Building A Schedule
At first blush you might be asking yourself just what this topic has to do with the art of being an official. It has plenty to do with it. Having a good schedule means almost as much to the official as life itself. At first he struggles to just get enough games to fill his schedule. Of course, there is that competitive spirit which pushes him to work more games than the other officials he knows. Once he has a few full-schedule years under his belt, he begins to get picky about which games he accepts. Now another competitive urge takes hold. That of getting the "good" assignments.
__The manner in which you proceed through these stages will be indicative of your own dignity. There area number of things that you should not do when building a schedule. Some of them are quite difficult to avoid, but it will be better for you, in the long haul, to do just that. First, don’t be pushy with the folks that mete out the assignments. Sometimes you can lean on a man for an extra assignment, but the bad taste left in his mouth will not help you later. There are artful ways of letting him know you are available ". . . on every day of the week ending in y," as Roger McCann put it. Once you fill out the availability sheet or send in your closed dates, drop the matter. This will be one of the hardest things for you to do as long as you are an official. It always seems that the assigners don’t give one damn about how long the official has to wait, on pins and needles, for next season’s games.
__Once in a while you walk onto the field of play and a coach come s up jabbering about some dates he has set aside just for you, for next year. The "class" way to handle this is to simply tell him to jot them down and mail them to you the next day. Or suggest that he phone you during the week. Under no circumstances should you engage in a discussion about future assignments prior to a game. Again, this is a toughy since your immediate reaction is to get those games asap. Keep in mind that if the coach really wants you on those games, he will follow up with a call or letter.
__Have you ever put yourself in a position that an on looker would view as begging for assignments? Nothing can be more demeaning to you and the officiating profession in general than being perceived in this light. All sports officials are worth so much more than that. When building a schedule, if you conduct yourself in a first class manner you will come away with a higher opinion of yourself. In turn this will affect how you carry yourself on the field or court. Make no mistake about it, players, coaches, and fans feel the presence of an official who handles himself this way. All in all, your job will become easier and more enjoyable.

Working Together
In his book Modern Sports Officiating Bill Thompson states, "Building sound relationships with fellow officials, players, coaches, and spectators while under the fire of intense athletic rivalry calls for an artist’s touch." Often little thought is given to your relationship with your partner(s). It is especially important to get to know each other prior to the contest if you haven’t worked together before. When you first meet in the locker room, don’t start blowing smoke about all the big games you’ve worked or about how you’re being "scouted" by the pros. The best approach is to sit back, relax, and let the other official enter into the conversation. If you are much the junior official, pay a bit of deference to your partner. Sure he might look a little paunchy and his pants are short. But don’t ever forget that some assign ment-maker probably put him on the game to steady your nerves. In addition he has most likely worked more tough games in this season than you have in your entire career.
__If the assignment doesn’t list your slot, offer the top one to your partner. For example, in basketball ask your partner if he wants to be the referee tonight. Naturally you would like the honor yourself, but you can help things jell between you by doing this. During the game tell him when he makes a good call. Small things, yes, but powerful goodwill builders.

On The Job
You became an official to officiate. This means you are charged with the responsibility to manage the game within the prescribed set of rules.
__In the words of Richard Nixon, this is a "fundamentally true statement." But as with all of these there is much left unsaid. Any contest officiated literally by the rules would be uninteresting to the spectators and more so for the players. The diversity of human athletic endeavors boggles the mind. There can be no set of written rules, which completely governs a sporting contest. Human activity necessitates human judgements as to what is permissible. Enter the artist.
__The official as artist is the one who takes the gray areas of question and paints them decisively black or white, while making the interested parties buy the painting with little dialogue. He sells that painting by his very presence and obvious command of the situation. How can some officials do this while others would have to babble on about the technical merits of the work?
__The artists recognize what the game and the participants are intended to do. You need to have considered just what the game is about. Irv Brown puts it this way: "If the coach thinks you don’t look like you’ve been in a jock strap, I guarantee you’re in for a long night". You have to exhibit some savvy about the game. You aren’t being hired to be officious, overbearing, authoritarian, or a tough guy. You are being hired to enforce the rules, tempered with reason. That is a great word. You should be a reasonable person when officiating. When a testy situation arises quickly ask yourself how you would handle it out on the street. Develop techniques to achieve your goal without having to invoke your total dominance.
__When you are watching games on the tube or as a spectator in the gym, don’t worry so much about the judgement calls being made. Pay attention to how the officials are dealing with the many minor irritants that crop up in every game. Especially when you are watching televised games, note how the top-notch officials smoothly get their jobs done. There is a great deal at stake in these games, be they college or pro, yet the officials keep things under control more often than not. They seem to be able to talk players and coaches into being more reasonable. They don’t get ruff led, red in the face, nervous, or lose their temper. They give the impression that "they’ve been here before."
__Players and coaches respond very well to this type of treatment. But it is not easy to do. Under pressure the scientific official falls back on invoking the rules. He makes it immediately known that he knows the rule and that’s that. The artist, all the while knowing the rule, concerns himself with psychological aspects of the occurrence. He thinks, "How can I get this guy back into the box and still hold his respect?" He realizes that since he carries the final authority in the matter, he may as well try to work it out and reserve the hammer for when it is absolutely necessary.

Self Portrait
There are very few people who think sports officiating is easy, or an enviable avocation. The most commonly asked question offered to officials is: "Why do you do it?" Do you know why you do it?
__The preliminary results of Referee’s Reader Survey indicate that money is not a primary reason. Mainly officials do what they do because of the love of the game, the chance to stay in shape, and the association with young people. Of course you could have these things and still not officiate. We need to look further.
__Personality studies have pointed out that as a group, officials exhibit a larger degree of dominance characteristics than the general populace. They like to be in charge. Once center stage, they enjoy having to make decisions under pressure. Additionally they are very goal conscious and strong willed. All this must seem obvious to you.
__What is the significance of all this? These traits don’t give the person the propensity to be humble. How many officiating associates do you know that would be classified as humble? Being humble is the exact opposite of being arrogant. The arrogant official might be more visible but the one with a dash of humility will be more respected.
__In conclusion, you might want to keep the following humbling thoughts in mind. If you have a solid schedule, give at least some of the credit to the officials who came before you and the ones who were nice enough to work with you. Don’t forget to credit the "breaks" side of the ledger as well. When mingling with fellow officials who haven’t advanced as fast and far as you have, why not let them talk of their hopes and aspirations? In turn, downplay how "great" your schedule is and, in fact, don’t even broach the subject.
__Don’t think for a moment that there aren’t plenty of other officials who could do as well as, if not better than, you. Many of sport’s top officials readily admit that these officials exist. They count themselves darn lucky to be where they are. Jim Tunney, the top NFL official, recently responded to Referee’s invitation to be interviewed this way:
__"Of course I will donate the time and energies necessary into making this a good article for your magazine. I guess there are some so selected that demand interview fees but I don’t happen to be in that league."
__Imagine, the man who has refereed two Super Bowls, etc., commenting that he isn’t in "that league". We can all learn from the humility of officials like Jim Tunney. He, along with many others, represents the true artist in sports officiating.

The Art of Being an Official