RULES, MECHANICS, TECHNIQUES:

Basketball
Picking on Screens: Screening, Or is It Blocking?; NCAA Men’s Update: Team Control Fouls; The Basics for Beginners; Got It Covered; Five Minutes With … Lisa Mattingly

Baseball
What’s the Catch? Rules Regarding Catch or No Catch; When Fielders Play Hide and Seek; The Three Facets of Proper Positioning; Five Minutes With … John Magnusson

Softball
Practice Perfect Pivots: Getting From First to Third Requires Hustle; The Hazards of Umpiring Youth Softball Games; The ‘Hold Up’ Signal; Five Minutes With … Larry Babcock

Soccer
It’s OK to Have Tunnel Vision: Keeping an Eye on Tunneling Fouls; Dangerous Play — Against One’s Self?; Make Your Pregame a Meeting of the Minds; Starting the Game

Football
It’s Fourth and Inches! Handling Goalline and Short-Yardage Situations; Then and Now; Chalk Talk: Pinch and Move!; Five Minutes With … Rom Gilbert

FEATURES:

Make the Call
It’s not enough to be able to make good decisions, officials must be decisive — and that means making the calls with speed, confidence and a full understanding of the correctness of your calls. Learn how to be a more decisive official here.

‘If I Knew Then …’
Experience might be the great teacher, but you can get a good head start on it by taking the advice of seven top officials who each reflect on the question, “What do you know now that you wish someone had told you when you were starting out?”

2002: Year in Review
From labor issues to instant replay, to hirings, firings, good news and controversies, 2002 had them all. Reflect on the year that was through our roundup of the officiating world’s top stories.

Basic Training: When It’s a Blowout
Although it’s sometimes tough to stay focused when one team is clearly destroying its opponent, you must keep alert for the common traits of blowouts that could easily lead you to lose control of the contest.

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS:

Publisher’s Memo
A Case of Mistaken Identity

In Black and White
A Positive Word Can Go a Long Way

The News
NFL Suspends Overweight Official; All-Female Crew Calls NAIA Men’s Game; Despite the Fall, the Call is White Ball!

Back to Basics
Injured? Your Best Bet Could Be Sitting Out

Profiles
Mariconda Takes Olympic Journey

Getting It Right
Hero Ump Saves Little Girl

Tools
You Be the Boxing Judge, JustPlay, CCA Baseball Umpires Manual 2003; Rules Study CD-ROMs

Law
A New Trend in Defamation Lawsuits

For the Record
CBA roster

Classifieds
Camps/Clinics; Books, Manuals, Cassettes; Equipment/Apparel; Computer Software; Officiating Scholarships

Last Call
Hard Rain is Gonna Fall