Between the Stripes

This book has obviously been written for those who officiate, umpire, referee and judge sporting events. It has also been purposely designed for leaders in business, other professions and avocations to encourage “thinking outside the box” while establishing, reviewing or modifying their philosophy of leadership. If you look at this book only as through the eyes of a sports official, the “covers” may be too far apart…so read between the lines! Hopefully this book will help trap you into doing your own thinking for developing, re-thinking or re-framing your own leadership style. In other words, the author is challenging you to personalize your own style of leadership and make it work for you. The author also believes that many of you will be more focused in your philosophy of leadership and rewarded if you apply some of these thoughts and concepts to your own life style. For the officials who read this book, a special suggestion! This book should be reviewed (for sure) three times during your career: at the beginning, the middle and the end. The opportunity to reflect on these thoughts will present a different perspective each time around. For sports officials, it will enhance your concepts of what the best officials and crew leaders do in order to be successful. There really wasn’t much to writing this book! All the author had to do was think of every good and bad game, every good and poor game officiated that he was a part of or had observed over the past forty years and sit down at a computer. Another way to look at it is that you are not paying for this book as the author did but only the cost of the printing! The author would like to answer the question that some may ask regarding why he used the format of quotations to present his point of view. As a former school teacher, coach, official, school administrator and professor for over forty years, he observed the power of using quotations to communicate in the school house and on the football field was very effective in motivating people. For over thirty years the author has collected quotations from a wide variety of sources including books, newspapers, radio, TV, movies, Internet, clinics, conferences, casual conversations, and any other place one could find pithy expressions that could be transformed into insightful and/or provocative thoughts about leadership and sports officials. The author found quotations to be a powerful tool to motivate his football crews individually and collectively, to improve their expectations, to set goals and become more effective officials. It will become very obvious to the readers that the author’s comments will not tell you something you don’t already know, but hopefully will broaden your scope of understanding some of the concepts of leadership and officiating shared in this book. I also realize that many of these quotations would be much more believed if you were told Ben Franklin said it first! This book represents the third in a series of books written in this format style. The first is MANAGING THE GAME and the second is BETWEEN THE STRIPES: ZANY ZEBRA ZINGERS. The author has also published a book with over seventy stories about his officiating career in the Big 8 and Bit XII Football Conference titled WHY I DON’T BOO OFFICIALS. This book will be followed by a sequel: BETWEEN THE STRIPES: A LEADER’S PLAYBOOK FOR EARNING YOUR STRIPES PART II. Another book is also scheduled to be published within a year devoted to three topics: Poor Officiating, The Pregame Conference and Supervisors/Observers. Following are some examples of the philosophy and content of the book BETWEEN THE STRIPES: A LEADER’S PLAYBOOK FOR EARNING YOUR STRIPES PART I. *THE BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT THE REFEREE CAN MAKE WHEN CONFRONTED BY AN IRATE COACH IS TO ANSWER THE QUESTION HE IS NOT ASKING. *THE ULTIMATE TEST OF THE CHARACTER OF AN OFFICIAL IS HOW HE ACTS AFTER OFFICIATING THE POOREST GAME OF HIS CAREER. *SUCCESSFUL OFFICIALS HAVE SIMPLY FORMED THE HABIT OF DOING THE THINGS THAT UNSUCCESSFUL OFFICIALS WILL NOT DO. *A GOOD REFEREE AND BOXER SHARE THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD PUNCH (TALENT) AND CLEVER FOOTWORK (TACT). *YOU DON’T WIN EVERY PLAY, EVERY QUARTER OR EVEN EVERY GAME. SOMETIMES THE DRAGON WINS. *THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OFFICIATING A GOOD GAME AND A GREAT GAME IS HOW THE CREW HANDLES PLAN B. *THE BEST OFFICIALS KNOW HOW TO ACCEPT REJECTION AND ALSO HOW TO REJECT ACCEPTANCE. *IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT TO DO IN OFFICIATING A GAME BUT IT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT. *THE QUALITY OF THE MISTAKES A CREW MAKES DEFINES THE CREW. *EXPERIENCED OFFICIALS RECOGNIZE A MISTAKE BEFORE IT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN A SECOND TIME. *OFFICIATING SIMPLY BOILS DOWN TO BEING ONLY AS GOOD AS THE LAST GAME YOU OFFICIATED. *A GOOD CREW DOES NOT LET THE ROOKIE ADDED TO THE CREW FEEL LIKE A SIDE DISH THEY DIDN’T ORDER. *SOMETIMES THE SECRET OF WORKING A GREAT GAME DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU DON’T DO. *A GOOD OFFICIAL WILL SOLVE PROBLEMS ON THE FIELD; THE BEST OFFICIALS FIND WAYS TO AVOID HAVING PROBLEMS. *A GOOD TECHNIQUE FOR AN OFFICIAL IS TO KNOW WHEN TO LET A CONFLICT DIE. *SOME REFEREES RUN INTO PROBLEMS WHEN THEY TRY TO PUT A FAMILIAR SOLUTION TO THE WRONG PROBLEM. *A GOOD REASON NOT TO ARGUE WITH A COACH IS THAT USUALLY HIS JOB DEPENDS ON NOT BEING CONVINCED. *IT IS OKAY TO HEAR A COACH WHO IS YELLING AT YOU BUT TO ONLY LISTEN WHEN HE IS TALKING TO YOU. *WHEN MY BROTHER WHOSE BASEMENT IS A FOOTBALL SHRINE WENT TO A TROPHY SHOP, HIS COMMENT WAS, “BOY THIS GUY IS REALLY GOOD.” *IF YOU “BLOW” THE BIGGEST CALL OF THE GAME AND YOU BELIEVE THE WORLD IS AGAINST YOU, DON’T FORGET THERE ARE A FEW COUNTRIES THAT ARE STILL NEUTRAL. *BEWARE OF THE COACH WHO WILL ONLY CORRECTLY QUOTE YOU IF IT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WISH YOU HADN’T SAID. *A GOOD REMINDER FOR THE ROOKIE IN THE CREW IS “NOT TO DROWN THE CREW MEMBER WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO SWIM.” *WHEN VISITING WITH A COACH, BEING AT A LOSS FOR WORDS HAS SAVED MANY OFFICIATING CAREER.