European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 25, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Doily Magazine nobody loves referee by Tony Kornheiser new York they Are blamed for anything that goes wrong in the basketball and ignored when every thing goes claim there coaches swear there fans scream there the safest Call they can make is for a cab to drive them away from the nobody loves a Don Murphy has been officiating in the National basketball association for the last 14 and whenever people ask him what you have to do to become an Aba he tells Vou have to flunk out of a mental by design its a life of referees Are not allowed to Stav in the same As not Al Lowed to fraternize with players or not even allowed to Tell anyone which games they have been assigned to a referees shirt is his pants Are Black and his suitcase is always packed for his tour of on night his Rule Book and airline guide in for As Manv As us games a including regular season games and his world consists of air Arenas and hotel rooms the names Shera ramada and Hilton Are More familiar to him than the names of his children Hes a travelling judge for the a and sometimes he gets Verv it gels bad in january and when youre heading into the last leg of the said Wall who worked a recent Knic spacers game at the Garden with if the weather is and maybe you cant get a flight out of the Coull Start Why am i doing this but youve got to Block out the loneliness like you Block out the Boos from the i Start thinking about my wife and my kids Happy i Clear in out and Tell myself in damned Lucite to be and i go on to the next there Are 22 full time referees in the de pending upon seniority and playoff they earn Between and per most of them Are family about on Quarter of them Are the average age of an Aba referee is the average height is 5 feel 11 almost All were athletes either in High school or and they became referees because they wanted to Stav involved in sports they All say it takes guts to be a cuts and Good legs youve got to have Good said who does 15 minutes of stretching exercises before each game and wears Thermal underwear to Aid the circulation in his when the wheels go on its time to get Murphy is he and his live in Finney a suburb of Thev have seven Chil Dren and one in the course of an Aba Murphy will spend no More than 10 Davs per month at but he tries to Call his wife each Day that he is on the they talk about the kids and the business he owns a garage door distributorship but rarely about they have been married for 28 and although she sometimes fears for him most of the players Are so big and some of the fans Are crazy mrs Murphy always packs dons special officials making sure that he has three pair of socks for every his Thermal in his alarm his Rule Book and his report Book also in that which an official carries onto an never putting it through with the rest of his lug is Murphys airline guide s a reps Bible and the bottle of distilled water for the Contact lenses he wears during games got tired of hearing people Sav i was Blind i got my eyes and damned if Nev we rent All right i on the a referees life follows a numbing varying Only with the weather in a league to kill the for in a War weather Civ like los Angeles or Murphy will go swim Ming option int open to him in frigid cities like Buffalo or for the most Murphy passes his time by watching Reading the local newspapers checking the sports and the weather first window Mavec a movie and napping if he has a Friend in Murphy might Call and get together fur or if the ref assigned to work with him gets in town Thuv might play Gin Rummy i usually like to Lav Down Between 3 and 5 Oclock before a a Little Nap after my pregame after noon Murphy said but i dont sleep Loo Long be cause if 1 do i feel sort of Loggy during the and hurts bad after the ill unwind with a couple of Beers and then cat a Sandwich and go to if 1 can its not what you Call a glamorous but you get used to and its still a thrill to do a game in front of 000 or people and know that youre an important part of even if Thuv Are not coming to Sec Vou the never thought of myself As an entertainer some rets think there showmen in not a Showbiz i dont think officials should be noticed out there the less there the better Thev Ive been in the league for 14 and same people Stilt dont know who i that for the Madison Square Garden Murphy hew into u Guardia Airport from Washington at 10 and by ii be was in the Aba office watching game films its mandatory that each official watch us game films on at least two of his trips to new York per by 1 Murphy was Back in his hotel Dick another called to say and Rooney also but there was no Gin since Rooney was at Home with his family so Murphy spent the Dav alone with his his television and his an hour before the he walked across the Street to Madison Square Garden and went to the officials kicker room to prepare for the when Rooney came they talked about the teams they be working with that night and did their stretching just before game Murphy ate a chocolate for habit As much As put in his Contact lenses and smoked a then came the an easy game to work be tween two teams that were playing out the last few games of a lost and z Houn is minutes the kicks flew off to Buffalo the pacers flew off to Indiana Rooney drove Home to his family and Murphy went Back to his hotel to Wash his uniform and Check the airline guide april 1977 the stars and stripes Page 13