Personalities
Home Personalities
Profiles and stories about officials and people close to officiating.
Frank DeFord, Longtime Supporter of Sports Officials, Dies At 78
We at Referee magazine and the National Association of Sports Officials are much saddened by the passing of Frank DeFord. Frank received accolades, honors...
John Wooden: An Interview
You might wonder why a magazine for sports officials interviewed a coach, even one as legendary as John Wooden.
Through our decades of experience,...
Home Bruns
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tiger Woods and Randy Bruns have more in common than you might expect. All three have been to the pinnacle of their...
FONZY
By Dan Ronan
major League Baseball umpire Alfonso Márquez was driving April 21, 2005, to an early season game in Tampa, Fla., when he got...
Kelly Dine Covers All The Bases
The year 2020 was, well, not a great one for many people.
But at least Kelly Elliott Dine had wonderful memories of 2019 to comfort...
“I’ll Never Forget”: Officiating Legends Recall Their Most Memorable Game
It is June 14, 1998, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Chicago Bulls are playing the Utah Jazz in Game 6...
Former MLB Umpire Larry Young Brings Training to the World
Larry Young retired as an MLB umpire at the close of the 2007 season, bringing down the curtain on a career that spanned 24...
Back From The Blindside
Veteran football official Robert Watts
was recently elected president of the Austin (Texas) Football Officials Association (AFOA). It is all part of moving on with...
It’s Black and White
H
ave you ever wondered why officials wear black and white stripes? In the early days of football, referees wore white dress shirts, bow ties...
Soldier on After Tragedy
Ten-year-old Chris Stover wanted to be a soccer official, but the rules said he had to be 11. The assigner “felt sorry for him...
Focus on the Future: Joan Powell
Joan Powell sees the scene, and in it, she sees something more.
Volleyball courts, yes … they’re there, as far as the eye can see....
Referee Gets Creative to Fight Cancer
Lou Levine always teased one of his friends about his friend’s thick nest of black hair. Before the start of the basketball season a...
Chance Encounters of the Life-Changing Kind
Today, Jim Reynolds is one of MLB’s most accomplished umpires. His resume includes 16 postseason assignments, including two World Series, plus two All-Star games.
But...
5 Minutes with J.D. Collins
Hometown: Hartford City, Ind.
Experience: NCAA national coordinator of men’s basketball officiating; former coordinator of officials for the Mid-American Conference and Summit League; former consultant...
Ability, Not Disability
will Fried, a basketball official in the Wichita, Kan., area, recently earned a degree in conflict analysis and resolution, which on the surface makes...
At Home — with Referee Staffers
Just because the COVID-19 pandemic has put a temporary halt to work at Referee’s physical offices hasn’t meant a stop to the work of...
One and Nearly Done
G
was both excited and nervous as I took the field for my first high school
game in late summer 2014. It was my third year...
Dale Scott Redemption
Half sleep-walking through darkness to the refrigerator in his Santo Domingo apartment in the dead of night in January 1986, all Dale Scott wanted...
Silent Stands Teach Us A Valuable Lesson
The 2020 New Mexico Activities Association (NMAA) State Basketball Championships were able to conclude last March, crowning 10 boys’ and girls’ state champions. The...
NHL Referee Finds Success as Elite Amateur Golfer
At 7:18 on the morning of June 14, Garrett Rank stood on the 10th tee at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Long Island, preparing...
Gold Whistle Award Winner: UMPS CARE — Helping People is an Easy Call
It is often said every dark cloud has a silver lining. Good things come from the darkest places sometimes. In 1999, one of the...
Iowa Wrestling Community Helps Official Get to Championships
In Iowa, wrestling is practically a family affair, almost a religion.
It’s a place where every kid with a little ability and a steely attitude...
Fighting The Pandemic With Skills Learned As a Referee
As a member of the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), I had the privilege of working the Women’s World Cup in France in 2019. Being...
Yellow Flags to Checkered
In 2005, Dick Kitchens, from the Gold Leaf Football Officials Association in Tifton, Ga., gave then-17-year-old Jeremiah Thalheimer of Tifton a shot at working...
