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No one can count on getting food on an airplane these days. Even if you are on one of the rare flights where food is served, it is often inedible. I have been stuck on runways for hours, left in airports late at night when all the concessions are closed and just bored on flights. My new rule is not to get on a plane without snacks. I usually don't think about it until I'm in the airport, but hate being ripped off for a $2.79 candy bar or bag of chips. I always ask my husband what snacks he wants before I start to stock up. His answer is always the same: "I don't want anything." That lasts until the drink cart starts to roll down the aisle and he asks, "Do we have anything to eat?" I don't fall for that anymore. Recently I was in my favorite place to buy snacks in the Pittsburgh airport...the Rite-Aid located next to McDonalds. A man was raving about the great prices because he was so used to getting ripped off for everything he bought in airports around the country. I told him that when they built the Pittsburgh airport, all the stores had to agree to keep the prices the same as in their other locations. It doesn't help if the store is one only located in airports because the prices are high in all of their locations. But in a store that has locations outside of airports, you get the same prices plus weekly sale items. My last buying spree got me two bags of potato chips, two packs of tissues, two rolls of Mentos, the movie size box of Junior Mints, a six pack of Twix, a bag of Kit Kat minis and a bag of cheddar popcorn for a grand total of $12.84. I had plenty for myself, the husband (who of course had said he didn't want anything) and my seatmates. So shop wisely and eat plenty of junk food. It will make your flight much more pleasant!

Have you ever considered the part that angels played in the Christmas story? Angels, you see, are more than ornaments to hang on a tree or pictures for our children to color.  Those things are reminders to us that God worked through angels to make the Christmas story a reality. I want you to get to know four of these Christmas angels. The Angel of ANNOUNCEMENT We are introduced to Mary in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel.  Mary is probably a teenager—a young, ordinary girl living in a small Galilean village.  But then in the midst of Mary’s work-a-day life, an angel appears.  You can imagine how shocked and confused Mary is by this heavenly visitor. The angel delivers a message that rocks Mary’s world: “You will be with child.”  Even more amazing, the child she will carry is destined to become the savior of the world!  The angel even tells Mary what the child’s name will be—Jesus.  For the first time in history, the savior’s name is spoken, and it comes on the lips of an angelic messenger. “But how can this be?” Mary asks.  Yes, she is engaged to Joseph, a good and honorable man.  But she is still a virgin.  How, then, can the angel’s words be true? The angel’s answer is mysterious.  All of this will be accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit.  The angel gives no details and Mary asks no questions.  The angel’s parting words are enough to embolden Mary’s faith and accept the truth of what he has said: “Nothing is impossible with God.” The Angel of ASSURANCE We pick up the story in the pages of Matthew’s gospel.  Here we begin to see things from Joseph’s point of view.  Mary, it seems, is with child, but it isn’t Joseph’s child.  What should he do?  If he makes a public fuss, Mary will not only be humiliated, but might also be charged with adultery—a capital crime under Jewish law.  But Joseph is a “righteous” man.  After careful thought, he decides that a quiet, private divorce is the answer. As he sleeps, Joseph is visited by an angel.  “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,” he says.  This is God’s work.  The child Mary carries is not conceived by man, but by the Holy Spirit.  Again we hear the child’s name.  It’s Jesus.  It’s a name that defines exactly what this child will accomplish in his earthly work.  The angel sums it up perfectly: “He will save his people from their sins.” The angel’s words have their desired effect.  Joseph responds with a faith-filled obedience: “He did what the angel of the Lord had commanded.”  Taking Mary home, he waits for God to fulfill His promise. The Angel of ADORATION With a stroke of Caesar’s pen, every able-bodied man in the empire must return to his hometown.  Little does the emperor know that God Himself is working behind the scenes to insure that each and every prophecy concerning the coming of the savior will be fulfilled. Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem under difficult circumstances.  Crowds await them when they arrive and every inn is filled to capacity.  The only space available to them is a stable, dimly lit and filled with livestock.  In these humble surroundings, Mary gives birth to the promised one. This news can’t be kept quiet.  God wants to broadcast this holy event to the world.  But who does He choose to receive this glorious announcement?  Is it the king in his palace?  Or the priests in their temple?  No, it’s a band of shepherds huddled together on a hillside fighting off the cold night air. Once again, God dispatches an angel.  Bathed in light, he shares the good news—the savior is born!  Then he gives the shepherds a sign to follow. The child will be wrapped in strips of cloth with a feeding trough for a bed. But there’s more.  This message is deserving of heavenly praise!  The angel is joined by countless others who lift their voices in a hymn of adoration: “Glory to God in the highest!” In this part of the Christmas story, we see a whole string of firsts.  By sharing their news, the angels become the first ones to proclaim the gospel message.  Then they begin to sing.  Why is this a first?  It’s actually the world’s first gospel song.  When the angels depart, the shepherds follow the sign they’ve been given and locate the child.  Then they “spread the word” concerning the savior, becoming the world’s first missionaries. The Angel of ASSISTANCE It’s tempting to end the story with the angels and the shepherds.  But there’s one more angel to step onto the stage.  Magi from the east make the long journey to the holy land searching for the savior.  When King Herod learns of their visit, he fears that the child might be a threat to his throne.  In desperation, he concocts a plan to put the child to death. God, of course, knows the mad king’s heart.  He sends an angel to Joseph with a warning and a command.  The angel appears in a dream, warning Joseph that King Herod “is going to search for the child to kill him.”  But there is no reason to fear.  God has a plan to protect His promised one.  “Get up,” the angel tells him, “and escape to Egypt.  Stay there until I tell you.” And how does Joseph respond to the angel’s words?  With complete obedience: “So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.”  It was through the voice of an angel that God kept the Christ-child safe from harm. What’s the takeaway from all of this? Every Christmas we’re reminded that God speaks.  How does He speak?  In the Christmas story, He speaks through his angelic messengers.  Today He speaks through His word.  Are we listening? And what’s our response to what God says?  Like Mary and Joseph, we should let His word fuel our faith.  Then we can respond with obedience.  That’s what God is looking for in His people—an obedient faith. My prayer is that the angels of the Christmas story will help you to hear what God is saying and give you an obedient faith of your own. God bless you!

We’ve all seen them this time of year---those bell ringers standing outside local department stores next to their red kettle. Those people ringing the bell are volunteers for The Salvation Army.  As most of you know, The Salvation Army is an organization whose mission is to aid families and individuals in their time of need—whether it is by providing food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless or any number of other charitable acts.  Have you ever wondered how that red kettle came to be part of their campaign? In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee was upset that many people in the San Francisco area were going hungry during the holiday season.  He remembered that as a sailor in Liverpool, England, there was a large iron kettle known as “Simpson’s Pot” at the harbor where the boats came in.   Passersby would toss coins into the kettle to aid the poor.  He decided to place a pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing with a sign that read, “Keep the Pot Boiling.” He soon had all the money he needed to feed the San Francisco area poor during the holidays.  In six short years, his fundraising idea spread from the West Coast to the Boston area, and 150,000 Christmas dinners were served nationwide. Today, more than four and one-half million people in the U.S. benefit from The Salvation Army’s red kettle campaign during the holiday season.  This campaign also helps fund many of The Salvation Army’s projects throughout the year.  Whenever I see the red kettles during the holiday season, they serve as a reminder of how very fortunate I am compared to many others, and I gladly make a contribution.  If we all could give a little, it would mean a lot to those less fortunate.

We all have sounds that make our teeth hurt when we hear them. For some, it’s fingernails on a blackboard.  For others, it’s the sound of a dentist’s drill, or maybe fingers being rubbed across the top of a balloon.  I’m a bit different than most.  For me, it’s the guy in the top row of the gym at a basketball game, bellowing, “ Over the back!!!!!” at the top of his lungs any time a member of the other team tries to secure a rebound from behind an opponent.  I don’t know why it is that this bothers me as much as it does, but the fact is that it does.  Moreover, in talking with my fellow officials over the years, I know that I’m not alone.  Perhaps it’s because we can accept that fans misunderstand some rules, but we draw the line where they try and make up new ones to yell at us about.  Whatever the cause, and as a gift to my brother and sister officials at Christmas time, I’m going to try to put an end to the scourge of the “over the back” believers. I’ve been a basketball official since the day after my first child was born in 1985.  My daughter, Brittany, was born on a Saturday, and on Sunday night I was sitting in the first of what would be hundreds and hundreds of basketball officials’ training classes, listening to officiating Hall of Famer John Howell tell me how little I actually knew about the rules of the game.  Since then I have studied the rules books; taught new and veteran officials about the rules; and even lectured the folks who teach the rules throughout the state.  With all of that study and experience behind me, I can tell you one thing without hesitation or qualification:  there is no such thing as a foul for “over the back.”  It simply does not exist.  In fact, those words do not appear anywhere in the rule book.  I know.  I checked. First of all, folks need to understand that it is not illegal for one player to try to secure a rebound from behind an opposing player.  If you are 5’10” and I am 6’8”, I am always going to try and reach over you from behind to steal a rebound, and doing so is perfectly legal.  Even where players are of equal size, the player from behind will pretty much always try and snag a rebound while he is being boxed out.  Sometimes he is successful, and other times he isn’t.  And yes, sometimes, a foul is called, but it isn’t because he was trying to rebound from behind.  An explanation may help here. Remember that fundamental principle that says “every player is entitled to a spot on the floor provided he gets there first without illegally contacting an opponent”?  There is actually more to it than that.  The “spot on the floor” to which a player is entitled extends from the floor all the way to the ceiling.  That is my space, and once I am in it you aren’t allowed to do anything to push me out of it.  However, you are permitted to reach into that space, again provided that you don’t illegally contact me.  So if you can jump higher than I can, or if you can reach into my space to steal the ball without displacing me, you have done nothing that can be called a foul.  That is one of the reasons that fouls aren’t always called when one player rebounds from behind another.  The other reason is that it happens on pretty much every rebound.  If we were to blow the whistle every time a player tries to rebound from behind, the game would be little more than whistles and free throws (and the accompanying  bellows of “Let ‘em play!!!!!” cascading down from the stands). Remember that there is such a thing as incidental contact.  If there is contact on a rebound, but the player with position is still able to secure the ball without being knocked off balance or otherwise adversely affected, no foul is going to be called.  If, on the other hand, the player being boxed out goes through the other player, actually pushing him out of the way to secure the rebound, then a foul will be called.  But it’s not a foul for “over the back”; it’s a simple displacement foul. So, there you have it in a nutshell.  “Over the back” is the basketball equivalent of Sasquatch and the Easter Bunny.  Fun to talk about, but in the end, a non-entity.  Remember, if you have rules questions or topics you would like to see discussed in this space, feel free to email or comment on our Facebook page. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

‘Tis the season for baking delicious desserts. Pizzelles, chocolate chip and peanut butter blossoms (the ones with the Hershey’s Kisses in the center) are almost always present on the holiday cookie tray. In honor of Christmas, here are some new cookie recipes that are a MUST for your family, and Santa too! Classic Spritz Cookies -1 cup butter, softened -1/2 cup sugar -2 ¼ cups flour -1/4 teaspoon salt -1 egg -1/4 teaspoon of vanilla Directions: -Beat butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with a mixer. -Stir in flour, salt, egg and vanilla. -Place dough into a cookie press or roll into balls and flatten. -Add sprinkles* (or you can add icing at the end). -Bake at 400ºF for 5 to 8 minutes or until brown. -Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack immediately. *If you want to add some color for festivity, add a drop or two of food coloring to the dough. More tips can be found here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/classic-spritz-cookies/aa68df04-bd64-4f1b-8421-0df82064bca4 Icebox Cookies -1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature -1 cup of white granulated sugar -1 large egg -1 ½ teaspoons of pure vanilla extract -2 2/3 cups of flour -1/2 teaspoon baking powder -1/4 teaspoon of salt - ¾ cup of candied red maraschino cherries, chopped. *Add chopped walnuts if wanted. Directions: -Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. -Add egg and vanilla. -Prepare flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl, mix together. -Add dry mixture to butter, sugar, egg and vanilla mixture. -Mix until dough forms. -Stir in cherries and walnuts. -Spread out large sheet of wax or parchment paper. -Spread out dough into three different sections. -Smooth and shape into rectangle log shape (about 7 inches long). -Twist the ends of the paper to seal the dough in. -Place in refrigerator to chill anywhere from three hours to three days (Or freeze for 1 month). -When ready to bake the cookies, slice into ¼ inch thick slices. -Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. -Bake at 375ºF for about 10 minutes. -Cool and enjoy! More tips can be found here: http://www.joyofbaking.com/IceboxCookies.html We hope these cookies find their way on to your cookie tray this Christmas.

Both of my sons can attest that each Christmas I have about three traditions I do with them. One tradition I started when they were little was letting them open their gifts from ONLY each other on Christmas Eve.  I would usually take them shopping to buy for the other and inevitably, both would pick a toy for the other and most preferably one they would like to play with, too…ha!  By letting them do their gift exchange on Christmas Eve, it gave them a taste of what was to come on Christmas day. It also helped to keep them entertained and encouraged them to get to bed early so Santa could come. My second tradition, and by far my personal favorite, is my “ inability” to get that one gift they really wanted - the “I know you really wanted that this or that, but it’s sold out.”  Of course, there are variations. For instance: I found it but they don’t have it in your size; I’d love to get you that, but it’s just too expensive; or It’s backordered and won’t arrive until after Christmas. Each year, I repeatedly tell one or the other, “In all seriousness, this year I really can’t get it,” but inevitably, they fall for it.  And this is not a present I wrap and put under the tree.  I hide it someplace.  After we’ve opened all of our gifts, I wait for the right time and I ask one of them to do something for me that is very bland and unsuspecting.  Something to the effect of, “Hey Ryan!  Get me a roll of paper towels from the storage pantry.”  And ta-da…he opens the door and there’s THAT ONE GIFT HE REALLY WANTED!  This always brings huge laughter and has added fun to our Christmas. My favorite of the three traditions is my attempt to keep my sons little boys.  Even though they are pretty much adults now, I still look for and buy a toy, book or something they loved from their childhood that will bring back a fun memory for them.  I don’t know if they’ve picked up that this is a tradition of mine or if they think it’s just something fun I like to do, but I purposely get them both a gift that reminds ME of when they were little boys.

This week’s offering about the rules of the game of basketball explores what I believe to be the single most misunderstood play in the game: the block/charge.  As is the case with most of the other rules of the game, years of listening to Dick Vitale, Billy Packer, Bill Walton and other commentators who have very little understanding of the rules has caused the casual fan to have a serious misperception of what the rule requires, and how it is applied.  For instance, most fans believe that in order to “draw a charge” the defender has to be stationary.  Pretty much every time I call a charging foul on the court, I hear someone from the stands screaming at me that “he (the defender) was moving!!!”  The fact is that the rule very specifically provides that a defender is permitted to move while guarding the offensive player, and he can still be in position to draw the charge.  Let’s take a look at the important provisions of the blocking/charging rule. The first step in analyzing the crash is to determine whether or not the defender was in legal guarding position (LGP) at the moment of contact.  There are two, and only two, requirements for a defender to initially obtain LGP:  1) He must have both feet on the playing court (inbounds), and 2) He must have his torso facing the offensive player.  That’s it.  If he has met both of those criteria, the defender is in initial LGP.  Once he has established LGP, he can do darn near anything to maintain it.  He can jump straight up.  He can move sideways.  He can move angling away from the offense.  He can turn or duck to absorb contact.  The only thing he can’t do is be moving toward the offensive player at the moment of contact. Assuming that the defender has established an initial LGP, the next issue in deciding block versus charge is to analyze the contact itself.  If the contact is what we officials like to refer to as “torso to torso”, it’s a charge every time.  If, on the other hand, the dribbler is able to get his head and shoulders past the torso of the defender, we have something entirely different.  We can either be dealing with a blocking foul, or we can have what we refer to as a “no call.”  Generally, it’s a block where the defender gets LGP, but then while the defense is moving laterally in order to continue defending, the offense gets his head and shoulders past the defender, and contact ensues.  That is the classic block.  The no call occurs when the defender is completely stationary.  That is, he stakes out his little part of the lane, and he never moves an inch.  The offensive player comes flying around a screen and is hurtling down the lane, only to be confronted by a defender who has been standing there for a good two or three seconds.  The offensive player tries to avoid the defender by jumping to the side, and his legs strike the defensive player.  Both players hit the floor and the fans wait for the whistle.  And they wait.  And wait some more.  The correct call in this circumstance is probably a no call.  Why?  Because the defender did nothing wrong.  There is a fundamental principle of officiating that I require all new officials in my training class to memorize: Every player is entitled to a spot on the floor provided he gets there first without illegally contacting an opponent.  In the play above, the defense got there first, and he did nothing wrong after getting there, so we can’t call a foul on him.  And the offense got head and shoulders past the defense, so we can’t justify calling a foul on him.  In this instance, despite the fact that we have bodies on the floor, neither player has violated the rules, so no whistle should be blown.  Most of the time 50 percent of the fans think the officials are wrong; this play is one of those rare circumstances where 100 percent of them are convinced we missed it. That’s it in a very small nutshell.  There are exceptions to this rule, as there are to pretty much every rule in the book.  However, if you understand the concept of legal guarding position, you will go a long way toward correctly analyzing the block/charge call.

While I wish I could say our family holidays have always gone smoothly and every moment was cherished, a recent experience with my youngest daughter got me thinking about the things through the years that may not have gone as well as I had hoped. Somehow we were able to glide right through those blunders with laughter. It all went down last Friday night. I noticed that one of the presents under the tree was partially opened and my lively 7-year-old shouted, “I got Nike shoes.” Thankfully, she thinks that is what it is, but it’s really not.  So, I talked with her about opening presents without permission, how this was not permitted and that Santa would not be very happy with her if he knew she was sneaking a peek at the gifts her family had wrapped that were under the tree. We discussed how we picked out special things for her and wanted to see her open them, and enjoy the moment with her and how being patient was an absolute necessity.  I was fairly sure that I had gotten the point across. The following day was my husband’s birthday.  We had quite a busy day ahead. Therefore, we gave him his present during breakfast.  As I excitedly awaited his opening of the gift that I had chosen, (adorned by the beautifully crafted wrapping job I had specifically made extra special) my little daughter blurts out, “I can’t tell you what it is because it’s a surprise.  BUT, it’s shiny and it goes around your neck.”  Well, geez, I guess she was listening to me after all. As I reflected upon Christmases past, I remembered the time my older brother showed me where presents were hidden while I still believed in Santa, of course.  I recalled the Christmas my parents could not wait to give me the baby doll I wanted so badly to find out it was the wrong one.  I remember the Christmas Eve my younger brother and some of his college buddies had a couple drinks and when he came home, he told us everything he had gotten everyone before we had a chance to even open them.  I remember the peaceful Christmas Eve that my oldest daughter was headed to the mall with her friend to grab a last minute gift and they wrecked the car on the interstate (they were fine).  I remember the cat climbing up the tree and knocking off the bulbs along with many other faux pas that happened over the years.  I must say each one makes me giggle. The point is, nothing is ever perfect and things don’t always go as planned.  But the important thing is that we create memories together - memories we can cherish, laugh and talk about for years to come while keeping the family bonds alive and, most of all, remembering what Christmastime is really and truly about. Happy Holidays!

With the winter driving season again upon us, nearly all families will have reason to be out on the road in the dark, cold conditions of the next 3-4 months. Winter driving brings additional hazards, particularly in the more northern regions, like ours, that get a lot of snow and ice. Making time for a few preparations can help keep families safer and help motorists deal with an emergency. Preparation starts with the car itself. On your car's outside, check the battery, tire-tread, antifreeze and windshield wipers. Keep your windows clear and be sure to keep adequate amounts of "no-freeze" window fluid in the car's washer reservoir. Inside, keep a flashlight, jumper cables, abrasive material (sand, kitty litter, floor mats, etc.), a shovel, snow brush and ice scraper, bright colored flags, warning devices (like flares), blankets and hand and feet warmers. For longer trips, check the weather and allow plenty of time. Be familiar with maps and directions, and let others know your route and arrival time. Bring food, water, medication and a cell phone along too. Practice cold-weather driving. During the daylight, rehearse maneuvers slowly on ice or on snow in an empty lot. Remember, stopping distances are longer on water-covered road and on ice, so give yourself space. Steer into any skids and know what your brakes will do (i.e. stomp on antilock brakes, pump on non-antilock brakes). If you're traveling with children, please make sure to properly install your car seats and obey all vehicle safety regulations. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for children over age 3 in the U.S., and cause over 140,000 children's emergency room visits each year. Properly seating a child in a car seat or booster seat, in the back of the car, greatly reduces the risk of injury or death, but many parents don't follow the guidelines. Always make sure that your infants and toddlers ride facing the rear of the vehicle until at least age 2 and in a seat with a 5-point harness up to the highest weight or height allowed by the manufacturer, regardless of their age. Make sure your school-aged children ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they reach 57 inches tall, the height of an average 11-year-old, and keep your child in the rear-seat until they reach age 13. It is also critical to make sure that your children's car seats are properly installed. Be sure to consult and follow the installation instructions that come with the car seat and have the installation professionally inspected. States offer this service for free and you can find your nearest inspection station by clicking here. Finally, if you do find yourself stopped or stalled this winter, stay in your car, don't overexert yourself, put bright markers on your antenna or windows and shine your dome light. If you run your car, clear your exhaust pipe and run it just long enough to stay warm. Don't idle for a long time with the windows up or in an enclosed space. Making a little time for a few simple measures this winter season will help keep you and your family safe out on the road.

I wrote a blog two years ago about the two new additions to my family, TWINS GIRLS: Leah and Lily Murphy. Well, here’s my small update of how everything is going for these two wonderful little human beings. Check out the photo below which was taken on Dec. 7 at Fusion where we were celebrating their daddy’s birthday.  They were a little scared of the chef at the hibachi grill, but so was I at times.  That fire felt like it singed my eyebrows.  Leah turned her head and Lily held on to her mom’s arm very tightly and did not let go until some of the food was served.  Neither of them knew what to think, but they loved the food at Fusion. As you can see, from the above photos, they are growing up way too fast.  They understand and are completing sentences. Of course, most of the time only their mom and dad can decipher what they are saying.  The clearer words for both will come in due time.  With them both being so interactive, this Christmas is going to be so exciting for them and for all of the family, too. I so look forward to Christmas Eve to watch them do their thing.  It is so much fun having little ones around for Christmas. Don’t forget that Christmas is not all about giving and receiving gifts. It is our Lord and Savior’s “birth” day that we remember and celebrate.  GOD BLESS US ALL! I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A VERY, VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND AN EVEN HAPPIER & HEALTHIER NEW YEAR!

Our first child was born in 1990 and we bought one toy for under the tree (from Santa). It was a push truck that babies hold on to while tottering along. I believe I still have it somewhere in our basement. When your children are little babies, Christmas is so easy. But as they grow older things get trickier. Shopping is the easy part. Hiding the bags is okay—under my husband’s work bench in a separate room off the basement with other stuff piled on. Tom would take the presents to work to put together and do all the wrapping and then place them in boxes under the workbench to be covered again. So far, so good. But, through the years it was up to me to put the presents under the tree and this is when all the fun begins. Tom would be sleeping with sugarplums dancing in his head and I would be sneaking around our house in the early hours of Christmas morning. We have an older home with floors, steps and doors that creak and groan. So, I would pretend to go to bed with everyone else, but would stay awake waiting for the witching hour when I would try and move quietly around the house getting all ready for the excitement of the morning. The gifts were wrapped but I would have to go down the creaky stairs to the basement, uncover, open boxes and bring all the gifts up those creaky steps, across the foyer and into the living room over carpeted creaky floors to place the gifts under the tree. All the while tiptoeing and stopping every few steps to listen. I would step, creak, stop, listen, step again, creak, stop, listen and move ever so slowly over to the right, then over to the left, then a wider step to try and miss those creaky spots in the floor. This would take several trips as I could only carry so much up our very narrow basement stairwell. I broke a sweat more times than I can remember thinking I was hearing noises from the upstairs bedrooms, which would stop me in my tracks. I would then sneak up those stairs—creaking all the way—trying to stay on one side where it creaks less and then listen outside the closed bedroom doors. One time I do remember one of the boys waking up when I went into the bedroom and I think I said something like, I thought I heard bells, but go back to sleep because Santa will not come if anyone is awake. Yep, they believed anything told to them. And then I would continue my quiet shuffling around the house. When all presents were brought up from the basement and placed under the tree, another tradition that I had lots of fun with was creating a scene that Santa had indeed been there. I once bought a kit of reindeer footprints with corn and a torn piece of Santa’s red suit, and, if it snowed, there would be reindeer and Santa footprints in the snow; if no snow, then there would be corn left behind. I had bells that I would stand outside and jingle in hopes the kids would hear. Not sure they ever did even though my youngest admitted that he heard them. Every year, I wrote a note (from Santa) thanking us for the carrots for his reindeer and milk and cookies for him, that we had left out before we went to bed. I would drink the milk, eat a couple of the cookies (but leave some) and then there would be carrot pieces (as if the reindeer had munched too) for the kids to find in the morning.  As they got older, the boys became skeptical that the cookies were eaten by Santa and that the reindeer were munching carrots and they firmly believed that it was my handwriting on Santa’s letter of thanks and on all the gifts but I would just give them the look and say, “Okay, don’t believe….” This was my yearly tradition. One time I admit I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until six in the morning and went crazy trying to get all this done before anyone woke up. But I think I put a lot of pressure on myself all those years probably needlessly. Looking back, I don’t remember either of the boys waking up wanting to know why I was sneaking about the house. In fact, Tom and I would be up and waiting for our oldest to wake up, then in later years after our second son was born in 1996, we would be waiting for both boys to wake up. Sometimes it seemed that Tom and I were more excited about Christmas morning than the boys and we would go upstairs and wake ‘em up. They were excited once they were ripping open their gifts as are all kids—the clothes would be thrown over the shoulder and the requested toys hugged tight. The boys are now young men and gifts are not opened until much later on Christmas morning, as we have brunch and mimosas, and then our gifts. They pretty much know what Santa is bringing, but something they do not know is that I have all their letters to Santa saved for them. I think it would be lots of fun to open and read those letters. That just may be something we do this Christmas because we will begin a new tradition as the boys’ Grandma Jean (who came to our house every Christmas morning to open gifts and have breakfast) passed away earlier this year. So it will be a quiet Christmas for us, but Tom and I are both looking forward to our sons beginning their own Christmas traditions where we can sit back and watch all the excitement. I can imagine them trying to explain why Santa and JCPenney has the same wrapping paper (as pointed out by Ryan) or why the nibbled-on-carrots were inside, not outside (as noticed by Casey). But most of all I imagine them trying to be as quiet as a mouse while enjoying Santa’s cookies and milk in the very early hours of Christmas morning. Merry Christmas from the Wilsons!

I’ve decided that during the course of the 2016-2017 OVAC basketball season, I’m going to try and write an article each week dealing with a particular rule of the game. I’ll give some examples, and maybe even some links to videos, so that the readers can become more familiar with the rules as they are actually written and applied.  For those who may wonder about my qualifications, I have been a basketball official since 1985.  I have worked both the WVSSAC high-school and NCAA Division II levels, and have been fortunate to be selected to work championship tournaments in both.  I am the current rules interpreter for the Ohio Valley Board of Approved Basketball Officials, a post I have held for a number of years.  And finally, for whatever reason, I just enjoy studying the rules. Today, I want to talk about the traveling rule.  Aside from perhaps the block/charge rule, traveling is probably the single most misunderstood rule in the game.  Fans believe that it’s traveling if a player takes more than one step without dribbling.  They believe a player who dives on a loose ball and slides across the floor has traveled.  And they believe a player who fumbles the ball while driving to the hoop has traveled.  Wrong, wrong and wrong again. Traveling is defined as “moving the pivot foot in excess of prescribed limits.”  Therefore, the first step in applying the rule involves properly identifying the pivot foot.  There are lots of different possibilities here, but I will try and simplify this step by telling you that once a player catches the ball and takes a step with one foot, the other foot is going to be the pivot foot  (There are multiple other scenarios for establishing a pivot, but I want to keep this as simple as possible).  Once the pivot foot is established, the only restriction is that the player cannot lift that foot and return it to the floor without releasing the ball on a shot or pass.  Note here that the player is NOT prohibited from lifting the pivot foot; he is only prohibited from putting it back down on the floor while still holding the ball. The rules also specifically deal with the situation where a player dives on the floor to secure a loose ball, and then slides across the floor for some distance.  That happened in a game I officiated last night, and of course the fans went nuts when I didn’t blow my whistle.  I didn’t blow it because it wasn’t traveling.  A player is permitted to secure a loose ball and then slide.  The only thing he is prohibited from doing is rolling over, sitting up or attempting to stand without first dribbling.  The rule-makers aren’t going to penalize a player for making a great hustle play. Finally, we come to the fumble.  A player cuts to the hoop, and as he attempts to gather the ball to go up for a layup, he loses the handle and bobbles the ball a bit while continuing to move to the hoop.  Again, the fans go nuts.  And again, there is no violation.  In order to have a pivot foot, a player must be HOLDING the basketball.  By definition, HOLDING the ball is different than FUMBLING the ball.  A player who is holding the ball can establish a pivot foot, and can therefore be guilty of traveling.  A player who is fumbling has no pivot foot, and therefore cannot travel.  And to answer the question of nearly every coach I have ever explained this to, yes, that means a player can fumble the ball from one end of the floor to the other without violating.  If you take anything at all from reading this article, I hope it is this:  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR A PLAYER TO TRAVEL UNLESS HE IS HOLDING THE BASKETBALL. There is much more I could write about this rule, but that should be enough to keep your head spinning for awhile.  If you have specific questions, or if you would like me to write about a particular rule, feel free to comment.  Next week, I’ll deal with the block/charge rule.