RULES, MECHANICS, TECHNIQUES:

BASEBALL
Master ‘Pause, Read and React’: Take Extra Time and Get Tough Outfield Plays Right; Interference by Runners Can Happen Anywhere; Slide Rule Clarified; Five Minutes With … Darrel Mason

SOFTBALL
The Heat of the Moment: Situation Management Key to Your Success; Help Your Struggling Partner; Chalk Talk: Two Umpires: Rundown at First Base; ASA Clinics Scheduled

SOCCER
What if the Referee Misses the Flag? Teamwork is Essential to ‘Flag Down’ the Referee; The Dark Side of Delays; The ‘Ins and Outs’ of Touch; Hall Named MLS Referee of the Year

BASKETBALL
Hold, Grab, Bump and Grind: Recognize and Penalize Those Dance Moves in the Post; Get Time on Your Side; Chalk Talk: Three-Person NFHS and NCAA Women: Center Positioning on Free Throws; Five Minutes With … Kevin Merkle

FOOTBALL
Size Up the Situation: Preparation, Observation Equal Great Coverage; Did You Know?; Point of Emphasis; ‘Five Will Get You One’; Five Minutes With … Steve Shaw

FEATURES:

Analyze This
Welcome to self-assessment in the digital age. Officials everywhere are finding out that there may be no more powerful learning experience currently available than to evaluate themselves on video. After all, you don’t really know what habits you have until you see yourself exposed nakedly on the screen.

Double Duty
You could call Rick Hartzell a man of two minds — and that’s not such a bad thing. The veteran NCAA Division I men’s basketball referee sees the game from two points of view because during his day job he’s the athletic director of Division I school Northern Iowa. It’s not easy to succeed in both worlds, but Hartzell straddles the line.

The Sinking Feeling
Sometimes what seemed like a great call when you made it doesn’t look nearly so good after you’ve replayed it in your mind two dozen times. And it sure doesn’t help when every other person at the game seems to have seen something you didn’t.

Basic Training
Bad language has been on the athletic fields as long as athletes have. But is it something to be tolerated? Or should it be thrown out all together?

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS:

Publisher’s Memo
California ‘Big Wave’ Riding

The Gag Rule
In Support of the Hall

The News
Basketball Loses Two: Art McDonald, Ed Middleton Both Die Last Fall; NBA Referees Start ‘T’he Season: Behavior Emphasis Leads to More Technical Fouls

Back to Basics
Pick Up Your Game in the Offseason; Keep Your Cool Before ‘Big Games’; Do You Want to Improve?

Tools
NFHS Wrestling Methods Course; Cliff Keen Microfiber Jacket; NFHS Baseball Simplified & Illustrated 2007; NFHS Baseball Rules By Topic 2007

Getting It Right
Officials Meet Their Number-One Fan; Official Helps Recruiting Drive; A Long, Long Walk for Charity

Law
Keep Your Distance From Spectators; A Response Can Lead to Violence; Dash a Disruptive Fan’s Dreams

Profiles
A Road Warrior; Capturing Memories; Closing a Chapter

Classifieds
Camps/Clinics/Schools; Equipment/Apparel; Computer Software; Miscellaneous; Cyberspace

Last Call
I Know That Guy: “The same guy I’ve worked hundreds of games with … was now a celebrity.”