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Profiles and stories about officials and people close to officiating.
Going to War with Joe Crawford
NBA fans’ character sketch of Joe Crawford has been drawn in indelible ink. They long ago dismissed him as that referee with a centimeter...
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...
Art McNally: Zebra Chief
Zebra Chief. That’s the name of the boat presented to Art McNally honoring him for decades of service to the National Football League. Paid...
June Courteau: A Lasting Legacy in Women’s Basketball Officiating
A well-read woman with an insatiable desire to cram yet more knowledge into her mind was sitting poolside at an Aruba timeshare dwelling in the summer of 2015. Simply reading doesn’t...
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...
Kari Seitz: The Most Decorated Referee in U.S. Soccer History
With an unmatched resumé of soccer officiating accomplishments, Kari Seitz retired as the most decorated international referee in U.S. Soccer history. From a young...
Barry Mano: Interview from Referee’s 25th Anniversary Issue
“We’ve learned ... Hitting people over the head with a two-by-four doesn’t do anything but knock them out, and then they wake up and...
Bob Delaney: From Undercover Cop to NBA Referee
You’re used to seeing 14-year NBA veteran Bob Delaney on the court with Shaq or the Mailman. But long before his officiating career ever...
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,...
Jim Garman: The Best Umpire in College Baseball
Relying on faith and family, Jim Garman has found success throughout his life. In umpiring, he has 50 NCAA postseason assignments, including eight trips...
Carl Cheffers: A Family Man
To Carl Cheffers, officiating has always been a family affair.
From being introduced to the avocation by his father, who had an impressive career as...
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...
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...
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...
6 Transcendent Moments for Sports Officials
For some of us, officiating is a vocation, for others it is an avocation. For almost all of us, however, it is a passion that offers feelings of...
Ron Foxcroft: The Official Behind the Whistle
When people in officiating circles hear the name Ron Foxcroft, they think of the man who developed the Fox 40 whistle. Comparatively few realize...
Two Right Hands Too Late: Lew Eskin and the Willie Classen Tragedy
November 23,1979 — Referee Lew Eskin stops the fight seconds into the tenth round. Middleweight Willie Classen has heard his last bell.
It was March...
Skokie to the Super Bowl: Jerry Markbreit
Walking Away
Jerry Markbreit doesn't know what he's going to do next.
He does know that when the 1998 NFL football season ends, he'll walk off...
Harry Wendelstedt: He Touched All the Bases
One would be hard-pressed to find a position in professional umpiring that Harry Wendelstedt hasn't held. After a colorful, workhorse-like career and a laundry...
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...
Robert Watts: 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...
Marc Of Distinction
He used to sit anonymously in the Silverado High School bleachers in Las Vegas during the mid-2000s, a bookish, kind man who could easily...
FIFA Referee Mark Geiger
By his own proud admission, the man is a nerd. Conjure images of that wisp of a kid you remember from high school who...
Ron Garretson: A Life in Officiating
With the ‘Godfather of NBA officials’ as his father, Ron Garretson learned from one of the best in the business. Then he made a...