By William R. Smith
						1) A state or condition permitting clear perception or understanding. 2) To concentrate attention or effort.
			ZZZWhat’s the proper mindset for an official? Is it total concentration, staring straight at an unobstructed view of the play, ready to make the call as everything slows down and fractions of seconds seem like full minutes? Sounds like that official is focused! Too bad he’s the side judge on a football crew and he’s looking at a fumble by the quarterback who was sacked for a 10-yard loss. Oh, and by the way, there’s a receiver down on the field two yards away in the opposite direction clutching his knee. What happened? ZZZOfficials’ jobs are hard enough, given a multitude of rules to remember, extensive mechanics to perfect, diversity of personalities with which to interact and the challenge of judgment calls that they’re faced with every time they walk onto the field or court. Combine those job characteristics with the pressure of a game situation, and the most focused officials face a difficult task. Regardless of how good you are at what you do, your performance will be diminished if you are not able to maintain your concentration during a game. We have all had to battle to stay into a one-sided blowout or a meaningless contest and that is sometimes a daunting task.