that's me. The international expert from haven countries, Oregon!! Sheez...

Another article by.... you guessed it, me is on there. :)

Good article! I had exactly the same thing happen to me, but it happened about 3 years into my budding career. I guess the good thing was it happened during a rec league game in the summer, so I didn't have to make that decision about whether to do the next game or not. And, in my case, I was backpedaling and tripped over the center line. (Just goes to show that painted lines have a thickness!!) I didn't think anything of it as well, and even did the following game that evening. I really noticed the pain in the middle of the night and had it checked out the next morning. Needless to say, lesson learned. In your case, you're already three years ahead of me! :)

And another nice job! I enjoyed it as well.

no, no, Brandan. If you're going to be a heavyweight on this website (which you're very quickly becoming), then you need to use the appropriate idioms. You should word it like this:

Another article by... wait for it... me is on there. :)


See?

Which your article is tommrow . :)