Tim higgins referee biography sample

I may be one of a small group of people that will read every word of Dana O'Neil's ESPN article on veteran college basketball referee Tim Higgins.

When the casual fan watches a college hoops game, they're focusing on the star players, the marquee coaches and the student sections.

Having attended hundreds of on-campus Big East tilts over the better part of 21 years, I have a general idea of the tempo of the game before tip-off.

Once I see the trio of officials, the complexion of the 40 minutes has already been decided.

And, that's what makes O'Neil's look at the lifestyle of a college basketball referee so interesting.

Sometimes we forget that these refs work day jobs too-- as vice presidents of sales companies and high school principals (see Tim Higgins and Bob Donato).

We also forget about the grief they get from players, fans and coaches for two hours straight every night.

Nobody officiates a perfect game and even I lose sight of that occasionally.

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