Good article on Violet Palmer in this morning's USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baske...7-palmer_x.htm

BBall_Junkie will be along in 3 or 4 hours to post the exact same article. :D

Good article.

The part that surprised me though, was the fact the standard schedule for an NBA ref is 10-11 games per month. I know many officials that do 10-11 games per WEEK. Ok, granted, the JV/varsity doubleheaders aren't the same as doing two NBA games. But even a lot of the "big-time" D-1 officials are doing 75-90 games a season.

I know they also watch tapes of their games, do their own analysis, travel farther, etc., so it's not quite the same comparison. And I'm not saying it in a negative way, just that I found it interesting. Was anyone else aware of that kind of schedule?

I was aware of their schedule. I think they are only allowed to work about 3 games a week. I guess there could always be exceptions but I heard they could only work 3 games at the most. We happen to have several guys in different associations trying to chase that dream of becoming an NBA Official. They also used to have an Official's Appreciation Night at the United Center and Ed Rush (Supervisor of Officials at the time) and he went into great detail about their training system and what they expect of their officials at that level.

Peace

WTF?
 

This was only posted once today? What is this world coming to when a good article is only posted ONCE! OMG!!!

As long as we're talking NBA officials, did y'all see that newbie on Opening night in San Antonio. Think his name was Zach Zarba. Age 30. Young gun. He didn't blow his whistle for the first 5 minutes or so, but once he warmed up, seemed to do OK.

W&S, I noticed that too. I found it interesting tha he did not blow his whistle in the beginning.

Isn't it amazing how once you get one the rest don't seem to be a problem at all whether it's a violation or a foul. I am sure it will take me awhile in my first game this year to get warmed up... unless I am R and administer the jump ball! Then I will get that first whistle out of the way!

Guys like Zach know the hardest thing to do in this racket is to NOT blow the whistle.

A lot of guys would find something...ANYTHING! to put air in their fox40.

Not the good ones though.

Zach's not a newbie. He actually got called up last season. I saw him here in Boston last year. Good official, good guy. He came up through the USBL and NBDL.

Referee Spotlight: Zach Zarba
NBA experience: One season, currently in his 2nd NBA season
Born: April 29, 1975 (New York)
Resides: Brooklyn, NY
HS: Midwood High School (Brooklyn, NY)
College: SUNY New Paltz '97

More Information
Officiated 54 regular season games during his rookie season.
Officiated in the NBDL for two years, including the 2003 NBDL Finals
Officiated in the IBL for two years and the CBA for one year
Three years of collegiate officiating experience in the ACC, SEC, Colonial, ASUN, OVC and NEC Conferences
Three years of high school officiating experience in New York
Youngest member of the NBA officiating crew
Played collegiate basketball at SUNY New Paltz for three years, was named captain his senior season.
Does public and community service work for EBC High School in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Great article, I'm impressed. She must have had a hard time getting up to NBA level. To bad we don't have more womens officiating really, I don't think we have a single women referee around here (what I know). There were a women who officiated in the olympics though, she took the womens final. How is it in the US? Perhaps even have some female referees here.

There's an old saying that could be applied here: "Kissing a girl is like opening a jar of olives. The first one is hard to get, but the rest come easy." (and, please, no comments on whether you prefer them green or ripe!)