RULES, MECHANICS, TECHNIQUES:

Basketball
A Close Look at Closely Guarded: When Do You Start and Stop the Count?; Mechanics Foul-Ups: Just Keep Going; Trail: Don't Get Ahead of the Ball; Five Minutes With ... Judy Schneider

Baseball
Time to Circle the Wagons: Four Scenarios Sure to Cause Grief; Fly Balls: Who's Going Where and When?; Leave the Past in the Past; Got It Covered; Five Minutes With ...Gerry Davis

Softball
A Question of Balance: Infield Fly Rule Benefits Both Teams; Request Denied? The ASA Appeal Process; Infield Fly Signals; Five Minutes With ... Ralph Swearngin

Soccer
You Curse, You're Gone! NCAA Adopts Zero-Tolerance Language Policy; Two-Ref System: Capitalizing on the Strengths, Minimizing the Weaknesses; Small Stuff, Big Stuff; Timeout Signal

Football
Extra Points Mean Extra Knowledge: Try Downs Involve Special Rules; Timing is Everything; Chalk Talk: Five Officials: Kick Try Goes Awry; Signals Used on Trys

FEATURES:

The 17 Essential Books of the Well-Read Official
They're not your rulebooks, casebooks or manuals – those are givens. We investigated the other books that speak volumes about the officiating experience. And we picked out the 17 best. Agree? Disagree? Let us know.

In the Know?
What's your plan for game-readiness? How much should you know about teams and players before working their games? Does too much information affect objectivity? Does too little information make you unprepared? Look at the pros and cons of both sides of that issue here.

The Chosen Ones
What does it take to get to the pros? Easy answer: hard work and commitment. Better answer: Read this article and discover the secrets of how the officiating departments of the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball scout, recruit and develop their officials.

Basic Training: Right Words, Wrong Time
Constructive criticism is great. You learn something about yourself and your officiating can improve. That same criticism delivered during a game by one of your partners is not. We dive into when and how to deal with in-game critiques.

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS:

Publisher’s Memo
Book Learnin'

In Black and White
The Right Mindset From the Ice

The News
NFL Officials Go to Playoffs in Crews; College Football Officials Form National Alliance; America's Pastime

Back to Basics
It's Better to Be a Diplomat Than a Despot

Law
Will Courts Overturn a Referee's Decision?

Getting It Right
Motivate Yourself!

Tools
Ken Aston's Port-a-Pitch; Evaluating Officiating Performance; Booking Agent; AsktheRef.com CD-ROM; Jaksa/Roder Baseball Rules Course

For the Record
NCAA basketball tournament officials, WUSA roster

Classifieds
Camps/Clinics; Books, Manuals, Cassettes; Equipment/Apparel; Nutrition; Computer Software; Cyberspace

Last Call
The Sounds of Silence