Smorgasbord

There have been so many things I have wanted to post about lately, so I decided to do a "Cliff's Notes" version (besides, I have three more games to post on [UO Teaching Videos]!).
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 Rivarly Games

Fun stuff...can be wild.  These are the types of games you dream of working.  Whether it be at the Bantam, High School, College level, or beyond, it is games like these that make you work hard, that make you do stuff behind closed doors, that other officials won't do, just so you can go out and re-create some memories.  When people ask me, "what is this Ultimate Officials thing all about?," my answer is, "we recreate memories."

Do you remember the best game you ever reffed?
Do you remember that over-time thriller?
Do you remember the feeling of satisfaction when you worked a tough game, but you nailed it?

Let's recreate those memories.  And it all starts with a decision, then a commitment.

Here's to a rivarly this coming weekend:



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Batch Processing versus Real Time Processing and Video Replay

You want to get it right, don't you?  In the end, that's all you want...get it right.

Does it matter if it is done by instant replay?  Would it diminish your "manli-hood" if you were wrong the first time and used technology to get it right?  If so...wow!

I think MLB umps would want to get it right:



Here's the thing -- we let ego get in the way.  We use 'traditionalism' to justify that things are OK, it's the way it has always been done.  Well, I'm here to give every one a wake up call that the world around us has changed, and I don't see the referee/officiating world changing with it.  Let's use hockey as an example:

• players train using specialized programs (refs don't)
• the speed of the game is faster than ever before and getting faster (refs are the same)
• technology is used to break down a player's shifts/game/skills (refs may get a DVD, no or little breakdown).
• players receive "real time processing" and get feedback immediately to improve performance (refs get "batch processing" for feedback - which is very ineffective - or, worse, get NO feedback at all!)
• technology is there for all players, coaches, and trainers to use and implement (refs are scared of it or they choose not to embrace it).

The refs answer: it's the way it has always been done.  Nothing wrong here.  We can fix it the old-fashioned way.  Uggghhh....here are the "Seven Steps to Stagnation":

1. We've never done it that way.
2. We're not ready for that yet.
3. We're doing alright without it.
4. We tried it once and it didn't work out.
5. It costs too much.
6. That's not our responsibility.
7. It won't work.

Ultimate Officials, thanks in large part to our new management, is undertaking a serious change in referee development.  We understand that feedback, done so in "real time" (i.e. immediately, right away, so you can process it) is the wave of the future for coaching officials.  "Batch processing" (i.e. giving feedback at some point in the future, maybe the end of the game, sometimes at the end of a season, sometimes not at all) is DEAD!  It doesn't work.  Why? Usually the referee doesn't remember it, or they can't make corrections until the next time they ref or the next time some situation happens to them.  Uggghh!

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A College Football Team as an Example:

The following was taken from the October 12, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated.  The [story] is about TCU Horned Frogs College Football Team.  They have taken a change to how players are recruited, groomed, and pushed:

When it comes to recruiting, Patterson is a realist. "As a general rule, no one beats Texas [in recruiting] in the state of Texas," he says. But making do with the table scraps left by the Longhorns, TCU has won 11 games in four of the last six seasons. With September road victories over Virginia and Clemson, the Frogs have won 13 of their last 16 against teams from BCS conferences.

How is this happening? How has a program from a private school with fewer than 3,700 male students become a fixture in the Top 25? Patterson's formula has been to employ a conservative but opportunistic offense, mix in strong special teams and, most important, play swarming, confusing lights-out defense. And more key than his schemes are the guys he finds to run them. His players tend to fit a certain mold. They are:

• Fast. You can be short. But if you can't fly to the ball, TCU isn't interested.
• From Texas—of the 21 players in TCU's 2009 recruiting class, 20 are from in-state—and acutely aware of having been overlooked by Texas. Patterson, says Dallas Cowboys linebacker Stephen Hodge, a former Horned Frog, "wants guys with a blue-collar work ethic and a chip on their shoulders."
• Low maintenance. Patterson seeks self-starters, guys who watch video during their lunch periods, who don't have to be lassoed into the weight room. "It doesn't matter how bad I want it if they don't," he says.
• Not overly attached to the position they played in high school. In 2006 five of the 11 players on the defensive line were former high school running backs. Hodge, a strong safety for the Frogs, was a prep quarterback, as were three recent starting tight ends, two of whom ended up in the NFL. Another transplanted QB: Jason Phillips, a four-year starter at linebacker who's now a rookie with the Baltimore Ravens.

"When Coach Patterson asks you to change, you listen," says Phillips, who also played linebacker in high school. "His track record is pretty good. Plus, it usually means you're going to get on the field quicker."

How can this be applicable to hockey referees?  Well, I will insert my own bullet points and let you decide (maybe it doesn't apply anywhere but my mind):

• Hustle (fast helps).  You have be conditioned to FLYING (I mean FLYING!) to the net at stoppages, to the net, period, as a referee, if you are going to be on our team.
• From a place where you wear your heart on your sleeve.  You must reside in "Gumption County" to be a part of this team.  If you don't come from a place that brings your "A" game every time, if you get burned out working crappy 'checkbook' hockey games, then we aren't looking for you.
• Low maintenance.  You must be willing, through your own decisions, to commit to being better through training, accountability measures, and watching video.  If you ain't got time for that, go join the chess club for recreation.
• Not overly attached to your own perceived notions.  You must be "coachable".  There have been a handful of people "cut" from the Ultimate Officials roster, because they were either not coachable or they were not serious.  Don't waste your time (or mine).

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Belief

In order to change, you need to change.  Change your beliefs.  Change what you do.  Change who you hang out with.  Change something...and...you usually have to make a dramatic change to make a dramatic improvement.  Do you subscribe to the "7 Steps of Stagnation"?

Or do you believe?  Is this your year?