LFTP: Ejection of Jean Machi

You need the sound on for this one because it's a good one.  Relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox gets ejected in the game between the Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.  This game was a pitcher's duel with the score 0-0 through 6 innings.

Fast forward to the top of the 9th, the Rays are up 4-0 when the Red Sox brings in Jean Machi with one out to pitch to Asdrubal Cabrera.  With the count 1-1, Cabrera hits the next pitch out of the park for a home run.  Steven Souza Jr. is up next for the Rays; with the first pitch of the at-bat, Machi throws a pitch that sails over Souza's head.  Home plate umpire Bill Welke immediately ejects Machi.

Now that you are caught up, listen to the obnoxious fan in this clip.  Here what he's saying?  In case you missed it:

• "Come on Blue, get a grip will ya?"
• Hey Blue, get a grip.  We're losing, idiot!"
• "Hey Blue, wake up Blue!"
• "It's 5 to nothing!"
• "You suck, Ump!"

There's a couple things to learn here:

1. Ignore the fans.  Most of them don't know the rules or the responsibilities of being an official.
2. Do not let the score prevent you from calling the game fairly.

Fans are not responsible for knowing the rules, that is the job of the officials.  Fans are also not impartial; impartiality is the responsibility of the officials.  Bill Welke, "in his judgement", determined that Machi was throwing intentionally throwing at the batter, which is unsporting and resulted in the ejection.

On the hardwood, when A1 (Team A, Player 1) gets stripped by B1 (Team B, Player 1) and B1 is now on a fast break, keep an eye out on A1 for retaliation.  This can come in the form of a hard foul or even worse, a two handed push in the back.  Know the game situation and administer the game accordingly.

Also, keep a deaf ear to the fans.  Do not let them "bully" you into making calls or changing your call.  There's nothing worse than hearing "3 seconds!" being yelled from the crowd and then seeing the official blow a 3-second violation.  That damages the credibility of the officials.

Lastly, do not let the score prevent you from calling the game fairly.  When one team is up 25 points, it's easy to go into "cruise control" and try to get the game over as quickly as possible.  But do not forget what you are there for: to enforce the rules and prevent injuries.  Just because the game is a blowout, does not mean that the players are not playing their hardest.  If there is a hard foul...it still needs to be called.  If the officials swallow their whistles during a blowout, it's essentially telling the players to "have at it".  Remember we need to be an enforcer of the rules and we are blind to the score of the game.

LFTP: Dead-ball Officiating (HOU v. LAC)

Watch the video above.  It was taken from the 2015 Western Semifinals Game 3 between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers.

This video has can teach us from following two points:

1. The post play from Dwight Howard
2. The dead-ball officiating 

Post Play from Dwight Howard

• There was initial contact between Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan.  Would you have called this a foul?
• Contact was initiated by Howard.  This is a correct no-call.  Notice that Jordan had this arms down and the contact did not result in a disadvantage for Howard.
• The subsequent contact between Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan was correctly ruled a foul.  What did you see?
• Jordan was playing behind Howard (bad position to be as a defender) and reached across to get him on the arm as Howard was going up.

Dead-Ball Officiating

This video is a reminder that just because the whistle has blown, does not mean that officials get to let their guard down.  NBA officials have the benefit of replay.  We do not.  In the video above, Jason Terry ran into Blake Griffin after the whistle has already blown.  This was ruled to be a dead-ball foul and resulted in an ejection of Jason Terry.

The takeaway here is that as officials, if we look away or let our guard down during dead-ball situations, then we will be apt to miss sneaky fouls.  Dead-ball situations are a good opportunity for officials to be proactive.

Practical takeaways:

• After calling a foul, hold for a few extra seconds to make sure that the play has completely ended.  
• For example, A1 goes for a layup, B1 crashes into A1 causing the foul and both players go on the floor.  While on the floor, A1 pushes B1 off with a two-hand shove.  If the referee has bailed on the play after calling the initial contact, then that referee will probably miss the subsequent dead-ball contact from the players.
• If your partner has called a foul and has gone to report the foul, keep an eye on all the players and see if there are any extra-curricular activities going on between the players.
• Players from opposing teams talking to each other in a non-friendly manner.
• Light pushes/slaps ("Get off of me")

The dead-ball period is when players will often relax and catch their breath, but necessarily so for officials!  Officials must remain proactive during this time and maintain control of the game.




The embedded video above is from NBA.com (Original link here).  PVOA does not claim any ownership of the above video.  Posting of this video is used for training/educational purposes only.

LFTP: Ejection of Terry Francona

Watch the video above.  Anything to learn?  No, I'm not talking about whether that pitch was low, I'm talking about the interaction between Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona and MLB umpire Ron Kulpa (an MLB umpire for over 15 years).

While the video does not explicitly show the actions of Kulpa, the announcers describe it around the 0:19 mark.  Francona, not happy with the call starts walking up the steps to the dugout and Kulpa waves his hand at him brushing him off in a "Nope.  Stay back.  I don't want to talk to you" manner.

Francona believes (read: interprets) the action to be extremely disrespectful and lets Kulpa hear about it on his way to being ejected.

In MLB, players/coaches are not allowed to argue balls and strikes.  Doing so is an automatic ejection so Francona was gone anyway.  However, the actions of the umpire here did not help his cause and he probably lost some credibility with the Indians organization because of it.

Take away from this video: We are all going to make bad calls or have bad games.  During those trying times, despite what we hear from the players, fans, or coaches, we need to remember that we are called to be above the fray.  One call or one game does not define your abilities as an official, but how you act during that game may give you a reputation going forward.


Some points:

• We are human, we make mistakes.
• Players, fans, and coaches deserve our respect.
• Remember what you say and what you can be interpreted differently by different people.  Do not do or say anything that may put you in a bad light.
• If there is a legitimate question, there needs to be a legitimate answer.  That answer, sometimes, can be "I missed it Coach.  I'll get it next time."
• Note: However, coaches have to be respectful at the same time.
• Do not tell a head coach "You can't talk to me." or brush him/her off.
• Note: Their request to talk has to be during a reasonable time of the game like a dead-ball and has to be a legitimate question.

Introducing: Learn From The Pros (LFTP)

I will start out this blog by saying:

Having goals in life is important.  

This probably isn't the first time you've heard this and definitely won't be the last.  Goals tell us where we are going, what we are hoping to achieve, and how we hope to get there.  Without goals, we are merely trying to walk up against an escalator going down (see the futility?).  You might still get where you are going........eventually.  But you will waste a lot of effort getting there.

Suppose you want to be a judge when you grow up.  That is not going to happen overnight and you will have to set realistic goals in how to attain that dream:

• Do well in school, get good grades
• Study hard for tests, ace the standardized tests
• Stay out of trouble
• Go to college and get a good degree
• Work hard and get into law school
• Study and pass the bar
• Find a job with a law-firm
• etc
• etc
• etc

The same applies to our jobs as officials and referees.  Being a referee is a great exercise (for the body and the mind) and a great way to make extra money.  But I hope that we all have goals of being the absolute best referee that we can be.

That does not happen overnight.

We have to set achievable and attainable goals and throughout that journey, be willing to learn from others (the advice, the attitudes and especially, the mistakes).  You are not going to be an all-star referee the moment you pick up that whistle.

Set goals for yourself:

• Learn to blow the whistle (you can't call fouls/violations without blowing air in your whistle!)
• Learn the mechanics and responsibilities of a referee
• Know the rules
• The violations
• The fouls
• The miscellaneous
• Learn how to apply the rules correctly
• Learn how to keep players under control
• Learn how to deal with coaches with authority, yet be humble and respectful
• etc
• etc
• etc

Introducing: Learn from the Pros (LFTP)

Going along with that setting goals, we should take example and learn from our brothers and sisters who have made it big (I'm talking about the pros here).  Learn from what they do right and more importantly, what they do wrong.

This blog series will highlight officials from MLB, NBA, NFL, and others and I'm hoping that through it, you can pick up some pointers that you can apply that your time on the court!