The IrREFutable Magazine 7 Dec 2021

AN OFFICIALS PERSPECTIVE December 2021

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isn’t one road down this referee journey. The only way to embark on this crusade is to embrace the landmines and potholes.

You are guaranteed to encounter countless hiccups that will force you into hands over face shoulder bopping cry.

The IrREFutable Magazine was designed with those stories in mind. We wanted raw referee stories, human stories beyond the playing field. Our goal is to highlight officials aligned with our core values: empathy, compassion, an entrepreneurial spirit, and the freedom to create something that can impact other people’s lives. Each of these stories speaks to our faith in the future, and I’m excited to share them with you. Please keep your eyes on The IrREFutable Magazine in the coming year for other signs of resilience and renewal because whatever changes 2021 may hold, one thing remains constant, our dedication to this field we share.

Sleepy

“You either walk inside your story and own it, or you stand outside and hustle for your worthiness.”

-Brené Brown

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On the Cover

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December 2021

What’s inside

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Matters Of My Mind A Conversation with Dr. Maggie Tieman

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Reopening

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Nothing Says A Referee Over 50 Like A Paper Map

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It’s a Stretch

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Holiday Blues

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Comics & More Comics Also on pages 11, 12, 15, 17-19, 29 & 35

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Issue 72 Staff

Kevin Sparrrock

Art Director

Kevin Sparrock

Photography & Illustrations Editorial Contribution Asha P. Sparrock This publication took a lot of time and effort to put together so please respect it! Nothing in this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the editorial team.

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Basketball Rules in One WITH AL BATTISTA

Tony Brown Please click on the link below to read Tony’s story and Join the fight against pancreatic cancer in support of Tony Brown. https://www.nbra.net/tonys-fight/

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MATTERS OF MY MIND A conversation with Dr. Maggie Tieman

By Kevin Sparrock A presentation at an N.C.A.A. preseason meeting helped change my approach to coach/partner relationships. After taking the human behavior test of Dr. Maggie Tiemen’s Mindset Matters, I was paralyzed with its accuracy. She designed a system that categorizes Human Behavior into four models. Dominant, Cautious, Inspiring, and Supportive style personality traits, ‘D.I.S.C.’ The DISC model is based on the fact that most people have predictable patterns of behavior. The first pattern reflects whether a person is more OUTGOING or RESERVED. The second pattern reflects whether a person is more TASK-ORIENTED or PEOPLE-ORIENTED. Through a list of approximately 20 questions, I discovered I have a SUPPORTIVE personality style.

The test says I tend to naturally express sincerity and concern for others. My strength is your ability to sense emotions and create a supportive environment for others. The test also says to build better relationships, I need to speak freely. I need to say what’s on my mind.

In other words, I need to tell coaches, “This is what I saw, and I saw what I saw.” Depending on the personality trait I am interacting with, I need to respond with less base and a little sweetener on top.

Dr. Maggie Tieman’s officiating career began in Connecticut. Her high school officiating career didn’t last very long before moving into the Division 3 ranks. Thanks to Doc Ed Meyer, supervisor of the Ivy League, in 2009, Maggie got her Division 1 break. Dr. Tieman is Sport and Performance Psychology Professional, N.C.A.A. Women’s Basketball Referee, F.I.B.A. Referee, professor, nutrition specialist, and certified strength and conditioning coach.

It was a blessing to chat with this decorated University of Vermont softball alum before the season’s opening to discuss the Mindset Matters initiative.

What was your major in college? What interested you?

Dr. Maggie Tieman: I went to the University of Vermont and majored in physical and health education. I should say, my first passion was being an orthopedic surgeon.

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9 Image By Kevin Sparrock

But then I kind of got going and did some shadowing in hospitals, and I was like, I don’t know if I want to dedicate six or seven years of my life to this, and teaching and coaching was always a passion. I related to my teacher and coach, who was my role model in high school. She coached all three sports all four seasons. She was just my everything. Like anybody would have a teenage role model as a teacher, Karissa Niehoff was that it, and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. I was going to be a teacher and a coach and try to make the impact that she had on us all. Karissa Niehoff is now the executive director of the National Federation of High Schools in Connecticut.

What was that problem that you saw in officiating that started your company? Or was it in officiating?

Dr. Maggie Tieman: It wasn’t in officiating at all. It had to do with coaching, and I coached field hockey for 15 years when I was teaching high school.

It always stumped me that I would have a group of student-athletes who were allstate players accepting scholarships to Division I universities one year, yet we would lose in the first round of the tournament. In other years, our team would be made up of players who simply loved to play the game; several went on to play at DIII schools, and we won two state titles. When we won the 2014 state title, I remember that we were playing a team whom we had lost two-three times in previous championships.

As a bystander, you would see their team, all color-coordinated, top-of-the-line uniforms, and warm-up gear, and then shift your eyes to our side of the field and see players with hoodies, hats, gloves, and certainly not matching! Yet that team dominated the game and shut out the defending state champions. At the time, I was halfway through my doctorate, so that was some of the reason why. Those were teams that didn’t have any studs. So, it was frustrating for me as a stats person and a very procedural style person. How can I have phenomenal teams, and they can’t win? I’ll have an average team, and they run the table and win a state championship? For myself, there’s got to be something that I’m missing. Maybe it was the mental aspect I was missing because we were repeatedly drilling.

Flip back to when I was little. I was a gymnast from age three until my freshman year of high school. All I did was go into a gym from 2:30 in the afternoon until eight o’clock at night. Routine after routine. Every single moment of a practice schedule was written down for every bit of drill. I realized that it really didn’t have much to do with physical skill. We need that too, of course, but it had to do with the mental reps that I never knew how to do. So that’s what created that impetus to go get my doctorate.

‘See the whole play.’ ...Frame four is when that foul occurs. In that frame, some kind of contact happens where now I have to make a decision

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It’s 2013, and I started my doctorate. I taught, coached, and refereed simultaneously and started getting some Division 1 assignments. When I was a Division 3 referee, there was that saying, ‘you don’t know what you don’t know. They call it a rookie effect. When you’re a rookie. Everything is positive. It’s a happy experience. If you make a mistake, somebody just chalks it up to being young. So as my schooling progressed, I recognized that people’s human behavior is predictable. And once again, I was reading about it in school, but my operational brain, like I need someone to tell me the steps to change or adapt.

Let me give you a referee example. I kept hearing this phrase at camp “see the whole play.” I knew what the term meant, but I could not put it into action on the floor. I would work a game and have whistles that just didn’t fit and received the same feedback, “try to see the whole play.” Given my natural procedural brain, the issue that I was having was that this feedback is quite global or big-picture in nature. That feedback style is the opposite of what works best for me personally. Several camps later, I had a clinician whose brain processed similar to mine. He shared the “Five Frames of Officiating.” Like step one is the beginning of a play. Step two and Step three. Well, that makes sense to me.

Talk more about that.

Dr. Maggie Tieman: So, if I go five frames of officiating, it’s my procedural way of saying, ‘See the whole play.’ Frame one and frame two are the beginning and the development of a play. Frame three is when kids start to mingle, and you have to decide whether it’s illegal or incidental. Frame four is when that foul occurs. In that frame, some kind of contact happens where now I have to make a decision. Then the last frame is where I will gather from the situation to make an appropriate decision? On a block/charge play, somebody’s legs get taken out from underneath them. On a simple out-of-bounds play. Everybody starts running back the other way. We gather infor-

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mation from a scenario. To me, that is an operational version of ‘See the whole play.’

I’m not so sure that comment would have been so irritating to you just based on your Supportive Style big picture brain. To me, it was the most highly annoying sentence, and it just kept eating away at me. I had to figure out the steps to make that work.

So going back to behavior-wise, I was being the same person in basketball, and it wasn’t going over so well because of my task-oriented, very outgoing, normal nature.

It had worked for me as a teacher, and it worked for me as a coach, but the refereeing environment was very different in reception, perceptions, and intention. I had never been in an environment that had challenged me to adjust who I was so that I could work better with others.

So let me put my psychologist hat on now. For you, relationships are, I don’t want to say easy, but they come more naturally in terms of, ‘Hey, how are you doing, Maggie?’ How’s your day going?’ To someone more of a dominant or cautious style individual regarding that DISC report, asking somebody how they are or how their day is may not be the first thing on their list. It’s terrible to say that because we all have beating hearts, but we get into a locker room as a Dominant or Cautious style person, and we want to take our clothes out of our bag, and we want to get going with our pregame routine. We want to make sure everybody is in order versus taking 30 seconds to say, ‘Hey, how was your trip in?’

How do you decipher these different levels? For example, I’ve worked with Maggie before, and I know she wants to get to the point. She wants to get it going.

She wants to lay her uniform out, and she wants to pregame. But I’m that guy who wants to start with a friend. ‘Hey, how’s it going? How are things going with you?’ But if I’m working with newer referees, I want to know more about you. I want to hear your life story, your family’s story, and what you’ve been through in your life. It gives me comfort knowing who you are because it can assist me

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I may say something in pregame that could be misconstrued as an interruption, when conversations with you. But I also think it allows the other person to say, I can open and have a conversation with this person.

Dr. Maggie Tieman: Wow, that’s a huge relational style, people-oriented perspective.

Thank goodness there are people like yourself who are willing to do that in the same respect, especially in just relationships where we have to work with various people, whether it’s basketball or any kind of job-related teamwork. We often will negatively perceive someone if they don’t receive that information, as we would have expected.

So, let’s play it out. You and I meet for the first time. We’re in the locker room, as you just shared with yourself. Hey, Maggie, how are you doing? How is your trip in?

Let me ask you some personal questions. Now here’s Maggie as the dominant style person. I’m just getting in. I’m going to my locker room. I want to take my clothes out.

I don’t have time to have a dissertation. I’m like, why are you bothering me with all of these are bubble thoughts. So now the first time we ever met. I’m like, “Can this guy stop asking me questions?” And you’re on the other side thinking, “Why is she such a pain in the butt?”

If you’re giving your pregame, I may say something in pregame that could be misconstrued as an interruption, but I ask or say it because you’re so much better, and I want to learn from you. Oh boy. You being a Supportive Style, you’re not going to get super mad at me, and you’re probably not going to recognize that.

But your ‘Inspiring’ style people, holy god, both legs will get chopped out from underneath me. That interruption may be received differently from a Supportive style than from a referee who is an Inspiring or a Dominant style. As a Dominant style referee, I need to recognize if my referee is an Inspiring style and refrain from interrupting.

This gets to the heart of utilizing the DISC to create better partnerships and ultimately better working relationships on the court. There are times when we work well with people, refereeing, or life in general. We have all had those friends whom we simply gel with. That happens on the basketball court too. But what do we do in times where that “gel” feeling just isn’t happening? It may be because our personal style is not being received by our partner in the way we intended. They will probably say, ‘Well, if you know everything, then you referee the rest of the game by yourself.’ I had interactions like that, which doesn’t make sense to me.

That’s why I started to do a pathway of behavioral science in behavioral studies.

There must be a predictable pattern for humans. It’s not right all the time, but it’s a pretty good guideline. Maybe I can answer two questions to drive your thought process to have better information about someone else. You can then start to adjust whether you’re going to be more outgoing, rev up your motor, and be a little bit more excited, or are you going to flip over and be a little bit more procedural versus relational.

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I am a Supportive style, and one of the things it was written down was that I, ‘Do what is right. I have to convince myself that being honest by speaking up is important to maintain peace. I think there’s some honesty that I avoid. I don’t avoid it for not doing the right thing. I avoid it, so I don’t create conflict.

Dr. Maggie Tieman: You like to keep level water. The choppy seas are something that a Supportive Style person is going to shy away from. If the Supportive Style person would say something that might be taken the wrong way by one person. You know what? Let me just hold off and see where this is going to go, and then time happens, and then the moment passes, and you’re like, OK, everything’s cool. Everything’s calm.

I’m trying to keep the peace, but in someone else’s brain, they’re saying, he’s so indecisive, he can’t figure this out.

Dr. Maggie Tieman: Right. And I’m saying, I know he’s got the information, and I know he’s got a lot in his brain right now. Why is he just being so shy? Why is he being so reserved? Why is he being so antisocial?

From my perspective, sometimes, I just want to hear what you have to say.

What’s your perception of what you hear? For example, when I see block/charge plays, I ask why you think this is a block? And someone will say because they’re in a legal guarding position. I will respond by saying, let’s go over the rule. Let’s talk through the rule because explaining the rule helps us all be better. Through this Mindset Matters Personality test, I realized that when I ask those types of questions, sometimes people may say, ‘Well, he really doesn’t have an opinion, and he’s indecisive.’ In my brain, I’m trying to honor their opinion and be graceful in their decision-making because what you have to offer is important to me.

How long did it take to create this? Or was it a platform that you had already seen, and you expounded from it?How long did it take to create this? Or was it a platform that you had already seen, and you expounded from it?

Dr. Maggie Tieman: The DISC behavioral analysis is like a Myers-Briggs. It’s been around for a long time. Tons of research has been done. You can’t put anything out there when it comes to behavioral or personality styles without a whole lot of research. When I started looking at behavior patterns, Myers-Briggs was the predominant and comfortable one for everybody. But for me, it wasn’t easy enough. I could not remember my letters in Myers- Brigg’s study even though I have a doctorate in this subject. For me, this was too flipping hard. I tried to find different tools to understand it myself. I start with the DISC tool. When I was teaching it, the DISC is

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The Dominant style coach wants control

a universal language that can be used with teenagers through adults; in athletics, business, education, health care, law enforcement and so on. The common factor is us. Humans. Wherever there is a situation or environment where people must communicate, function, perform, the DISC can help those involved reach their greatest potential.

I need to use this on the basketball court because I struggle with relationships. My husband, Mike, tried to share some things to work with coaches and communicate with them on the basketball court. I would try some of the things that he would suggest, and my relationships got worse. Mike’s suggestions were great; however, because we have different styles of communication, what worked for him did not work well for me.

I had some of the same problems.

Dr. Maggie Tieman: Let’s look at some coaching styles and how they may fit into our DISC model. When I work with groups or individuals, we learn three words associated with each style, which keeps it simple and user-friendly.

Dominant Style: Challenge, Choice, Control Inspiring: Recognition, Approval, Popularity Cautions: Quality Answers, Value, Excellence, Supportive: Appreciation, Security, Assurance

The Dominant style coach wants control, which means they want to look you in the eye because they want to beat you. For a totally different reason, the Inspiring Style coach wants to look you in the eye because they love approachability and human interaction. If you think about the nature of what our coaches typically are, if they fall into those two categories, well, eye contact will be number one for both, for very different reasons. Eye contact works so well because most of our

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coaches tend to be that behavior style. For example, if I see that one coach is more reserved, less animated, and very organized, I may start with the thought of “C-style.”

If the coach is more animated, enthusiastic, and outgoing, I may start with the thought of “I-Style.”

When I’m standing on the court, I don’t know this coach for the first time or meet a new partner, I ask myself a few questions. Is that person more outgoing? Is their motor revving like a Ferrari, or is their motor more like a Ford? Nothing wrong with a Ford, but clearly, the engine is going to be a little bit less amped up. The first thing I can tell is through body language. If I see a coach talking with their teammates or their assistant coaches and using their hands and facial expressions animated, I can probably guess that they’re more of an outgoing coach. If everything is lined up on the scorer’s table, like the pieces of gum on the sideline. Sometimes, there is that piece of paper with all of the officials’ names on it.

Question number two, is this person more task-oriented or more relational or people-oriented? Task-oriented people are very procedural, very sticky notes. They have sticky notes all over the place. I like to get a schedule. I want to have things done.

Someone who is more people-oriented. Well, it says it right in the name. It’s just relational. They like recognition and approval, or they like teamwork or harmony. If I can answer those two questions quickly, I can probably have a good idea of what quadrant they fit in. Then I can go to my little cheat sheets. For example, one coach is very reserved, almost like a cheerleader. He’s always very positive with his kids. I know he will probably be somewhere in that critical, Cautious, ‘C’ style or Supportive.

When we can narrow down styles by watching how a person interacts and communicates, we can have a better chance of adjusting our own style to work best with theirs.

From my above example, if I think this coach is more of a C-style person, I can make sure I provide quality answers (only when asked) and know they value excellence and precision. If I felt that the coach was more of an I-style, then I know they would be more outgoing and enthusiastic with their communication. Therefore I may need to take that into consideration when they ask a question in a more loud tone when compared to a C-style coach.

Automatically I have taken away two different types of guesswork. I don’t have to turn my Dominant or Inspiring brain on. I have to go to details, excellence, precision, teamwork, harmony, and support. Those are keywords that go along with Cautious and Supportive styles. So, I gave to turn down the motor of my Dominant Style, Challenge, Choice, and Control, and that’s because this coach talks much softer, and he’s much more of a, let’s figure this out together coach. I’m not going to run right over there and start talking. I’m going to go over, and I’m going to say, ‘Oh boy. That look on your face. Usually, you don’t have many facial expressions, but right now, that one is looking like I’ve done something very wrong. Tell me what that is.’

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What about the coach that is always amped up. I can’t tell when they are upset.

How do you manage that type of personality?

Dr. Maggie Tieman: When you share the words “amped up,” my first thought is an inspiring style coach. This style of a person is naturally outgoing, enthusiastic, and talkative. This, however, can be misinterpreted as loud, restless, or even impulsive. If this style of coach makes a referee uneasy, understanding the I-style is the first step to creating a better working relationship. Self-talk helps in this situation. For an I-style coach who emphatically questions a call, perhaps recognizing their concern may be the best course of action. Remember those three words that go along with each style.

When I work with couples, it is common to have one partner on the task side and the other on the people side. This can be difficult in conflict because of the natural way each processes information. ‘D’ challenge, choice, control, and an ‘S’ appreciation, security, and assurance. Our readers can see that these adjectives are vastly different when it comes to conflict resolution.

If you remember three words that go along with each of the disc letters, it can be helpful. And once again, it may not be right. You may say, Oh, that didn’t land correctly. Maybe they’re a ‘D’ Dominant style. Let me just ask him a question. Give them a choice, and then they’re going to be much better. D’s are really tough coaches because they always want to be right; you will be wrong no matter what you say to them. They will continue to try to prove their point.

What is your option when dealing with a Dominant style coach?

Dr. Maggie Tieman: Great question. Giving Dominant Style a choice is mind-blowing, even if the option is directed towards what you want them to answer. Challenge,

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Choice, and Control are the three words for Dominant Style people. They love the challenge and interacting with you because they want to win and think they can win every time. The Control piece is accentuated with ‘D’ coaches because the only time they don’t have control is when we step onto the floor and they interact with referees.

They control every other piece of their student athletes’ lives. So now they’ve given that control up to someone.

I may say to someone I know I’m not going to win with them. ‘You know what? You’re absolutely right.’ That play, we can continue to talk about it. Or would you rather just kind of chalk it up? Let’s move on to the next play, and when I see you again, do you want me to follow up with you?’ I’ve given them a choice, and I acknowledge the fact that they’re right. I don’t know if they’re right or not, but if I tell them that they’re right or you may be right on that, I’m admitting the fact that I could be wrong for Dominant Style referees and for critical thinking, Cautious ‘C’ style referees. We’re never wrong because we’ve thought about it so many times. We can’t possibly be wrong. When I work with D’s and C’s referees, allow yourself to be wrong because you’re trying to make a relationship with them. If you admit to being wrong, that’s like music to a D’s or a C’s ears.

This is incredible information. Some think that recognizing your personality style is unnecessary. For those who believe this is too much, you say what?

Dr. Maggie Tieman: For referees that say it’s too much. I will ask them how many hours they spend looking at their rulebook. They spend many hours getting another book together because they want to fill their day planner with games. The only way that I get more games is when I do good work. Well, who’s evaluating me on my good work? Coaches, supervisors, and regional advisors. If I continue to be a ‘D’ style referee, I turn people off because people think I’m intimidating, rude, callous, and whatever other non-pleasant description you want to tell me that I am. It may help to spend time learning about the DISC and adjusting our natural style to fit each situation better, improve our partnerships, and ultimately be the person others want to work with. We as referees often say that our closest friends and best memories have come from basketball; hopefully, some of this information helps those memories grow and multiply. And more importantly, that just makes us a better person.

(Connect with Dr. Maggie Tiemen and the Mindset Matters team at www.mindsetmattersllc.com)

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Reoppening

By Michael Diamond-Hunter We are now in (what I consider to be weather-wise) winter here in the UK. While it’s been cold, my family back in California told me that it was definitely warm for Thanksgiving (they tried to tell me in a way that wouldn’t make me jealous). To be honest, I’m actually perfectly good with cold weather, as long as I am able to dress for it. Here, there’s rarely any snow in November (or in December). London is known for having it’s own micro-climate, and the only times that it has snowed here (since I remember) has come in either January or early February. It never really sticks for longer than a few days, but it is fun to be in (if you don’t have to drive a car nor plough a driveway).

What I do like about this time of year is that it feels like things are starting to slow down a bit. Less commotion outside, things are quieter in the mornings on the way to work, and there seems to be a general stillness in the air. While things are decelerating outside, on the inside, things are picking up for me.

Contra to how I see the world as the month rolls into December, there’s a LOT of action and activity going on for me. First up is work; at the university we’re about 2 weeks past the halfway point of the term. That means that I’ve got a rhythm established, including a writing schedule, teaching, office hours, grading, and administrative stuff. After everything that’s happened this summer, having some structure like this has been welcome. Outside of work, I have been increasing my physical activity. I’m back to doing yoga 3-4 times a week, and I joined a gym as a way to provide myself with a physical place to do the workouts that I need to get to where I want to me. After almost 19 months (and counting) since my last official game, I have been trying to ramp things up in a responsible manner. The goal for me is to have no injuries, and to improve on a consistent basis from when I start doing games again until the end of the season. That start, given that everything stays either as it is (or hopefully improves) will be the first or second week of January. My process has been deliberate, and with good reason: accomplishing goals takes a whole lot of effort and planning.

With respect to planning, I had the pleasure of recently giving a talk for a referee zoom call on just that thing – making plans. For a number of you all back in the US, High School season is just

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around the corner (or has officially started by the time you read this). NCAA season is still pretty fresh and new, and no matter where you are in your season, it’s never an issue to either formulate or revisit the plans that you made for yourself before the start of the season. This is something that I usually would do at the end of the previous season and revisit throughout the off-season. Hopefully you all have made concrete plans that are specific enough for you to work on throughout the year. No matter how good your plans may be, and how many contingencies you may account for, there are always things that (to use a UK colloquialism) throw a spanner in the works. One thing that I find helpful to remember when things doing always go my way is that while your plans are important, resilience and grit are skills that we can all work on, and which can be more important than the plans themselves. Being able to get back up when you have fallen down is an underrated aspect of growth as referees and as people.

While planning has been in my orbit recently, I have also been active with my mental preparation for January. I’ve been feeling well enough (emotionally speaking) to break down film again, and to devote increased amounts of time and energy to my referee development. This has only been the case because of the time I have given to myself to grieve the loss of my twins. What has really helped me in this regard is a monthly meeting of bereaved parents that is run by a local charity here in the UK. On one hand, it is nice to see these other people who are able to understand the general contours of what I might be feeling without having to say a word. On the other hand, it would have been even better to meet them in completely different circumstances – circumstances where their children would still be alive to this day. There has been space to be angry, crestfallen, dejected, remorseful, anxious, and all of the other ways that grief over the loss of one’s children manifest. Without giving myself time to do this, there would be no way that I could be in the frame of mind to pick up my refereeing again in a matter of weeks. The things I have been doing off the court regarding my personal life have given me the ability to start making inroads on doing the things that I’d like to do on the court.

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While this may be a tad tardy, it is really important for me to continue to let those who have been in my life and have helped me to know how much I value their friendship, love, and support. Thanksgiving, at least under my interpretation of it, is a time to pause and let those in your life know that you appreciate them and are grateful for what they have done to continue to be in your corner. I take this to be a broad interpretation: these people could be friendly co-workers, friends, college roommates, mentors, family, or all of the above. I want to make sure that all of you who are giving me your time and energy by reading my dispatches know that I am appreciative, and please make sure that you tell those whom you love and care for that you appreciate them. As I know all too well, the window for us to articulate and convey our true feelings towards those we love may be far shorter than we imagine. What better time to do so than today? It is in this spirit that I wish you and yours a Happy Belated Thanksgiving, and I eagerly anticipate the next update – which brings me closer to my first game in January.

Michael Diamond-Hunter is a freelance writer based in London. He teaches at The London School of Economics and Political Science and has been refereeing in the UK for 4 seasons.

THECLEANWHISTLE.COM

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A CLEAN WHISTLE IS A HAPPY WHISTLE!

All The Basketball Rules in One WITH AL BATTISTA

NCAA WOMEN’S EDITION T

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1. The official scorer shall not remove the score book and take it to the home team’s locker room.

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2. Prior to the start of the game the officiating crew observe that on one of the backboards, one,two, or three of the four LED strips do not turn on when the game clock read zeroes. Should the officiating crew assess an administrative technical foul.

T

F

3. An airborne player’s status shall be where they were last in contact with the floor.

T

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4. Primary officials must be given the first opportunity to make the call in their primary area.

T

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5. During the pre game inspection of the shot clock system, it is determined that the shot clock system cannot be reset to 20 seconds during a live ball. The officials shall rule an administrative technical foul on the home team.

NCAA MEN’S EDITION T

F

1. A1 is driving to the basket and is fouled by B1. The try is unsuccessful. After the play, B1 pushes A1 to the floor. The officiating crew go to replay and determine that B1’s contact is unnecessary and adjudicate a dead ball contact technical foul. Team A will shoot the free throws in the order of occurrence.

T

F

2. A period ends with B1 committing a flagrant 1 personal foul on A1. The next period will start with A1 receiving “2” free throws with no players lined up and the ball at one of the four designated spots in the front court.

T

F

3. B3 scores on a “15” foot jump shot. Team A is permitted to have all five players out of bounds, but they have “5”seconds to throw the ball inbounds.

T

F

4. B3 throws an errant pass that goes out of bounds on the endline. Team A may have all five players out of bounds on the endline and thrower-in A3 may throw the ball to A4 who is out of bounds.

T

F

5. A1 is dribbling the ball and fumbles, A1 recovers the fumble and dribbles again, the Lead Official rules a double dribble.

NFHS EDITION T

F

1. A1 is driving to the basket and is fouled by B1. The try is unsuccessful. After the play, B1 pushes A1 to the floor. The officiating crew confer with one another and determine that B1’s contact is unnecessary and adjudicate an intentional technical foul. Team A will shoot the free throws in the order of occurrence. T-F

T

F

2. A period ends with B1 committing a intentional personal foul on A1. The next period will start with A1 receiving “2” free throws and the ball at the spot of the foul. T-F

T

F

3. B3 scores on a “15” foot jump shot. Team A is permitted to have all five players out of bounds, but they have “5” seconds to throw the ball inbounds. T-F

T

F

4. B3 throws an errant pass that goes out of bounds on the endline. Team A may have all five players out of bounds on the endline and thrower-in A3 may throw the ball to A4 who is out of bounds. T-F

T

F

5. A1 is dribbling the ball and fumbles, A1 recovers the fumble and dribbles again, the Lead Official rules a double dribble. T-F

ANSWERS ON PAGE 39

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Nothing says a referee over 50 like a paper map

By Kevin Sparrock Every preseason meeting, one official says they need to write their game schedule in some sort of Day Planner. These old heads will follow up with a comment recommending younger officials to do the same thing. I always hear one or two young referees snicker and ask, ‘What’s a day planner?’ I usually lie and respond, ‘I don’t know?

I think they sell them at Goodwill.”

I purchased a day planner to keep track of my games into my second season of officiating basketball. That calendar had a 1inch square space to put the game time, the teams, location, and a small blurb to give me an idea where I was traveling. This was pre-Google maps, pre-cell phone apps, and pre-Garmin. What’s that? Garmin was the first portable GPS device. Maybe not the first, but the most popular at the time.

Before GPS, I carried a physical map and a compass. I knew how to travel through the woods if need be.

I carried a flip phone, a palm pilot, a day planner, and about three physical maps in my referee bag. I had one map of all five New York City boroughs, a state map of New York and New Jersey, and the country. Yes, every state and major road was listed on this map. Each state had its own spread, and the major cities were highlighted on an adjacent page. Thanks to Google maps and Apple Maps, those days are long gone.

I personally find it odd. Digital calendars have evolved so much in the past twenty years.

What keeps us attached to these antique systems of organization. Many years ago, the referee locker room where I was storing my gear was broken into, and they stole my palm pilot. Palm pilots were the size of today’s cell phone. Only a little wider and heavier. This thing was like a paperweight. I had all of my contacts and dates lost.

The only blessing was I printed out a copy of all my contacts at home. I remember inputting them back into my new device.

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I still have that fear gremlin poking me in the back of my head, reminding me that the entire system can crash tomorrow, and all of our information will be lost.

At one point in my career, my calendar and schedule disappeared. Don’t ask me how.

I was stressed trying to figure out what had happened. All I know is my calendar was gone, and I had to tear my house looking for old pieces of paper that I scribbled my schedule on.

So how do you stay organized? I found that if you work for several different conferences with different coordinators, you probably have three to four other websites you must navigate. It’s so challenging to keep all these dates together. One recommendation is to use Google calendar or Apple Calendar. Now, this isn’t a review on these platforms. In an article with the buisnessInsider.com, they made Google, the clear winner. ‘The Google Calendar platform is more versatile, easier to use, and more customizable, making it the better option for both casual, non-tech-savvy users and the busiest organization enthusiasts alike.’ I’m a Mac guy through and through.

I enjoy the simple look of Apple Calendar, but I use both platforms and have them synced together. Apple’s “time to leave” alerts are the one feature that I can’t go without. You can set up multiple alerts for all your game assignments. I set up alerts 1 day, 2 hours, 1 hour, 30 minutes, and 15 minutes before my travel time. These alerts sync easily to your Apple phone and watch. As you can tell, I am super nervous about being late.

This past season I chose to put my schedule into a product management software like Asana, ClickUp and Monday.com. Asana and ClickUp have excellent free versions. Monday.com looks cool, but unfortunately, I had no need to upgrade to a paid version. You will find some excellent organizational tools on all these platforms. I test drove Clickup and Monday.com and found them very useful. I can put all my game assignments into the platform, keep track of my flights, filter them right into my calendars and create notifications and alerts, alerts, alerts.

I’m empathetic to why some people continue to write their schedules on a Day Planner. I still have that fear gremlin poking me in the back of my head, reminding me that the entire system can crash tomorrow, and all of our information will be lost.

I just choose to back up everything on the Time Machine (Apple’s backup system). I also have two physical hard drives that I back up on a weekly schedule. If everything shuts down after all that, then it was meant to happen.

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the Irrefutable magazine staff WOrkout playlist WORKOUT WITH OUR MUSIC

Energetic and chaotic, with a sexy cool down to finish. not every record is understood, but definitely gets the job done at motivating you to finish that last set. This is Asha’s Workout Playlist.

He’s a little bit hip hop and a little bit indie rock n roll. This takes you up a high rise with a nice cool down period that has you contemplating diving into a whole new genre of music. This is Kevin’s Workout Playlist.

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IT’S A STRETCH

By Kevin Sparrock My workouts changed when I was in the WNBA Wubble. The Wubble was the WNBA’s bubble system developed to have a basketball season during the pandemic. It was located in Bradenton, Florida, at the IMG Academy. In the Wubble, The entire referee staff was quarantined ten days in a hotel room and could only leave twice a day for ten minutes of COVID testing. Knowing that I had to find a workout specifically for small spaces, I contacted Diana Hernadez-Avalos for help. I call her Coach Dee! Coach Dee is the strength and conditioning contractor for the Army at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Tacoma, WA. She gave me a workout blueprint for my Wubble season that I still use today. The most important part of her regiment consisted of the stretching routines.

Here are my four pregame go-to stretches are The Messier Lunge, Kneeling Groin Stretch, Lunge to Pigeon, and the Worlds Greatest Stretch. Prior to each game I attempt five to ten reps of these stretches and they provide the flexibility to run 3 miles, the average of an NCAA basketball assignment.

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Images By Kevin Sparrock

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KNEELING GROIN STRETCH My hamstrings always feel tight after driving, flying, or sitting for long periods, and this stretch is a game saver. The starting position is on one knee with the other leg extended out to the side and extend your hands out in front of you. The movement is a simple forward and back movement.

Alternate between each leg. Two sets of ten reps with each leg is a good benchmark.

2 setEsPS 10 R Starting position

Fully extended forward and hold for 3- 5 seconds

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Move backward and hold for 3-5 seconds

Then repeat

LUNGE TO PIGEON Lunge to pigeon or Pigeon to lunge. I’ve never been sure why its reversed because I start in the pigeon position. This is a mobility exercise. Take your time and hold each position for 2-3 seconds. Two sets of ten with each leg is a good benchmark.

s t e s 2 EPS 10 R Starting pigeon position

Bring your back leg forward

Move into a lunge position

Hold the lunge for 2-3 seconds

Return to pigeon and hold for 2-3 seconds

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WORLD’S GREATEST STRETCH This stretch targets every major muscle in the body, especially the ones we tend to overuse sitting at a desk or a computer all day. There are so many variations to this stretch. The core of this stretch is the lunge with the hip rotation. I like to do five movements on each side.

5 RESPISDE

PER

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Standing is my start position.

Step down into a lunge position

Make sure your back leg is straight once you are in the position

Rotate your hips inward toward your forward leg

Rotate back to your lunge position

Then return back to standing.

MESSIER LUNGE This is an easy side to side movement rather than an up and down. With toes forward, hinge hips back and sink down. Try to keep eyes/head in line side to side. I prefer to do two sets of ten reps for each side.

2 setEsPS 10 R Start position

Move to the side

Move to the opposite side

Drop us a message on instagram@theirrefutablemag and share your go-to stretches.

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When our mental bandwidth cannot expand to both family and work

By Asha Pearl Sparrock Pumpkin spice lattes are taking a back seat until next year while gingerbread macchiatos begin to creep into our coffee shops. Comfy sweaters are a little less comfy when you need 3 layers to stay warm. “The most wonderful time of the year” is a little less wonderful when work doesn’t seem to let up and family obligations become more work than vacation.

Though this time of year is saturated with cheer and togetherness, there’s a less acknowledged side. While some families are able to gather and enjoy the height of football and basketball season, there’s those who are entirely entangled in the demanding nature of making those games possible. Coaches, officials, athletic trainers, and players are all taking time away from their loved ones to fulfill their duties. Like many contracts signed in North American occupations, we’ve all checked “yes” to our willingness to work weekends and holidays. However, this doesn’t exempt us from feeling the holiday blues.

According to an article from Mayoclinic.org, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression related to changes in seasons. Also dubbed “seasonal depression,” this reaches an all-time high during the winter months. The pressure of food shopping, finding holiday presents, balancing time for family and work is all the more daunting while pushing through an internal battle with our minds. The first step to facing these challenges head on is recognition. Us, as individuals, need to recognize our limits. Burning ourselves out is not a flex. Though we can’t control how others feel about our boundaries, we can continue to make them to accommodate our mental health. If situations arise where we cannot expand our mental bandwidth, there needs to be time taken out for recharging. While there isn’t much free time allotted to officials during their busiest seasons, there’s still the liberty of setting stipulations for time off.

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Image by Cottonbro on Pexels

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Taking the time to track your mood and find trends becomes a form of mindfulness that allows growth in both the present moment and the future. If you realize you’re four games deep in less than a week and you feel your energy beginning to decline, there’s the possibility that four games is your limit before your performance begins to take a hit.

Guilt is an emotion that often warps reality and stops us from thinking rationally. In the event of the decline of our mental health begins to affect our physical health, the guilt of leaving your colleagues short often forces us to neglect our overall health and work ourselves sick. Though often self-inflicted, guilt often comes from our supervisors and managers. A half-hearted “feel better” over the phone isn’t a comfort from our supervisor when we’ve finally convinced ourselves that it’s for the best to take the day. Guilt also gets thrown at us from our families. Though the saying goes “blood is thicker than water”, a shot of vodka is the only thing that gets us through some of these family events. It often feels like a second or third job making appearances at family gatherings during the holidays. Aunt Mary and Uncle George are having a fried turkey at their house but Cousin Bill is making a roasted ham. But Grandma Vivian and Grandpa Eddie would be devastated if they didn’t get to see you on Thanksgiving. How do you tell all of these people you just want to spend the day alone with a plate of chinese takeout without someone getting offended? Next thing you know, the Christmas party at your parent’s house is all the cousins and uncles and aunties asking why you made grandma and grandpa cry.

As adults, as humans, and as growing individuals, we’re going to be put in uncomfortable spaces. The limit does not exist as to how often we’ll be working through the coldness in the air to the changing and eventual falling of leaves. Work and family will always be relevant in our lives. While there are always obligations to other forces, first and foremost, our obligations need to be set to ourselves. If setting the boundary for how often you allow yourself to interact with family and friends means you lose some of them, that means it was only a matter of time. If the process is sped up because you decided to put your wellness before someone else’s, then so be it. When it comes to our day jobs and careers, we do our best and listen to our bodies. We stay honest and open about the state of our minds and bodies as a preface to uphold our boundaries.

The changing of seasons is inevitable. As Lauryn Hill once said, “After winter must come spring.” Though the cool climate adds a different element to the responsibility of family and work, the aspiration of warmer calmer days is always on the horizon.

Continue to listen to your body, set boundaries, and know that your wellness is important.

38

ANSWERS for Basketball Rules WITH AL BATTISTA

NCAA WOMEN’S EDITION

NCAA MEN’S EDITION

NFHS EDITION

1. True-10-12.2.d 2. No-1-18.4, 10-12.2.a.2-(Unless there was not enough light to allow the officiating crew to make the necessary determinations at the end of the game).

3. True- 7-1-1.

1. TRUE- 8-8.1 2. FALSE- 5-7.4 3. TRUE- 7-4.6.B 4. FALSE- 7-4.6.B 5. TRUE- 9-7.1.A-C.

1. True- 8-6-2.

2. False- 5-6-2-Exception-3 3. True- 7-5-7-a.

4. False- 7-5-7-a.

5. True- 9-5-1-3.

4. True- CCA Manual-1.1.2-(6).

5. True-10-12.2.a.2.

You want more rules and videos? Go to MatchupOfficiating@groups.io

THE FIRST WEBCOMIC ABOUT THE LIFE OF A REFEREE REFEREE

GO TO: FOULSANDVIOLATIONS.NET

PURCHASE YOUR COPY NOW!

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