Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn. Sen Derrick Marks Authentic Jersey .ca. Its an "Ace" of a day here in South New Jersey and Im in a very happy mood. I recorded my first ever hole-in–one this morning on the par 3, 135 yard fourth hole at the Atlantic City Country Club with an eight iron into a stiff wind and drizzle off the Bay. As they say, even a blind squirrel (or ref) can find a nut once in a while! Enjoy the games tonight. - Kerry Hi Kerry, In seemingly all of his games since the playoffs have started, Brad Marchand has had a talking to by the referee for stick work after the whistle. The commentators keep referring to Marchand getting "a warning." But if this is happening every game, shouldnt these warnings turn into penalties at some point? Does the league allow or encourage officials to pass this type of information on from one game to the next? Thanks,JonathanToronto, ON Jonathan: NHL officials do share information with one another. The fastest lines of communication are the telephone, telegraph and tell a ref! The series supervisor updates each new crew at a game-day noon meeting as to what has taken place in previous games. There are no surprises; especially when it comes to certain hotspots the officials need to be aware of involving players from both teams. The referees want to do their very best to allow the players to play on the edge while maintaining an element of control; especially in a game seven. With regard to game control, the intelligent official will communicate with players and coaches when he deems it necessary to bring their negative emotions down a notch. I often noticed that player aggression could escalate during a shift or subsequent shifts. It was almost like a snowball rolling down a hill that gathered momentum. It was almost predictable as a player became less disciplined and likely to commit an infraction resulting in a penalty call. Im not referring to some spontaneous retaliation or foul but a tendency that players demonstrated to lose their discipline through a series of ragged play. Scrums and confrontations after the whistle are the most opportune time for player hostilities and paybacks to escalate. Scrums take the focus away from playing the game to instead administering punishment or getting even. When that occurs the refs have to take measures to get players refocused; usually with the fear that a penalty will be called to re-establish acceptable guidelines. The most successful refs are the one that get the players to play on their terms without having to continually lay the hammer down! The entertainment value of the game is maximized whenever that takes place. There comes a point though when the communication efforts have no effect and the refs arm must go up to call a penalty. I just dont want to single out Brad Marchand of the Bruins. Brendan Gallagher of the Habs is another pesky little guy that can really stir things up. Both are emotional players that bring plenty of energy to their game and can draw a crowd. Whether it is going hard to the net and making contact with the goalkeeper or initiating contact after the whistle in an effort to draw a foul, both players have earned the right to be on the refs radar screen. Officials develop a working relationship with all players. Throughout that relationship building process a player has to clearly know when a referee means business; when he has had enough and the hammer is about to fall! Speaking from personal experience, players didnt often mistake my piercing look and terse body language or tone for knowing when it was time to back off and take their foot off the gas pedal. When I issued a "warning" to a player I often told him I could be his best advocate or his worst friggin nightmare - the choice was his? A referee can also solicit the assistance of a respected team leader or captain that he has a good relationship with to get his teammate under control before the ref is forced to take action. I often used the coach in this capacity to instill some discipline in one of his players. When I had enough of the scrums (which was very quickly) I went to each coach and told them I had enough and was going to penalize one player only in a scrum. Since it might just be their player I asked them to take control before I was forced to put his team down a man! They usually cooperated; if not it only took one such penalty for them to understand I meant business. What the referees are attempting to do with a player like Brad Marchand is to establish some self-discipline through an element of reason. Reminding the player that taking a penalty will put his team in the hole can be one way to do that as I have described above. It is important for the ref to choose his words wisely and not "threaten" the player with, "If you do that one more time" routine. Game 7 is not the time for any player to test the referees resolve; nor is it the time for the referees to lay the hammer down without some fair warning. I think the message has been delivered and the pests will play their typical game but just on the edge. Talk is often cheap but everything is on the line for both teams tonight! Green Blake Bortles Elite Youth Jersey . Despite the advantage of four Fijians being sent to the sin-bin in eight minutes early in the first half, Italy almost spoiled the occasion for two of their rugby greats by blowing a 30-10 lead with 20 minutes to go. Blake Bortles Jersey . Collazo was proven correct as his final punch knocked out Victor Ortiz at 2:59 of the second round in a welterweight fight at the Barclays Center on Thursday night.NEW ORLEANS - Shortly after hoisting his second Slam Dunk trophy, this one hell have to share, Terrence Ross was stunned to hear that the contests format change was not especially well received. "It was one of the best shows ever," said the Raptors guard, disagreeing with the critics. "Its really what people wanted to see. You couldnt see those dunks without three players on the court so it worked out for the best I think." The Slam Dunk Contest - the pride and joy of All-Star Saturday Night - adopted a team concept this year, pitting the three participants from the East against the Wests trio in a two-round showcase. It was, for all intents and purposes, a bust. In the final round, a head-to-head session, the team from the East - consisting of Ross, John Wall and Paul George - defeated the West in a clean sweep. It was an unorthodox victory for Ross, who only threw down one dunk, outside of the initial freestyle round. "Hey, a wins a win," the sophomore said, elated after the competition came to an end, not unlike most in attendance and watching from home. "Im gonna take it either way. Ive never lost a dunk contest at this point so Im happy." The real champion, assuming anyone can really be considered a winner after that performance, was John Wall, who was awarded the fan vote for Dunker of the Night. Wall capped off an anticlimactic evening with the only real jaw-dropping dunk, leaping over Wizards mascot G-Man, taking the ball out of his hands and completing a two-hand reverse jam to seal the Easts victory. Off the top, each team had 90 seconds to work together and complete as many dunks as they could. The team dynamic, allowed the dunkers to collaborate and be creative in their attempts. Ross and the East took advantage, while the West - with Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes and Ben McLemore - ate up nearly a third of their allotted time before converting a notable slam. To call it organized chaos would be putting it mildly. Mostly, it was a disjointed mess with an occasional highlight, a couple from Ross, who put down a reverse to open the contest. The battle round had promise but lacked any semblance of rhythm or flow, as actual dunks were few and far between. Just as it started to come around, it ended abruptly. Lillard led off the proceedings - competing in his third event of the night - facing Ross, who brought along a friend and colleeague for assistance. Sen Derrick Marks Jersey. With last years trophy in hand, Raptors global ambassador Drake accompanied Ross on the floor to the tune of Started from the Bottom. Ross, wearing a boxing robe as he entered, would miss his first two attempts before eventually taking the ball from Drake, putting it through his legs and throwing it down with the opposite hand. As it turns out, Drake was a late substitution for Ross teammate and original assistant. "At first I knew the dunk I wanted to do and then I was like, DeMar (DeRozan) is going to do it," said the Raptors sophomore. "And then I was like, let me ask Drake because that would be a little better fit with him being the global ambassador, so I said that might work. I had fun with it, he was willing to help in any way he could." In the end, Ross was happy with the format change and embraced the chance to team up rather than go at it alone. "We got to throw off the shot clock, the backboard, bounce it off the ground," he said. "It was fun, everybody loved it." Ross maintained the team concept allows participants to be more creative, giving each of them a greater opportunity to come up and execute something new. For that reason, he believes the format should be here to stay. "It was fun, just coming up with certain things. I was trying to see if we could throw it off the jumbotron and see if we could do something like that but they said that would probably break it." Format changes encapsulated the entire night, certainly not what the league was going for. The Skills Challenge also had participants competing in teams for the first time. DeRozan - who was paired with Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo - more than held his own, sinking the chest pass on his first attempts and nailing the jump shot from the top of the key in two tries. His partner needed three tries to complete the pass and as a result, they were eliminated in the opening round, bested by Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo by 1.7 seconds. That pair would go on to lose to Lillard and Trey Burke by a tenth of a second in the finals. Former Raptor Marco Belinelli, the eventual winner of the Three-Point Contest, would not have made it past the first round if not for a new twist which allowed for one entire rack filled with money balls. He went on to defeat Wizards guard Bradley Beal in a tie-breaking round. ' ' '
