Title/Author:
“The Whistleblower:
Rooting for the Ref in the High-Stakes World of College Basketball” by Bob Katz
Tags:
Basketball, college, officiating,
biography
Publish date:
February 3, 2015
Length:
232 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
No matter the sport, the
job of a referee, official, umpire, or whatever the people in charge of
enforcing the rules of the game are called, it is not an easy job. This book follows one season and part of the
career of one of these people, former college basketball referee Ed
Hightower. It provides a great insight
into the profession and what it takes for someone to succeed in that profession
as author Bob Katz does a nice job of bringing readers onto the court with
Hightower.
Katz not only describes
Hightower's actions on the court, but he also discusses the intricacies into
the profession and why the job of a basketball referee has unique challenges,
such as monitoring the activity of 10 athletes whose quickness and skills will
require the viewing of a situation, analyzing that situation against the
rulebook and making a decision all within a fraction of a second. When described in that context, which Katz
does, and then reading many of the various situations in which Hightower had to
perform this task, it makes the reader truly appreciate what an official in any
sport must do. Even if that fan is one
who will vehemently disagree with said official if the call goes against that
fan's team.
Hightower's life off the
court is also a topic of discussion in the book, as he continued his education
and eventually became the administrator for a school district. These duties don't go away when Hightower was
on the road, and Katz writes about how he balanced these duties while on the
road, usually during an Upper Midwest winter as Hightower's primary referee
duties were for the Big Ten conference. How Hightower was able to
juggle this, family duties and the travel involved in his "second"
job is nothing short of amazing.
While the book focuses
primarily on Hightower, it would be incorrect to label this as a
"biography" as Katz delves deeply into the profession of basketball
officiating more than the life of Ed Hightower.
It becomes clear to a reader that Katz becomes more focused on
officials, leading to the last chapter when he does what the title of the book
says he will do and "roots" for the referee.
While this book does not
tell everything about Ed Hightower or everything one can on the profession,
this is one that any basketball fan will enjoy as it will give a good
perspective of what the people in the striped shirts deal with in their
profession – of course, this is in addition to the fans, players and coaches
who believe that their version of what happened is the correct one and that the
ref is _______. Fill in that blank with
whatever insult or negative connotation you wish.
Book Format Read:
E-book (PDF)
Buying Links:
Well written, good idea for book. A really good inside view of the life of a college basketball official and a reminder of how difficult the job truly is.
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