And Our Season Comes to An End

The Ultimate Officials HS Referee Camp recently conlcuded.  Here's my letter to the boys:

Boys,

There is one game left for our group on Wednesday night, but I will be in Lake Placid this weekend to instruct for the Easter Instructors Training Seminar.

A few mental notes about the past 6 weeks:

* Some of you guys really, really improved.  And I am talking about your skating.  I am talking about moving quickly in 10 foot battles.  Off season hockey is a perfect time to work on positioning/anticipation/sharp, quick movements.  Some of you guys work the goal lines like champs right now.  That's awesome.

* The award for "The Crew that Had the Most Fun" goes to Diebold/Barlow/Trumble at Pagel Arena.  I think this was mostly motivated by the clown Trumble, but I also think that Barlow has really cut loose, too.  He even did the "foot puck drop" at SLPW tonight! (Runner's Up = Dornfeld/Paskey/Trumble at PLYA)

* The award for "Most Improved Player" goes to Dornfeld....the guy really worked on the communication piece...he BY FAR used the net to avoid players than anyone else (score there might have been 57 times to someone else's 1), and really worked on the SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness).

* The awared for "Biggest Hard Ass" goes to Tyler Harrison...they guy really did a nice number on the "Team-That-Shall-Remain-Nameless" to protect the guilty  :)

* We had many guys experience reffing in the 2-1 for the first time...lining in the 2-1 for the first time...utilizing the "pond hockey face off" in the 2-1 for the first time...(Thielman)

* The award for "Biggest Crash and Burn" goes to Trumble..."pushing the envelope, baby!"

***************

I know the "Real Time Feedback" did not work and, believe it or not, I got all the right equipment ordered for next time around.  I think the ear piece in a ref's ear is really going to be helpful in the world of referee development. 

Thanks for all the hard work.  More videos to come soon.  Including the "7 Secrets to High School Hockey":

1. Communication
2. Feel for the Game
3. Awareness
4. Sight Lines
5. Linesmen Should Be a Spaz
6. Referee - At Net Skills
7. Working in Traffic

   

  Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io 

 

"You Must Really Like to Drop the F**king Puck!"

(translation - I'm Miserable and You Make Me Even More Miserable)

This was an exact phrase said to one of our Ultimate Officials Referee Camp guys.  Ver-ba-tim! 

Could you imagine your linesman partner saying this to you when you inform him that he is about to drop the puck in your half of the ice? (non-referee people...you probably don't think it matters who drops what puck.  And there's some referee people who might not care either!)

Well, this is what happened about a month ago.  At first blush, you could say that, "Gee, he must have been crabby," or maybe, "He must have really hated the other guy."  While those certainly could be the truth, or there could be many different reasons why a officiating partner would snap on you,  I am going to go with this hunch -- he doesn't like others around him having fun, doing better, and taking themselves to the next level.

*************

If you could go back in time...and I am only talking about your athletic career (I'm not talking about that Jr. High dance when you should've asked Lori to dance with you, but you chickened out)...and you knew then what you know now, what would you change?

I would have shot more pucks in my driveway.  BTW, does anybody have a street hockey net for sale/FREE?

*************
Mental Tuffness Training (R)

Hey, did you know?  I have a Mental Tuffness Training (R) online course starting May 1, and then starting each and every month thereafter (or at least until I get tired of turning out 'ass-kicking' referees...go ahead...snicker...and then just watch :)


Here's a thought on the subject:

"Few people fully and completely realize that they are in control.  You ARE in control.  If you don't like where you are, there are big green signs above your town's highway telling you the way out of town.  Lift up each foot - check for roots - move.  If you don't like what has transpired in your life, fix it.  Change it.  Even get a do-over...If there is a common thread, a single message through almost everything I've ever written, recorded, taught, it is this: ...that you are in control.  Please don't be waiting around for devine intervention"

I didn't write that.  Dan Kennedy did.  He may have been talking about Mr. Eff-You linesman.  He mayb have been talking about you...


Mental Tuffness Training (R)

Mental Tuffness Training (R)

Ultimate Officials Mental Toughness Training(R)

Who: Referees who want to get the "edge" over their competition (whether you realize it or not, you are in CONSTANT competition with your peers for playoff assignments, spots in upper level leagues, and places in championship games). 

What: A 12 Week Camp, done entirely on line and through "at-home" study guides, to help you think better when on your skates, make better judgment decisions, and problem solve like an elite level hockey referee.  Many referees out there realize that when you get to a certain level in officiating, the physical part of the game can be very similar.  It is the stuff that is "between your ears" that separates the good from the GREAT.

When: Since this is an online based course, there is a new camp starting each month.  You can enroll now (just click subscribe at the bottom of the screen).

Where: Your home, on your time, at your discretion.  Skype interviews will be scheduled at the beginning of the course and every month following (a total of 4 "face-to-face" interviews -- Skype is a free video conference service -- I'll even send you the webcam as a part of your subscription).

Why: You may have not received instructions on how to be the "best".  You may have an idea of a hockey referee who you want to emulate, but have no idea how to get to that elite leve.  You now understand that someone has finally provided you with a blueprint to best your best:



How: Simply click on the "Subscribe" button below.  You will start you receive your material once you have completed the subscription of $25 per month.  Your membership includes:

• Weekly video messages and tutorials on a variety of subjects such as "How to conquer your doubts," and "How to Use Self-Talk Like a Champion".  

• A monthly newsletter that you will receive in the mail, your own copy of Strategies and Techniques that you can reference during the hockey season (See an Example Here)

• I'll also throw in a whole host of  FREE Stuff: 

 

·         A copy of my book, The SWAT Team Training Manual - a $47.00 value 

·         Exclusive Video Mail Workout Tips & Secret Weapons Referee Tips - $9.95 in value

·         Blog Updates for the UO Blog, “Hockey is Life” - a $19.00 value

·         A copy of the Ultimate Officials Power Skating Series 1 DVD – a $17.00 value

·         A copy of the accompanying Power Skating Manual – a $7.00 value

CLICK ON THE SUBSCRIBE BUTTON TO BELOW 

 P.S. All information is GUARANTEED to improve your as an official or I return your money, PLUS you get to keep all of the information.  Hit the subscribe button below:

I Found this to Be Slightly Amusing

Definitely not fall on the floor laughing, but still enough to make you crack a smile.  At least the following line has to make you smile:

"That the Pens are gonna fall like...Like that pr*ck Matt Cooke when he tries to fight":


http://www.team1200.com/audio/SensiGottaFeeling.mp3

The 2010 NHL Playoffs (something to pump you up):

The Road to the Cup:



The Great One:



History Will Be Made:



Don Cherry chimes in...Hey, HS Ref Camp Guys!  Remember my insistence on you guys playing "Franchise"?  It's so you start picking up on stuff like Malkin did with the Senators bench.  Bring your game to the next level.

(Speaking of "next level", take a look at Crosby's sick moves)

Once Again...Justice is Served

The answer = yep.

(a little props to our MN boy #78 Brian Mach)

Bucci Says It Best for Referees

If you have been following this blog for any length of time, you know that I love to read John Buccigross from ESPN.  His writing is funny, a bit out-of-the-box, and, most improtant to me, very passionate.  The guy loves NHL hockey and gives us just a little different view on the sport than your average "vanilla-plain" NHL sportswriter.

I read this following excerpt from Bucci, and I thought of the life of a hockey referee immediately:

Hello Mr. Buccigross,

I am currently a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, majoring in communication. I, like many of my fellow freshmen, have asked myself what it is I want to set myself up for when I get out of school. After thinking about it, I realized my dream is to find myself in a similar career as yours. The real reason I wanted to e-mail you today is to ask what you did (as far as schooling and previous jobs) to get to this point in your career. Any tips are more than welcome, as well!

Ryan Anderson

I am asked this question a lot, and it is understandable. If there was e-mail when I was in high school and college, I would have sent Chris Berman an e-mail asking the same question.  

The only advice I can give you is from my path.  

My parents gave me a tape recorder when I was 12, and from that day on, I knew I wanted to be either a professional athlete or broadcaster for those who were playing. This was pre-ESPN, so my dream was play-by-play. I played with my tape recorder as a play-by-play man and disc jockey.

I chose a college, Heidelberg University in Ohio, small enough to compete in NCAA sports and equipped with a campus radio station (DJ), a school newspaper (writing) and a campus television station (broadcasting). I was there for four years.

Then, I was willing to work for free, five days a week, for five months at a small television station on Cape Cod while working part time at Chess King (simultaneously proving my passion for television and lack of long-term fashion trends). Then, I was willing to go to an even smaller cable station in the next town over and work there for more than five years for about $17,000 a year. This was poverty wages considering I had a wife and two kids. I ate pasta most nights and qualified for free baby formula (not for me) and, yes, cheese. Eventually, I increased my small salary by also getting a job at an all-news and talk radio station; I had to get up at 5:45 a.m. to record 60-second sports reports that ran all morning. This paid $6,500 a year, which was like hitting the lottery at the time. I no longer had to put grocery expenses on my credit card.

Later, I got a job at a larger station in Providence, R.I. (44th-biggest market in the United States at the time). This was my first real foray in television news. I was in Providence two years before I somehow wound up working 30 feet from Berman's desk at ESPN. I was 30 years old.

Besides that quick rundown, how did I get here? Again, I'm not really sure. Ryan, all I can give you in terms of advice is my approach, which may not be the best for everyone, I suppose. I didn't call in sick until my 15th year in the business. (Watch. Tomorrow: BUBONIC PLAGUE!) I've tried to write and/or read each word with all I've got, knowing effortless talent has never been my companion in anything except eating mozzarella sticks. So, I'd better write from the heart, and I'd better have decent hair.

I didn't listen to anyone else when I was young and poor because I believed that everyone was wrong and let chance furnish me with what I needed. And when someone like you asks me how I got such a cool job and how I've had the opportunity and honor to write a hockey column for the past 10 years, I tell them "accidental birth year and pure, unadulterated luck." I got lucky, babe. I hope you do, too.

Wow, that sounds a lot like the life of a referee who wants to make it big -- go out, bust your butt, drives 1 zillion miles on your car, go work some Squirt D's at 7:00 a.m. on New Year's Day, give up your Thanksgiving, Christmas Break, Valentine's, and any other social function/holiday that the rest of the 'normal' world thinks you should attend.  Don't forget to bust your butt, working out like a Banshee when no one is watching (did he say he recorded himself in his bedroom when no one was listening?  I know that Clay Matvick did that, too!).  Oh yeah, I also forgot to say that you need to have the MOST extreme Mental Tuffness, carry a MUCH higher level of expectation, and go about your business when those around you just want to slack off.  Oh...don't forget the luck.  Definitely gotta be lucky. 

Mr. Buccigross...thanks for the career advice!

You Need to Be on Your Toes for Anything/Everything

Ouch...own goal.  Good thing there was no stick swinging...

I'm Such a Sports Rube

Any of you out there like me? Have sports on your brain most of the time? Watch sports on T.V. most of the time?  Open up the newspaper and IMMEDIATELY go to the 'Sports Section'?  You maybe even don't get to the rest of the paper?  Watch Sportscenter on the T.V. for "news of the day"?

Any of you out there like me?

For those of you like me, you've gotta have some fun this week, eh?  Masters golf...NCAA Frozen Four...heck, I'm such a rube, I'll watch some of my UO Brothers at the USA Hockey National Championships!

*****************

The House Always Wins

This is me in a nutshell career-wise = I substitute teach for a day job (I love working with kids) and I watch hockey games (occassionally reffing in them, too - like 91 of them this season) at night.  Two jobs that I absolutely love!

The problem is that I don't belong to an office/work place/building, so I no longer get in on the NCAA pools/football picks/Super Bowl numbers/Master's pools.  I mean...c'mon...the best part of all of this is talking trash with your fellow participants.

My wife's career is in management, so it is big-time frowned upon her if she joins an office pool, so she's got nobody either.

Well...we've got each other now.  BR (ie 'bragging rights') in the house and we bet each other and trash talk each other.  We will forget the part that she currently has the BR, because I lost the NCAA by  4 points, and we will focus on two major events this weekend: (1) Miami needs to beat Boston College in hockey for me to win that pool, and (2) we are going to draft for the Master's tournament.

Who should I draft?  Click on comments and let me know.

* On a side note: What does all this betting and watching sports amount to?  (1) entertainment, (2) ongoing interest in a 'speacialized way' of current events, and (3) it fuels my competitive desire. 

** STARTING MAY 1st -- Ultimate Officials Mental Tuffness Training Begins.  

email me and say, "Bring It" for more information: info@ultimateofficials.com

Hey, Carl...Get More Red Lights Ready!

Cuz I'm playing at New Hope in the District 3 Referee Hockey game today (I Always Love that One):