How To REALLY Improve Skating (plus it'll help your 12 week Ftiness Challenge!)

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

#

12 Week Fitness Challenge is Coming!!!

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

#

12 Week Fitness Contest Starts July 6th!!!

Happy Birthday G.W.!! We're actually gonna make some Weapons of Mass Destruction!

WARNING! - This Video is for Mature Audiences Only

There is some foul language in here...had to do it.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

#

400-500 Pucks...Mental Toughness...et al

I just got back home yesterday from the Minnesota Hockey Officials Association Referee Development Camp in St. Cloud, MN. For those of you aren't familiar with this camp, it is held in conjunction with the Minnesota Advanced 15 Hockey Festival. 102 of the best 15 years olds in the state practice and play during this festival for the opportunity to be one of the final 22 to participate in the USA Hockey National Advanced 15 Festival in Rochester, NY.

The hockey action was OUTSTANDING this year, and our 12 officials worked hard all week, learned a lot, and set a strong foundation for the future. I am proud of all of them.

During this festival, the teams, coaches, referees, and all staff get together to eat and there is always a guest speaker. The guest speakers this week were: Zach Parise, NJ Devils player (former Advanced 15 member from MN), Cary Eades (Associate Coach, Univ. of North Dakota), Scott Sandelin (Head Coach, Univ. of MN-Duluth), Chris Howe (Head Coach, Concordia College), Tom Serratorre (Head Coach, Bemidji State University) and Mike Hastings (Asst. Coach, Univ. of Minnesota).

THE THING THAT WAS TRUE FOR ALL OF THE SPEAKERS WAS...THEY WORE THEIR HEARTS ON THEIR SLEEVE.

Other things were also common in all of them, but what I saw and heard was their passion for what they do. Their passion for the game. Their passion to be the best.

Here are a few tidbits I took away from each of them...

Zach Parise:

Q: "What was the number one thing you did to prepare for the NHL?"

A: "Shoot pucks. I shot 400-500 per day."

Q: "What was something you did to prepare yourself and get ready for the NHL?"

A: "I surrounded myself with the right people. My two best friends at Shattuck were very important -- Drew Stafford and Brady Murray. We pushed each other to be the best."



Tom Serratorre:

"We have one rule at Bemidji State -- do what's the right thing. That's it."

"How you react to adversity is the most important thing."

Overall, he was my favorite because I could feel his passion more than anything else. He never talked strategy, X's and O's, nor did he talk about shooting pucks, plyos, weight training, or practice. He talked about the skills and mindset it takes to be the best -- the best at anything (husband, father, employee, boss, whatever).


Chris Howe:

Chris talked a lot about character. He talked that there are "characters" and there is character. He was referencing Ted Brill, and I like that a lot, because Ted Brill was a visionary. One of my all time favorite things to do when I was an instructor at the MHOA camp in my "early years" as an instructor was to sit and listen to guys like Ted Brill talk. In fact, just about every morning, after we had our breakfast, we always have a short break to relax, take a nap, clean up, whatever. Well, it was at this time that Bill Leslie would always sit outside the dorms on the "porch" of wherever we were staying at on St. Cloud State University and talk hockey with Ted Brill. In the earlier years a gentleman by the name of Ted Fenske was there, too. The "Legend" Dave Hendrickson was there, too. I just loved listening to all of these guys because they were visionaries. I miss those men a lot.

Cary Eades:

"In a battery of tests on all type of hockey skills, I would have probably tested out at at 5 on a scale from 1-10. However, when it came to desire to win, I would have tested out at a 10. I loved doing things to help the others on my teams be better, guys like Doug Smail, Mark Taylor (both NHL players). I would take pride in digging out the puck and giving it to those guys"

This is a video clip of a very famous fight between University of North Dakota and University of Wisconsin. Someone on the Badger bench squirted Eades with a water bottle and Eades went nuts. So did the rest of the Sioux bench. ( I remember watching that game on TV. My parents had a party with a small group of friends over to watch the game on TV. This was a big deal, because back then, the Sioux weren't on TV -- this was back when we only had 5 channels on TV...no ESPN...no hockey packages...just the big three networks, PBS, and CBC out of Canada, which had Hockey Night in Canada -- Twin Cities- you have no idea what you're missing. This was also a big deal because my Mom and Dad actually put the TV in the living room. We never had the TV in there -- at least it seemed like a big deal to a 2nd grader!). Old time hockey!:

#24 for Detroit - Is He Done???

Chris Chelios is my new idol for one reason and one reason only -- I will be the Chris Chelios of referees. If a writer like John Buccigross can have an obsession with Hakan Loob, then I can have my Chelios and his [Hour of Power] workout! He is still in the league at age 47 (to put that into some kind of referee years - that would be some kind of equivilant like reffing the NHL at age 77). Well...I'm 37, so I have a lot of [butt-kickin'] years to go!

E.J. Radek for espn.com just listed his Top Ten for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2009. Here was number 10:

"Detroit ageless warrior Chris Chelios, playing in what might have been his last NHL game (he didn't dress during the Cup finals, but isn't ready to retire), made an overtime rush in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals against the Blackhawks at the Joe Louis Arena. The 47-year-old American hockey icon moved the puck from his own zone to the far blue line before passing it to a teammate on the right wing. He then continued to the net and nearly batted a rebound past Hawks goalie Cristobal Huet. That would have been quite a way for Chelios to go out. Of course, we're not sure he's done yet."

Lastly, I thank him for being the poster boy for hard work and determination. I love it!

Game 7 - Cup Finals - For All the Marbles

This is it! There are no more tomorrows...

There have only been 15 Game 7 's in the Stanley Cup History:

2006 Hurricanes vs. Oilers (One of the BEST freakin' games I've ever seen!)
2004 Lightning vs. Flames
2003 Devils vs. Ducks
2001 Avalanche vs. Devils
1994 Rangers vs. Canucks
1987 Oilers vs. Flyers
1971 Canadiens vs. Blackhawks
et. al.

I'm shopping for new tennis shoes for my daughter tonight, so I will be watching it later on Tivo. Don't tip me off to any score...don't send me any text messages....if you are watching and have a question -- send me an IM on [skype - jonlybonly].

Facing Your Fears - I Mean Really Facing Them

No...I mean really...define them...face them...get those sorry sonsabitches out of the way!

We just celebrated the anniversary of D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in the history of this planet. One Hundred Fifty Thousand men stormed the beach that day. Think they were scared? Damn straight. But two things should be noted here:

1. Courage is not the absence of fear. It's having fear and acting anyways.

2. These men trained over and over and over -- in fact all military operations are that way -- so there is no hesitation. It is automatic.

Watch this video before going on:
(turn your speakers up)



I find this concept to be fascinating the more and more I consider it (if you don't "get it" right away, that's OK. Maybe take a look at it again and again, and THEN it will sink in). It's fascinating to me because I have always been about focusing on your goals -- what you want, where you want to go, how success would look. I have never focused on the fears. I just tried to ignore those...

BUT...

Ignoring them for me didn't make them go away. It just made it less painful maybe? I did things that wouldn't expose me to great pains -OR - as Tim Ferris is pointing out in this video, the perceived pains I MIGHT encounter...

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."

Epictetus

Trust me boys and girls, I have made decisions that would make most men mess their pants. I had a real estate business to up [see here]. I have had that same business crash and burn. Real friggin' hard. I have had cancer...had my Mom die from cancer...had my Dad have a stroke. I've seen the fearful side up close and personal. I just kept doing things that brought me closer to those goals I wanted, though. I knew life was short (see cancer-see stroke), and I wanted the most. I never really defined my fears, though (a fringe benefit from having a failed business and health threatened is that I know you will survive and live to tell about it another day).

I also know that I am fearful of be thought of as foolish and stupid. So, in an act to inoculate myself, here goes defining my fears about creating Ultimate Officials, the SWAT Team -- basically Ref 2.0 -the personal training and hockey referee mentoring program that teaches, promotes, and evaluates primarily on the web and through video.

Worst-Case Scenarios That Could Happen

• Others make fun of me
• Supervisors get pissed that I am working with officials in "their territory"
• The "Old Guard" gets pissed because I am asking for a subscription fee, when everything in the past has always been done on a volunteer basis (kind of - and I can actually argue this one 'till I'm blue in the face.

Things I could do to Minimize the Negatives

• Always act with integrity
• Offer a service that delivers
• Coach others up to a 100% effort level
• Improve officials, which makes a supervisors job MUCH, MUCH easier.

Actions I Can Take

• Follow my original business plan that I proposed back in 2007 to USA Hockey.
• Things included in the plan are:

1. Monthly newsletter, blog, paper newsletter, email updates, articles (done!)
2. Put on monthly FREE Seminars, focusing on skating, fitness, referee development
   
3. Have an "Interview of the Month" available to members
4. Run a Physical Fitness Contest with Prizes
5. Set up an online forum, workout sharing site, and resource center
6. Promote, teach, and develop referees from my book (that's reference #2 - I'm getting better already :).
   

Just like in the video, what would be my POSSIBLE pain from the first list? About a 5. What would be my potential gain if I minimized the POSSIBLE negatives and took action? Definitely an 10.

Stay tuned for many exciting, new, and, most definitely, different things from Ultimate Officials and the SWAT Team.

It's Game Time

Once again...this is waayyyy too funny to pass up:

Off Ice Power Skating Introduction Video

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Game 7 - Slump Busters - and Talent

Did you watch game 6 last night? If not, look [here - click on that spinning play button circle]. If so, you saw a heck of a game by the Penguins, Marc-Andre Fleury, and the Wings! Being biased of course, I'd also say that the referees, Bill McCreary and Marc Joannette were great (personally, I like them more than the other tandem - although the other tandem does include an American and Paul Devorski, who is Mr. Big Nuts #2, behind McCreary).

Back to last night's game...The Pens win 2-1 and both of their goals were scored by whom??? Nobody named Crosby or Malkin (I'm not a big fan of Malkin, by the way, read the above link or the Game 5 notes). Who scored? Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy - two 3rd liners. Sweet!

I love lunch bucket guys!

Generally, I really can't stand prima-donnas. Allow the opportunity to explain the difference between a prima-donna and an all-star guy -- Wayne Gretzky was NOT a prima-donna, Mario Lemiux was NOT a prima-donna, and Joe Thornton is NOT a primma-donna. They are all incredibly talented guys who work their butts off. On the flip side, Marian Gaborik is a primma-donna -- not a whole lot of guts in that game...

Why do I love lunch bucket guys so much? Because I am one of them. I have never been overly talented...at anything. I have had to bring a whole lot of piss and vinegar to EVERYTHING I've done. That's why I enjoyed this article so much:

Justin Bourne, former U-Alaska Anchorage star

"I went through stretches of great success in college and pro hockey, tying together point streaks of double digit games on multiple occasions. As you may have guessed, I also went through stretches of great misery, tying together streaks of wall-punching and pulling my hair out at the root for double-digit games…on multiple occasions.

The standard song and dance about slump breaking is, in my opinion, what prolongs them.

“Keep it simple. Shoot from everywhere.”

Garbage.

Nothing twists the knife in your already-stabbed confidence like a goalie casually gloving down your shot from left field that you only took because technically, that spot by the boards at the blueline fell under the category of “everywhere.”

The only known antidote for the slump sickness, of course, is to work so hard Rod Brind’Amour looks lazy.

It takes a couple games of driving the net, hovering around the crease and generally playing violently before a shot from the point redirects off the bridge of your nose and goes in for you to get back to normal."

See the whole blog [here].

I've had the distinct pleaure of working out with some lunch bucket guys at Velocity Hockey Center, doing some gut-busting work on the skating treadmill.

I have had the VERY DISTINCT PLEASURE of working with some guys on some of the BEST and MOST EFFECTIVE and MOST REFEREE-SPECIFIC off-ice workouts out there.

All is sweet when the lunch bucket guy gets his...

p.s. Want any of the lunch bucket action? Contact me: info@ultimateofficials.com

Say, "I've got my lunch bucket"

Game 6 - Stanley Cup (Raised tonight?)

Game 5 - Stanley Cup Finals

Game 4 - Stanley Cup Finals

Lead the Field

I have always been a reader. I love to read the sports page, Sports Illustrated, The Hockey News, anything about World War II, the Space Program, and any personal development material. I am going to share a classic with you that I have dug out, dusted off, and have jumped into once again -- "Lead the Field" by Earl Nightengale.

I actually came back to this in a round-a-bout way. Those who have been following this blog know that I really, really like the author Dan Kennedy. It was the other night, reading one of his books, that I came across this section AND IMMEDIATELY KNEW THAT IT APPLIES TO REFEREES:

The very first "success education" that I was ever exposed to was a set of recordings by Earl Nightengale titled Lead the Field, that I listened to when I was in my early teens. In those tapes, Nightengale gave me badly needed permission to violate the norms I saw around me, with his dramatic statement:

If you have no successful example to follow in whatever endeavor you choose, you may simply look at what everyone else around is doing and do the opposite, because -- THE MAJORITY IS ALWAYS WRONG.

Dan Kennedy, No B.S.

Wow...the majority is always wrong. Well, I'd better do just the opposite then, because I refuse to be lumped in with the majority.

Actually, there are successful examples to follow...the challenge is that they are not always within your midst. For example, on any given night I will work with guys in USA Hockey or high school, and KEEP IN MIND I DEARLY LOVE MY BROTHERS IN THE REFEREE WORLD, I wouldn't consider them a role model for me. They may be out of shape...they may not hustle on the ice...they may have poor communication skillss...they may just be there for the money. And, unfortunately, this is pretty much the majority. Thanks, but no thanks majority. I will do the opposite.

Soooo, the opposite will not:

• work out like I want to
• eat healthy like I want to
• pay attention to perfecting the little things like I want to
• work on being a better skater like I want to
• pursue more education (about hockey) like I want to

Another smart guy I had the pleasure of knowing told me this advice:

"Avoid being the smartest person in the room."

At first that didn't make sense to me. Then he explained how you should always strive to be with those

• who are smarter than you, (and in this case, the hockey referee world),
  
• are in better shape than you are,
• push themselves harder than you do,
• work better games than you do.

This way you will always be RAISING YOUR BAR.

Go out and do it! If you want what the best have, then you have to do what the best do. If you want what the best have, I've got an invitation for you:

Click on this link, download the "Tretiak Mailer" document.

I look forward to your response...JBO

Game 3 - Stanley Cup FInals

How Come Nobody Asks me About this Rule??

Is is All About the etcetra??? No one, and I repeat, no one asked me about this rule. No one mentioned it...(when I saw that fight happen I thought, "It's in the last five minutes! They're done the next game!"

On the flip side, EVERYONE and their dog asked me about the play where Zetterberg put his hand on the puck on Osgood's back, all while in the crease (see second clip - you'll have to fast forward to the 6:00 mark of the video). They all wanted to know, "is that a penalty shot?" My answer is in my Game 1 Live Blog notes...


For some reason ESPN got rid of that video...here's a funny/tragic one instead:


Game 1

We are All-Athletes, All-Everything, All the TIME!

This is just too funny and great way to start your Monday morning: