Review of "The Whistleblower"

No, don't let the title of the book fool you - this blog has not changed to review political books.  Instead, this one is a very good book on the life of a college basketball referee. 

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:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/161168451X/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sin?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sin-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=161168451X&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-whistleblower-bob-katz/1120745294;jsessionid=4F8727EB2CE5E26DA04235FE204BDCB1.prodny_store02-atgap05?ean=9781611684513&st=AFF&2sid=Goodreads,%20Inc_2227948_NA&sourceId=AFFGoodreads,%20Inc