Check out the link on gerrydavis.com: (below is the information next to the book)

http://www.gerrydavis.com/mm5/category/Basketball_Officials/product/H71REWOL1

Like I’ve done for the past seven summers, I did attend one basketball officials camp this summer in River Falls, Wisconsin (a good experience), and was hired into a new college conference, the UMAC, and added to the roster of another conference, the MIAC. I worked some games in a MIAC summer league on Sunday nights, including a couple of games last night. Had one outburst from a dad after my partner called a charge on a 50-50 play. “Call it both ways” predictably came out of his mouth. Ah, you can never get enough of one of the “Ten senseless sayings from Parents Row” that is highlighted in my book, “BasketCases: How Youth Basketball Parents Can Lower Their Blood Pressure and Keep Their Sanity.”

I wanted to share some lessons and insights I learned at Officiate Minnesota, a gathering of officials from Minnesota (all sports) in conjunction with the NASO (National Association of Sports Officials) annual conference held in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago (the last time the NASO conference was in the Twin Cities was 28 years ago). More than 1,000 officials from Minnesota spent a warm summer day inside learning about officiating (we’re a crazy group). The theme of the event was “Educating, Celebrating and Recognizing Sports Officials.”

The day started with “The 23 Most Powerful Lessons in Officiating,” a session by Bill Topp, Vice President of Referee Magazine. Bill did a great job talking about issues that affect officials across the country. I higlighted a couple of “lessons” that resonated with me:

* Eighty percent of the job is managing people (you need superior communication skills to succeed)
* This business is seldom fair (some officials receive certain state tournament assignments based on race, gender or geography, get over it and do the best you can — if you are good enough, you will get noticed)
* The hallmark of officiating is being impartial, not neutral (neutral is like Switzerland in WWI and WWII, the Swiss didn’t get involved; being impartial is not caring who wins, but being involved in the action as an official)
* There is no score at the start of the game (don’t come into a game holding a grudge against anyone)
* Impersonations won’t work (if you aren’t a good employer or a good person, chances are you won’t be a good official)
* Fair-minded, accountable, decisive: skills for a lifetime (skills needed in officiating translate to success in other areas of your life)

Following Bill’s presentation, I watched NBA referee Pat Fraher and college official John Yorkovich lead a session that studied a DVD of basketball calls made at the state tournament. Pat is a friend of mine who has worked in the NBA for about eight seasons. He worked three NBA playoff games last year. Yorky, another friend, is regarded by many as one of the best collegiate officials in Minnesota. He works in the Big Ten and several other Division I conferences.

The first call that was reviewed was a 50/50 block-charge call. We were asked to watch the call in live speed and make a decision. Nor surprisingly, the audience was split: half thought it was a charge; half thought it was a block (I got that one right). It was called a block in the game, but it should have been called a charge. Yorky and Pat said the two reasons officials get calls wrong are: officials are not in the right spot or not looking at the right thing. That’s an interesting take because at the River Falls camp, MIAC and UMAC assignor George Drouches said officials get calls wrong because: they are moving or are too close (all four reasons are correct). Pat also said its important for officials to beat the players to THE spot, not a spot. He also made a good point about ants and elephants. There are smaller players (ants) and elephants (bigger players). It’s important to know the difference and focus on the elephants. It was a good session to study DVD, which doesn’t lie. Yorky encouraged officials to watch as much videotape or DVDs of their games as possible to improve their skills.

I attended a breakout session ”Career Development: Advancement and Challenges” led by one of my bosses, Roy Ward, a supervisor for the Northern Sun, and Jon Lucivansky, a longtime football and basketball official from Wisconsin, who will work his second season in the NFL this fall. Perhaps the most poignant comment came from Roy who said that 3-person officiating “has hurt us all.” He was explaining that because officials don’t have to run as much in three-person officiating that many officials don’t keep themselves in as good of shape as they should. Jon mentioned that in his effort to make it to the NFL, officiating took a toll on his health, job and family life. Jon said it took many years, but he now has found more balance in his life.

Jon mentioned that football is all about concentration and basketball is all about reaction. He also gave some tips about advancing to the next level:
* Make sure people know you are interested in moving up (but don’t bug them too much)
* You need officiating advocates to help you get to the next level
* Find a mentor and listen to what they have to say
* How well do you mind the store? (make sure to take care of your business as an official)
* When the spotlight shines, do you make the right call? (during the last two minutes of the game)
* It’s all about getting better
* Evaluate yourself

Roy noted that when he was an official, he kept a diary about different plays that helped him improve. Another point he mentioned was what kind of person are you? Are you the kind of person with whom other officials want to ride in a car three or four hours one-way to a game?

Following a luncheon that honored some distinguished officials with storied careers, I attended a workshop by one official who was honored, Steve Makowske, a veteran basketball official who I worked my first Northern Sun Men’s game with a few years ago, and Vicki Davis, a former official who observes officials in the Big Ten and the WNBA.

Vicki had the best line of the session: “I always found the ones who yell the loudest know the least.” Amen, Vicki. Steve and Vicki talked about perception, attitude and communication, the art of officiating. Steve did a great job of going through his pregame speech with coaches, which prevents a bunch of problems.

Officiate Minnesota closed with a humorous presentation by retired NFL referee Jerry Markbreit, the only NFL referee “white hat” to work four Super Bowls. Jerry told numerous funny stories from his days in the NFL and told a moving story how he developed a special relationship with a young man who has cerebral palsy that he remains friends with today. Jerry’s message was to “do something” to make help someone out who needs it.

All in all, a great day to learn about officiating and take pride in the role we play as officials. As the saying goes, “without officials, It’s only a scrimmage.” Thanks to all who planned and executed such a meaningful event.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4977305

I have traded some e-mails with Shand and sent him a copy of BasketCases to lift his spirits. Perhaps I should send a copy to Johnson as well, but Johnson isn’t getting his copy for free. He needs to pay for the book and for his crimes to Shand. Of course, I assume that Johnson will plea bargain to lesser charges, but I certainly would like to see jail time for this assault. Although Shand was actually protecting referees at the time, he wasn’t working in the capacity as a sports official, so I doubt that more severe charges could be applied, per Minnesota’s state law that raises the stakes in an assault against a sports official.

Read more about this story on StarTribune.com from the link below: 

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/87466352.html?elr=KArksUUUU

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/84528892.html

That afternoon I worked my three regularly scheduled games for a program through Augsburg College. The program provides an opportunity for high school kids (not on their school teams) to play basketball with other kids in their Lutheran church youth groups.

I got home for an hour to see my family before heading to Target Center for my first Minnesota Timberwolves game of the season. Kenny Mauer, my friend who wrote the foreword for BasketCases, was officiating the Wolves-Thunder game along with Tommy Nunez, Jr. and David Guthrie. Kenny secured tickets for a group of us to attend the game, and we went out after the game in downtown Minneapolis. (By the way, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant is the real deal. He scored 30 points. I think it was the 28th game in which he scored 25 or more points. Incredible.)

At the end of the night, the subject turned to the ugly assault in Burnsville in which a parent and, perhaps, another individual or two, assaulted a youth commissioner following an in-house, sixth-grade boys’ basketball game. Joining Kenny and I in this discussion was Frank White, a legendary Minnesota basketball official who was elected to the Minnesota State High School League’s Sports Hall of Fame and speaks across the country about sportsmanship issues. We spent so much time talking about the problems, we didn’t have a chance to address the solutions. Some of the problems include:

* Officials who try and maximize revenue by working eight or 10 games per day for one or more assignors. These officials stop calling fouls because they need to get across town and work at another gymnasium.
* Lazy assignors who allow their officials to work more than five games in a day and don’t make that extra phone call. When I was younger, I worked eight (and one time) nine games a day. Looking back, it was wrong. Perhaps I still had the energy to officiate better than most referees working three games, but by the end of the day my mind was mentally drained, which isn’t fair to to your partner or the players or spectators.
* Uneducated parents who yell at their owns kids, opposing players, their coaches and the officials. Remember that in some instances that verbal abuse leads to physical abuse.
* School administrators who don’t control the spectators at their home games. Is it right to allow a group of students to react to an official’s call by saying “bullsh_t, bullsh_t” at the same taxpayer-supported institution that during the day they are subject to rules in school? I don’t think so. What if a math teacher told a group of students to open their textbooks to page 43, and the students react with the same cheer. I assume, or at least hope, that the behavior would not be tolerated and the students would be severely disciplined and likely suspended. The same behavior can’t be “suspend-able” during the day in class and ignored/tolerated at night in the gymnasium.
*  Youth tournament directors who add pressure by telling the officials (or the assignor or both) to keep the games on time with a wink, wink. In other words, swallow your whistle and put kids at risk to maintain convenience for the fans and tournament sponsors.
* Governing bodies or officials associations who don’t help their officials improve through observation/training/feedback, but simply have a required meeting at the beginning of the year to go over logistics and pay scale.
* The obsession of winning in this country, and what that does to normally rational human beings. What is it about sports? If you don’t like a note that came out of the trombone section during a concert, would you as a parent start screaming at your son or daughter for screwing up? Would the conductor? Of course not. So, why do we accept that behavior as commonplace at our sporting events?
* Coaches who are so obsessed with winning at the elementary level that they press all the time instead of truly developing basketball skills. It’s that mortgage-the-future attitude to win at the youth level which prevents basketball from rising to a higher level.

At the end of the night, we concluded youth sports are plagued by numerous issues that are not easily solved. We adjourned and decided to come up with solutions another night.

Here is a link to Shooter’s column on Thursday that mentions BasketCases:

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_14422393?nclick_check=1

I have received numerous calls and e-mails about my radio appearances on Tuesday. Thanks to everyone who reached out to me. I wanted to share a kind e-mail from a fellow basketball official, Andy Louis from Faribault, MN, who I began talking with earlier this summer as he picked up a copy of BasketCases. Andy wrote:

“The interview on KFAN was excellent. I was able to listen to the whole thing (before my game). Two minutes into the varsity game one coach doesn’t agree with an out-of-bounds call. Instead of saying her piece and moving on, she disagreed for two minutes until my partner finally Td her up. Perfect example of what you said on KFAN. If you are a coach and disagree with a call, say your piece and move on. Most BasketCases cannot. Keep up the great work, Derek. You are a great ambassador to all officials dealing with BasketCases.”

Andy, a heartfelt thanks to very kind e-mail. Enjoy the rest of the season, my friend.

One other thing I want to mention. KFAN’s Dan Barriero asked me how I deal with people who question my calls. I said on the radio that my preferred method is to out think them, which usually leaves them tongue-tied. I had a great men’s league basketball game tonight. I think the scored was 90-88 in overtime (those games are usually in the 50s or 60s). But there was one question that came up late in the game. A player wanted a minor bump called as a foul. I had just called the same player for a hand check on the other end because with two hands he was preventing a player from proceeding on a direct route to the basket. When he questioned my call, I said “I agree with you that it was a minor bump, but there was no advantage and you weren’t going anywhere. On the other end, the guy had a clear path to Main Street. You were driving down Country Road G with nowhere to go.”

The player didn’t say anything after that. Have a good night, all.

In case you missed the Dan Barriero interview, go to this link (It is the second on for 2/16: Note its roughly a half-hour interview that starts about the 13:00 mark):

http://www.kfan.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=KFAN_Barreiro.xml

Here is a link to the WCCO interview, which was only a few minutes.

http://www.wccoradio.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4394436

Here is a link to the Patrick Reusse interview

http://pcast.am1500.com/ST021610-2.mp3

And one more thing. I had to ref a B/Varsity girls basketball combo tonight. Seems like an easy assignment, right? Four minutes into the first game, we had one of many (and I mean many) jump balls. During that play, one of the players didn’t like getting landed on by another player. She responded by kicking her in the buns. Not real hard, but certainly enough to warrant a technical foul. You never know what you are going to expect when you walk onto the basketball court as a referee. 

First of all, every youth basketball official should thank Jeff Shand and people like him. If you have officiated youth basketball, a parent, coach or tournament director has protected you from abusive parents or coaches after a game. If it hasn’t happened to you, you haven’t worked long enough. I have been in the same situation multiple times, and, fortunately, it never escalated to physical violence.

I want to comment on a few aspects of this story:
* Perspective — This was an in-house sixth grade game. I understand every game I officiate is the most important game that is played that day to the players, coaches and spectators. That being said, it’s sixth-grade in-house basketball for crying out loud. 

* Timing irregularities — The story notes that the parents were upset about issues with the clock in overtime. At most youth games or tournaments, the clock and score book are run by volunteers, often reluctantly plucked from the crowd just prior to the game. Many aren’t trained, and even if they were, clock issues happen. Guess what? They happen in Division II as well, particularly with the shot clock. It’s part of the game. As officials, we try to “manage” it as best as possible based on the information that we know.

* I feel bad for Burnsville — All it takes is one idiot to brand a community in a negative light. It’s embarrassing for the community and for youth basketball in general. Apparently the father lived in Minneapolis, but I’m not sure that matters in this situation. It was still an in-house program, so Burnsville is going to take some heat for this, whether they deserve it or not.  I spoke to the parents of the Burnsville girls’ basketball traveling program before the season started. I covered rules, sportsmanship and my book BasketCases. The parents at that meeting were very receptive and asked good questions.

* Sixth grade — I mention in BasketCases that sixth grade is the hardest to officiate. I truly believe this. The less-talented the players are, the more difficult it is to officiate. Couple that with an obvious transition between fifth and sixth grade in which players, coaches, and especially parents, become noticeably more competitive, and that particular age is the worst to officiate.

* Who is guilty? — Look around, look in the mirror. Why are there so many issues in youth sports? It’s because this country is absolutely obsessed with winning. We are all guilty of fostering an environment of winning. Remember 20 years ago when “professionals” from other countries defeated the Americans in the Olympics? What did we do? We abandoned our values of having amateurs compete in the Olympics and created the 1992 Dream Team that featured Jordan, Barkley, Bird, Malone, Magic, etc. Why was the Miracle on Ice the most compelling sports story of my lifetime? Because amateurs defeated professionals.

I play “baseball” in my basement with my four-year-old son almost every day. I make sure to “win” the game approximately once every four times. I want to teach him how to lose, which isn’t easy for him. He has an occasional meltdown, but I would rather have that in private with me in the basement than with neighbor kids in the yard. When I come home from reffing, he wants to know which team won. He’s only four and he’s already picked up from me my focus on having my “teams” win.

* Circle of Dysfunction — As I note in BasketCases, there are deep issues with the three primary groups involved with youth basketball: officials, coaches and parents.

Officials — There is way too high of a percentage of officials who don’t hustle, don’t care, don’t know the rules, try to maximize their revenue, aren’t properly trained, think they are big shots when they put on a uniform, have inflated egos and are abusive to coaches and parents who often ask them a simple question. I’ve worked with plenty of them. Remember, the majority of officials working youth basketball try their best to be accurate and consistent, but many officials are a big part of the problem.

Coaches — There are plenty of coaches who mortgage the future development of their players to win at all costs at a younger age. For example, they will press like crazy until they no longer can by rule. The coaches think they are geniuses until they run into a team that is bigger and stronger. And then they get destroyed by an opponent because they don’t know how to run a set offense since they score all their points of turnovers caused by pressing. Too many coaches scream at their kids or the referees and totally lose sight of their primary responsibility — to coach. A small percentage lack any sense of sportsmanship and don’t know when to “call of the dogs.”

Parents — Wow. Where should I begin?. Don Henderson, the athletic director at Triton High School in Dodge Center who has won two state football championships, perhaps said best a couple of weeks ago when he told me that basketball parents are by far the worst when it comes to over inflating their knowledge of the rules. “Anybody who has thrown a ball at a peach basket thinks he or she is an expert on all the rules,” he told me. “It’s by far the worst in basketball. I’m glad I coach football. The parents are far back and I can’t hear them most of the time anyway because I have a head set on.” Not knowing and understanding the rules (and more importantly how game officials apply them) when they think they do is just one problem with parents. Other issues: overvaluing the talent of their own children, becoming too emotionally invested in the outcome of a junior high game, yelling at players, coaches and officials despite the fact that they are annoying every parent on their own team and completely oblivious to it, coaching from the sidline, putting too much pressure on their kids, cutting down their children’s teammates in front of them, doing everything ethical or not to try and give their own kid an advantage, etc.

Here is where the Circle of Dysfunction comes into play. Many parents and coaches don’t like the officiating at the youth basketball level, even though many parents and coaches don’t know the rules (but think they do). Those parents are often verbally abusive and, in rare cases, physically abusive to officials. Those officials decide “Why in the world would I do this?” (Including many high school and college officials, by the way), so they quit officiating youth basketball. Which brings on new officials who don’t know the rules because they aren’t properly trained. Those officials generally start at the youngest ages where they can’t do too much harm. The officials make incorrect calls, which the parents assume are correct, which leads to the bigger rules issue. This Circle of Dysfunction does not end.

I can’t ref every game. I can’t speak to every parent group. I can’t take back a bad call that I make or one of my partners make. The only think I can do is to teach parents and coaches how to enjoy the youth basketball experience by educating them about rules, sportsmanship and how game officials apply black and white rules to gray situations. So, if you know a youth basketball parent, coach or an official who hasn’t read BasketCases yet, please get them a copy and help lower their blood pressure. The Jeff Shands of the world and all the officials will thank you.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/preps/84380007.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUac8HEaDiaMDCinchO7DU