Who is your favorite ref or refs? It doesn't have to be recent or anything. The forum is running really slow so I just thought I would throw it out there.

I don't care whether it is an idol from your assosciation all the way up to the NBA. Everyone who officiates is fair game.

I will start off and I have a couple:

NBA: Sean Corbin for his professionalism, Zach Zarba for his age and his look, and Mike Callahan for his demeanor and height (I believe he is about 6' and that is how tall I am)

NCAA: I of course have quite a few in... you guessed it... the SEC. My mentor who I love is Jeff Smith an OVC official and a dang good official.

By the way keep your eyes out for two young guys by the names Marat Kogut and Kane Fitzgerald, they are on the up and up. You will probably see them in the SEC but not for long they will be working in the NBA I would have to say within 10 years.

I will avoid the obvious choices that everyone knows. There is a guy out west by the name of Mike McWilliams. For whatever reason he didn't get his break, which has and will happen to a lot of deserving officials. This guy is a natural. Ability does not always get you on TV but AAR and Nevadaref will probably be able to back me up and say this guy is good.

There is a guy in our assosciation by the name of Shannon Cain who is a very good HighSchool and College Official. I've been to his games every time he has been around here and I was off. My first game he was my partner and we took my under his wings and I look up to him for that.

[Edited by brandan89 on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 02:32 AM]

NBA: Sean Corbin for his professionalism, Zach Zarba for his age and his look, and Mike Callahan for his demeanor and height (I believe he is about 6' and that is how tall I am)


I will second Sean Corbin (nothing wrong with Zarba or Callahan). I watch the officials during NBA games and I always enjoy watching games he officiates. Hope to see him in a Finals game.

RefTN

I agree with you, Marat is a good official, & he is also a good guy. We are in the same JUCO conference.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by brianp134

Quote:

RefTN I agree with you, Marat is a good official, & he is also a good guy. We are in the same JUCO conference.

He's also a decent magician ;)

My favorite ref is Dan. He's the only one who ever buys me Diet Cokes.

And my favorite ref is Chuck. He's the only one that doesn't ask for a double shot of Jack with his diet coke.

There's only one guy I'd rate above Earl Strom - Mendy Rudolph. He was the absolute poster boy for an NBA ref. His demeanor on the court just shouted professionalism.

In his book, Strom indicates Sid Borgia was the best ever, but I never saw him work.

I'd probably rate myself third. :rolleyes:

NBA: Dan Crawford, Mark Davis (HS alums), Joe Crawford, and Steve Jaffe.

College: Ed Hightower, Ted Valentine

Up and Comers: Kevin Dillard (awesome feel for the game, great flow and judgement)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dan_ref

Quote:

Originally posted by brianp134 Quote: RefTN I agree with you, Marat is a good official, & he is also a good guy. We are in the same JUCO conference. He's also a decent magician ;)

Yes he is.

I saw all three of them in action. All great officials but I gotta agree with you about Rudolph being the best. He certainly was the most respected official of his era.

The difference between Rudolph and Borgia? When fans got on Rudolph, he used a little move where he'd kinda face them and wipe the sweat off of his forehead, with the middle finger sticking out of the wiping hand. When fans got on Borgia, he'd just turn around and tell them to "f**k off". I'm not sure which move I liked better.

My own, personal favorite official in the NBA was, and is, a guy called Manny Sokol. Worked back in the 70's and early 80's. Not one of the top officials at all, but he was as funny as hell to watch. He literally threw himself into every call. Didn't matter how routine the call was, Manny was gonna sell it big time. Imagine a punch-drunk ex-pug trying to referee a game while little birdies were flying by his head--that was Manny.

NBA - Matt Boland. I don't watch the NBA, but we're both alums of the same high school.

NCAA - My favorites to work with were always Reggie Greenwood (who has one of the best on-court personalities ever) and Donnie Gray (with whom I worked last summer), both of whom live in the D.C. area.

On the women's side, one of my favorite to watch/work with is Bryan Burnette. Great crisp mechanics, his calls seem to be perfect, and he never draws attention to himself. (When a game is going to h***, the coaches usually are screaming at his partners, but say nothing to him.)

NBA: Strom, Bavetta, Corbin.

NCAA: Foxcroft, Honig. The other obvious choices too.

NFL: Hochuli. He really is the only choice. And everyone knows it.

NHL: Scapinello. As far as linesmen go, he re-wrote the book. I'd put him in the top 3 officials of all time, for any sport.

MLB: Don't know alot of these guys.

I remember Sokol. You are absolutely correct about his demeanor on the court. He was great fun to watch. I always thought of him as kind of a pudgy Daffy Duck.

BTW - how could I leave the Immortal Dave off the list? I guess this last lobotomy isn't taking hold.

Got that right. I didn't even think to expand outside of basketball.

I remember Sokol. You are absolutely correct about his demeanor on the court. He was great fun to watch. I always thought of him as <font color = red>kind of a pudgy Daffy Duck</font>.

[/B][/QUOTE]Luv it. That might just be the most accurate description of Manny refereeing as possible. :D

On second thought, an even better description of Manny might be that he was the spittin' image of Hector on the old Tweetybird cartoons.

http://www.everwonder.com/david/tweety/t4.gif

A nervous Hector.

[Edited by Jurassic Referee on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 02:55 PM]

I got the opportunity to go down to the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions last weekend and work. I talked to Marat on the phone in registering to work the event and I met both Marat and Kane at the tournament. I would agree that they are good dudes and definitely are destined for officiating success. As for my two cents on the thread:

NBA: Dan Crawford
NCAA: Joe Lindsay (one word-calm), Doug Shows, Mike Stuart, Lisa Mattingly, Tina Napier
MLB: Sam Holbrook, Randy Marsh
NFL: Hochuli (the best in the league, period)

My favorite
 

NBA: Dick Bavetta, Joe Crawford & Zach Zarba. Sometimes, Violet Palmer, she's great.

Hey, the Ohio Valley was mentioned... don't hear much news from the OVC. I am currently attending an OVC school. Nice to see some of the OVC officials mentioned.

Aren't they the same person??? :confused:

Hey! I bought you a diet coke AND clam chowder! Doesn't that count for anything??:D

DJ, I made that post almost a year ago!! Before the chowdah. :) You are now tied with Dan for my favorite official. Besides, Dan hasn't bought me any drinks in almost 2 years now. :mad:

And who the dexter is digging up all these old threads, anyway?!?!

Chuck - when did you move? I noticed the slight change in your "location".

And, more importantly - do you have pictures from your neighborhood?

Ahhhh Rock, you can't buy love.

See?

Sadly, my location will revert to its "normal" status tomorrow. :(

Chuck, are you on a cruise or did you fly down? I'm going on a Southern Caribbean cruise at the beginning of June and I can't wait.

http://images.sportsline.com/u/photo...img8262708.jpg

Blane Reichelt. :)

When I visual Chuck, I see Blane Reichelt, although Blane is much taller. :D

$.02 worth .............................
 

My favorite official in the NBA would be the official who would have the stones to call traveling on the superstars on a regular basis.

"King" LeBron should pack luggage on his last two scoring forays last night.



Doug

But Chuck has more hair.

Cruised. Key West, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Cozumel was a pit, and I don't think it was all due to hurricane damage.

Wow, I did Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel before. I have no desire to go to Grand Cayman again, but I had fun in Cozumel. What cruise line are you on? We did our first two on Carnival, but our last one was on Royal Caribbean and that is what we are going on this time.

Grand Cayman can be great depending on the reason you go. The landscape is not particularly interesting nor is the beach all that spectacular...I wouldn't know about the nightlife since that's not my thing). But, if you're into scuba diving, WOW! It is absolutely unbelieveable....escpecially on the east end of the island (away from the cruise port). It's one of the top places in the world for that. My wife and I spent a week there in 2003...half in Georgetown and half in East End. We much preferred the latter. It was relaxing, quiet, few people, great service, and amazing diving....except for the day tropical storm Bill decided to kick up the seas...nothing like climbing aboard a 40' boat in 12 ft. seas while wearing scuba gear.

Would you recommend Royal Carribbean over Carnival?

Well, to be fair, the only part of Cozumel that I saw was the "shopping district" right at the port area. We walked about a mile along the main drag of town and it was just ugly and every door had a shopkeeper saying "Come in, best prices. Don't you want low prices?" Ugh. Never again. Plus, the place still hasn't fully recovered from last year's hurricane season. It was only the second time since the hurricane that our ship had been back to Cozumel. So it wasn't pretty at all.

Disney. We had my daughter and my sister has two boys, so we did a Disney cruise. Loved it. In addition to the "normal" ports of call, we had a day on "Castaway Cay", which is Disney's private island in the Bahamas. It was a great time, and I'd definitely recommend it for anyone with kids. In fact, we met a couple who regularly cruise Disney even tho they have no kids yet. Kind of funny.

Mike Carey is right up there IMO.

Just to bring back an old thread... both Marat and Kane just made the League this year.

Nice...love when old threads like this appear...especially to share fun news like that. Obviously refTN has a good eye.

I thought it was funny that 4 years earlier it was predicted and they both arrived together...