This Magazine and Me

By Bill Topp

I like to tell the story.

I started as an intern nearly 20 years ago. Fell into it really. It was after my sophomore year at Wisconsin-Parkside. I wanted to be a sports writer. I took an umpiring class with the Wisconsin Umpires Association. Didn’t know I wanted to be an official — not yet at least. It was there that I became aware of Referee magazine. I fell in love with officiating and learned that I could combine it with journalism. Nirvana. After more than 2,000 games in three sports and 230 of our 400 issues, I’ve learned a few things.

Officiating is easy. Just ask retired NFL umpire Ron Botchan. He worked like a gazillion Super Bowls during a stellar career. When we published a story about him, we asked him why he was so successful: “Do what they say, be quiet and get the job done.” Coachable.

Officiating is hard. Like the torturous experience for high school basketball referee Tom Kline, who worked years to get the big game and missed the final call. The anxiety knowing the wrong team won the championship ate at him for years. Nightmares.

Publishing is easy. The story of Bret Chernik wrote itself. A promising ice hockey career derailed by a tragic car accident in which Chernik stopped to help a motorist in need. The loss of his leg didn’t stop his comeback on the ice. Courage.

Publishing is hard. I wrote the story “A Rose by Any Other Name” about Gene Calhoun, a college football officiating icon who refereed all of the big bowl games and worked as Big Ten supervisor. Attorney, school board member, husband, father … and cocaine addict. The opening line of the story was, “With Gene Calhoun, what you see is what you get.” Not always. While the story was at the printer (and couldn’t be stopped), Calhoun was arrested for cocaine possession. The model citizen and disciplined, lifetime teetotaler? Impossible, but true. Sad.

Craziest interview: Bob “Hubba Jubba!” Moss, an amateur baseball umpire and full-time laughing expert (No joke; he gives motivational speeches on the power of laughter). Hubba Jubba was so excited about his interview that he brought about 20 family and friends over — to the interview — and they all stayed. The whole time.

Best story: Phil Luckett, NFL official. From the notorious coin toss to his “non-suspension” suspension from the league, to his move from the referee position to his retirement and his mission work, I haven’t met a man who was under such intense scrutiny and carried himself with such dignity and grace. We hired audio technicians to prove Jerome Bettis made a double-call of “heads-tails” and we felt like we were defending all officials, not just Luckett. We’d do it again.

Person I most felt sorry for: The poor high school referee from a little town in Oklahoma who truly believed he had an NFL official on his high school crew, not look-alike imposter Stephen Peterson. The crew got playoff games, stories in local papers, lots of good PR because this guy convinced them all he was an NFL official who was giving back to the high school game. The duped crew chief was hurt by all of the deceit — and so was the entire town of Shawnee.

Dumbest thing I’ve done: The staff helped me whittle this down from about 19,271 entries. When I first started here, I had a college buddy who would call once in a while and he thought it was funny to impersonate big-name officials when he called. He knew nothing about officiating, so he would just pick names he heard on TV. He was amused that the assistant answering the phone would have to say, “Bill, Darell Garretson on line 3,” or “Bill, Doug Harvey on line 2.”

In my third month, an assistant buzzed my office and said, “Jerry Markbreit on line 1.” I didn’t want to be bothered by my comic buddy, so I answered the phone, “What the hell do you want?” What I heard back: “Excuse me, this is Jerry Markbreit, NFL referee” — and it was! I started to pack up my belongings as I knew that was my last day at Referee. I apologized profusely to Mr. Markbreit and explained exactly why I said that, completely throwing my dumbass friend under the bus. I’ll never forget Jerry’s response: He laughed. I was saved.

Things often get serious here. There are lockouts and lawsuits and assaults and unfair treatment — we see amazing things every day. Yet I sure am glad I attended that umpire training two decades ago. As we celebrate our 400th issue, it is a great time to reflect — and to laugh. If you don’t believe me, ask Hubba Jubba.

Bill Topp is the vice president of publishing and management services for Referee.