Sport-Specific Articles
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Take a Number
What's in a number? You'd be surprised how some NFL officials wound up with their uniform numbers, and the history behind those identifying digits.
On...
No Substitute for Awareness
There is more to know than just foul or violation. Commonly astute officials might have heard once to have an awareness to what type...
Veteran Approach
As we prepare for each season, we study rules and interpretations, casebooks and officiating manuals, and attend preseason clinics and meetings. And once the season starts, we usually have...
Police the Pile
How does the runner usually react when he’s been tackled? The norm in college and pro football is that runners lay patiently after they...
Double Check Score After Unusual Situation
Communication between the referees and the scoring crew is crucial to ensure accuracy of the score and the information recorded on the scoresheet. Double...
First Base Barricade
Obstruction is a common occurrence in softball. It happens most often at home plate as catchers try to prevent a runner from scoring. However,...
Seeing Is Believing
No matter what umpiring mechanics are being used in a particular game — whether it’s a single umpire working a youth baseball game or...
Zeroed In
One of the biggest challenges in officiating is how to be completely locked in mentally for the entire game. It is of upmost importance...
Slot Machine
The most important job in a game, and often the most difficult, is calling an accurate strike zone. In order to be accurate, you...
Leap Into the New Year
At its recent annual council meeting in Oklahoma City, USA Softball voted to adopt several new rule changes for the 2022 season. The most...
No Happy Accidents
Last summer, I was working the bases as part of a two-person crew when it became apparent the defensive team was thinking about making...
All Eyes Are On You
There are close plays all over a baseball field and in every game. Half-steppers at first base. Fingertips on stolen base attempts. Pitches at...
Travel vs. Fumble — Which is It?
There are times when a player who has control of the ball unintentionally drops it from his or her hands — a fumble —...
Career Suicide Can Be a Killer
Officiating is unlike many endeavors in that hard work, diligent study and the right temperament are not guarantees to success.
Conversely, there are several...
Get in the Groove with Your Partner
There is nothing like throwing a perfect game as a pitcher or calling the perfect game as a referee. Just like in baseball and...
Chasing Higher-Level Games
When I was eight years old, my cousin and I always looked forward to the circus coming to town. The troupe would have a...
Coordination, Communication Key to Measurements
One of the oldest sports clichés is that football is “a game of inches.” When a measurement is involved, it might be a fraction...
Be Careful Using Other Sports to Explain Softball Rules
No-calls are common to officiating in all sports. Sometimes it’s advantageous to use examples from other sports to explain softball rules and plays. Unfortunately,...
Touchline Tackle
There is a lot happening in this play requiring the referee and near assistant referee to work together. The location on the field near...
Catcher You Later
By Jon Bible
A long-standing topic of debate in baseball circles is how we should relate to catchers. There are several schools of thought.
I’ve heard...
Onfield Meetings – Short, Simple & Complete
Much has been written and said about the importance of perception in officiating. Image is everything, as the saying goes and that is true not only of...
Set the Table
For years, we’ve never really acknowledged the importance of the scorer as an integral part of a volleyball officiating crew. It seems there has...
How to Keep Your Head From Spinning
The athletic spin move is often one that players, coaches and fans love to see during a game and also one that makes officials...
Before The Flag
No one likes to see a lot of flags thrown. They interrupt the flow of the game and can seem to make it drag...
