Let's Take a Sneek Peak at Evaluation Done Online

Watch...enjoy...learn (I hope) - This is part of the "New ADM" (not the USA Hockey one ;-)

This is NOT a hobby...Or is it?

Are you serious about what you do, or is refereeing just a nice hobby and pasttime to keep you involved with the greatest game on earth? (BTW, the best games in the world, in this order, are (1) hockey, (2) golf, (3) paper/rock/scissors, and (4) American Football, (5) the rest).

Back to refereeing...if you know me by now, you know that I find inspiration all over the place and use it to motivate me for my reffing career (which is not a hobby and is deep-seated, dye-in-the-wool passion).  Here is the lastest I found from Sports Illustrated this past week...

It was an article about the San Fransisco 49ers and their coach, Mike Singletary.  I used to love watching "Samurai Mike" play for the Bears, and he was an inspiration because I played inside linebacker as well.  Here's what he said in Sports Illustrated this past week in the September 28, 2009 issue:

"Greatness is not about someone who has the ability to be great," the 50-year old Singletary says, fixing the listener with the same piercing stare that once made quarterbacks weak in the knees and now makes the 49ers stiff in the spine.  "Greatness shows up when someone might not have that ability but finds a way to succeed.  They outwork their opponents, they outhit their opponents, they outfight their opponents.  They want it more.  Don't give me they guy who's supposed to be all-world and you've got to try to talk him into something.  Give me the guy who has maybe just enough talent to be on the field but thinks he's great, and who's willing to do whatever he can do to contribute, to make his team better.  That's what I want.  Give me all the misfits, the guys no one else wants.  Now trust me, I want some talent too.  But give me the right type of talent."

Samurai Mike:

So how does one use this a motivation?  Are you doing the small things, the little things, the things that really aren't little but end up being HUGE?  Are you prepping yourself?  Do you feel like you belong to some great event?  I see all these things, every week now, from the guys and girls who have devoted themselves to being a member of the [SWAT Team].

My hockey officiating isn't a hobby.  It's a passion.  I belong to a very passionate subculture in this world.  Kind of like the bodybuilding subculture...or the Mixed Martial Arts subculture...or the motorcycle-fanatic subculture...you get the idea.  I think (unless this is a hobby for you, and if it is, I don't know how to speak your language).

This guy know how to speak my language (remember...passion...subculture).

I Was Wondering if You Missed It

You may have been too busy (I get that).  You may have thought it wouldn't be interesting (really??).  You may have thought that it was more of the same (trust me, it isn't).  Whatever the case, I thought I would give you a chance to take a sneek peak at the video below. It is the first in a series that...really...in all likelihood...will turn referee instruction upside down.  (I never would have done this were it not for [this].  I didn't have the cajones to do that.  Well...it's amazing how you can grow some courage to take on an industry when influential people are on your side, kind of like, "Yeah, you and what army??" - IALTO).

This video sneak peek is all your going to get.  If you want more, you'll have to register on the link below.  I don't want this kind of information getting out to the wrong people.  They might say stuff like, "J.B. is throwing all kinds of people under the bus."

Predicting the Future - Ref style

I went to a Jr. A Tier III game last night.  I was there to collect data on the game, like what the referee was doing, work/rest ratios, stoppages, and so on.  My reason for doing all the "geeked-up" type stuff is that I want to break the game down into its most basic elements to better instruct hockey referees.  This is key to really giving a guy an edge where he may need one.  Either physically (for example, do you know how many times a ref in the 1-2 system will sprint the ENTIRE length of the ice -- all 200 feet -- in any given game?  I do.), or mentally (do you know how many times a linesman will have to be aware of icings/offsides in any given game?  I do.).

What does this and a hill of beans mean to you?

It means you can predict the future.

Before you go on further, I want you to read this [link] (please be sure to come back :)

Did you know that Gretzky stepped down as the coach of the Coyotes today?

(hint/hint: He was really, really good at being one step ahead of the competition)

Gretzky's Last Game as a Player (and other stuff):

Q: What does all of this have to do with each other???

A: Being one step ahead of the play (or...predicting the future).

The best refs are the one's who are one step ahead of the play.  They anticipate actions, retaliations, sometimes really bad shtuff, and even what type of game you are going to have.  Now, I am not quite as good as Carnac (that Johnny Carson picture up there, for all you young punks, he was on the Tonight Show before Jay Leno -- hehehe), but with my arsenal of data, I did correctly predict the 3rd period of last night's game.  Pure luck?  Nope.  You would be AMAZED how uncanny it is that hockey games move in predictable patterns.  Game in, game out, season in, season out, they move in very predictable patterns.  There happened to be a supervisor at that game last night, and I told him exactly what was going to happen in the 3rd period.  I was right.  No luck involved.  Just a bunch of yellow legal pads full of notes, stats, skating diagrams, and situations. 

Wanna have that edge?  Wanna predict the future of your games, be one step ahead like Gretzky and Nate Lawson?  Come hang out with [me].

Or just watch old Tonight Show reruns.

There's a New American Development Model Coming...(it's NOT from USA Hockey)

Heard of the American Development Model (ADM)? It's the new "alphabet soup" out there...big bucks from the NHL to USA Hockey...the idea of getting more US Born players, coaches and refs in the NHL.

La-de-dah...kind of.

"The development of the official, on a local level, with quality feedback, instruction, and career coaching with an emphasis on development, is what will propel officials to bigger and better games."

J.B. Olson, Curriculum Director, Ultimate Officials

Look for new developments in:

1. Skating - the current skating model is good, but can be much better

Check out this video: http://www.neehs.com/video.20080131.asp

Referee skating instruction, including what I have been doing the past 10 years plus, needs to change.  Get ready, because it's coming...

2. Real-time Feedback - the evaluation process today is to meet with an official, point out what they did wrong, and give them the feedback AFTER the game is over with no chance to make adjustments.  This is akin to coaching a hockey team, having them run through their shifts and specialty teams throughout the game, and then making adjustments in the locker room, once the game is over.  Real-Time Feedback will be the most advanced development tool that Ultimate Officials will offer referees of all levels.

3. Supervision - As we see it, supervision is more about making things go smooth, so the team wins, versus development.  Here are some quotes from a hockey coach and ex-NHL player, Dean Talafous:

“I haven’t coached in eight years,” said Talafous. “I’ve been in the skill development aspect of the game, and it’s been really refreshing and good for me. When I was a coach, it was win at all costs. I was a total different personality. I’ve been humbled. I look back at my coaching career and I don’t know if I really developed players with their skill base. I know that wasn’t right, and if I can take what I’ve learned in my 50’s now being in the developmental side, I think I’ll be a pretty good coach.”

“I’d rather lose 13-11 than 2-1,” Talafous said. “Trapping and dumping the puck and putting all kinds of conditions on how they play isn’t development. That is very clear to me. We need to let them play with their instincts and allow them to fail and make mistakes for their development.”
That’ been precisely what Talafous has been doing with his business – Total Hockey-Hudson – an internationally acclaimed hockey training center that has branched off into 10 locations across North America. (full article here)

Imagine a program with the emphasis on development versus making the league or level run smooth...get ready, because here it comes.

Register for my Video Series  - "My USA Hockey is Different from Yours":

Hot Dang I Love Guys with Grit ( most definitely Cam Neely)

This is just kind of funny.  Kind of.  Funny.  Kind of.




And, as a response from someone, they pointed out that Cam Neely can really be a funny guy:

Phaneuf v. Okposo - Local Boy on the Lines

So many things to see with the NHL season under way.  [Dion Phaneuf], who I love as a warrior, a gritty, hardnosed player, just ROCKS Okposo, our local boy from Minny.

Why does the NHL feel the referees need to look like NFL refs with these new sweaters (not a fan).

Refs: Kelly Sutherland and Tom Kowal

Lines: Brian Mach (local boy from Minny) and Ryan Galloway (guy who now lives in Minny).







{Here is Bourne's Blog's take on the incident}
{Here is a bit from Russo on the incident} 
{The NHL doesn't like Morency jumping off bench}

Who's Ready?, Who's Sharp?, Who's Bringing It?

You know what is funny?  I watch some videos, infommercials, whatever on P90X and there are people working out with their kids doing the stuff in the [background - Rapido!].  It's hilarious, because I know that it goes on in my house, too.

And then it dawned on me...these kids may actually be doing more training than most refs out there.

This isn't supposed to be a guilt thing.  I believe it may be a fact.

Wanna change?  Watch the videos at the bottom of this screen (the RESULTS we are getting are down right scary!):

So What Are You Doing???

That was a question asked to me a few times at my local Minnesota Hockey District 3 meeting last night. Some guys haven't heard about the great [successes] we've had so far with Ultimate Officials...some guys haven't heard about the [new changes]...some guys even wonder how on earth they could keep getting [skating and training instruction]...

I'll just repeat my standard line:

Ultimate Officials is a personal training and hockey referee

mentoring program that teaches, promotes, and evaluates

primarily on the web and through video. 

Here's another example of how video can really help you...

RIP - Patrick Swayze aka Derek Sutton

This is hilarious...comical...but it has Patrick Swayze.

Let's see:

* training by shooting pucks with bare hands, while drinking tequila
* Profane and Un-PC Signs Everywhere in the Stands
* Definitely Obscene Gestures and Comments Towards the Crowd
* Referees who actually do look like clowns
* Bus tickets to Jr. C Teams...
* Is Thunder Bay really half way to the Arctic Circle? 
* I guess this is not the new Standard of Play on the Opening Face Off
* Of Course, we have got to have a Bench Clear and Yard Sale
* We do have the "Riot Pad" out, though...
* Dentures on the ice, too.
* Derek Sutton (Swayze) kissing the linesman
* AND THEN YOUNGBLOOD GETS A BREAK FROM RIDING THE PINE!!!

I thought this movie was stupid when it came out, and I think it looks worse today.

Accountability from my ol' fried Luis!

I have had the privilege to know this guy and spend a couple of weekends with him.  He is (a) just too funny, (b) laying his accountablity on the line - for all the world to see, and (c) understands the steps to take to be successful (his real life story is AMAZING, including coming to this country with $50 in his pocket to doing some AMAZING things):

It Gives Me Quivers Down to My Livers

Sunday afternoon...first day of training camp...and the boys are getting "their game legs" underneath them.



We've got some guys (including myself) getting the game legs on, too!:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

9/11 - We Remember - We Learn?

It was just this past May when I talked about Mark Bavis [see here], but I wanted to do so again, on this Sept. 11, 8 years after the tragic event.

See my video...

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

The Proof is in the Pudding

I'm the Dave Pelz of Hockey Officiating
(I guess you could call it my "Mission Statement")

"My life is helping referees get bigger and better games.


Get better games, that's what it is all about.

UO Now Under NEW MANAGEMENT

This Is: (A) Great, (B) Funny, and (C) an Example of Passion