 JEFF
TRIPLETTE
Inside Scoop From An
NFL Referee
By Bob Barber
It was a busy agenda at the October 4, 2005,
meeting of the Rotary Club of Charlotte. Worth Williamson
introduced our speaker Jeff Triplette, a member of the club,
an employee of Duke Energy, and an active NFL Referee (one with the
white hat). Jeff graduated from Wake Forest University, where he did
not play football, and started officiating at the Pop Warner League
level in 1970. Over the years he progressed through officiating
opportunities at every other level of competition until joining the
NFL in 1996, following the retirement of his friend and mentor Tom
Dooley. Over the years, Jeff also managed to rack up 30 years'
service in the Army National Guard and served in the Gulf War,
earning the Bronze Star medal.
Jeff received an appropriate Charlotte Rotary welcome consisting of
a warm chorus of boos. He was made to feel right at home. Jeff
related his experience in calling last Sunday's game between the
Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings, in which he threw a flag
for delay of game for a "non-football" infraction but somehow the
announcement came out, on national TV, as "delay of game, #51, he
performed an 'unnatural act.'" Realizing his mistake, Jeff decided
that the only thing to do was turn off his microphone and walk away
with the crowd snickering and the TV commentators commenting.
Jeff recapped the week of an NFL official as starting with arrival
at the game city on Saturday in time for a 2:00 pm crew meeting for
review of weekly league officials' bulletins, training tapes
regarding issues in the week's previous games, critiques of the
crew's performance at their last game, and finally dinner. The game
day starts with some kind of devotional for the crew, calling the
game, and getting out of town quickly. In the next few days, a
report on the game is filed with the officiating office, tapes of
the game are reviewed, feedback on the crew's performance is
received, a conference call is held with the crew and the league's
critique of the crew's performance is received on Thursday. It is
then time to start getting ready for the next weekly cycle.
Jeff related that he and Orlando Brown get along fine despite the
incident in which Jeff accidentally hit him in the eye with the
weighted flag used in games. He also explained how officials use the
black elastic devices around their wrists to keep track of downs,
field position, and player positions. He took the opportunity to
throw a flag on Phil Van Hoy and while it was certainly a
"non-football" infraction, there was no mention of "unnatural acts."
In answer to questions, Jeff said that the strangest thing that had
ever happened was late in a game in which an unpopular call resulted
in a device commonly found in an adult novelty store being thrown at
him on the field. He said that the most unusual crowd was in Oakland
and that the loudest crowd was probably in the domed-stadium of the
Indianapolis Colts. The hardest play to call is the forward pass vs.
fumble by a quarterback-was the arm going forward-noting that most
of the time it is a fumble. Finally, he said that when he is "in his
zone" and having a good day officiating, he "sees plays in slow
motion" and is therefore able to catch subtle nuances of the plays.
Head Table:
Lori Hurd, Alan Barnhardt, Herb Harriss, Worth Williamson, Hope
Lanier, Alice Harrison; Invocation: Sadler Barnhardt
Visitors &
Guests:
Cecily Durrett; Health & Happiness: Phil Van Hoy; Song: Richard
Early
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A TALE OF TWO
CITIES... |
Next June, thousands of Rotarians
will flock to the Nordic region for the 2006 RI Convention,
co-hosted by southern Sweden's Malmo and Denmark's Copenhagen.
It will be the first time in Rotary's 100 years that two cities
have organized the annual gathering. Although the cities are
separated by the Oresund Sound, they're only about half an hour
apart, thanks to a bridge, inaugurated in 2000, and frequent,
high-speed trains that shuttle over it.
The October issue of The Rotarian Magazine provides all
the information you will need to learn about and register for
the convention. President-Elect Luther Moore will represent
Charlotte Rotary. He would surely appreciate the company of his
fellow Rotarians. |
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Support the
Rotary Foundation
$100 EVERY ROTARIAN/EVERY YEAR
Rotary Club of Charlotte
841 Baxter Street, Suite 118, Charlotte 28202
chltrot@bellsouth.net 704-375-6816 |
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þ
President Herb expressed
his thanks to the golf committee for the outstanding
tournament and was pleased to report just over $32,000 was
raised for the scholarship program.
Alan Adler was able to get
coverage of the event in Jeff Elder's column in The
Charlotte Observer. Mark your calendar for next year's
event, scheduled back at Cedarwood on September 11, 2006.
þ
Carol Hughes,
Crisis Assistance Ministry, was honored with the Pegasus
Award by the Charlotte Chapter of the Public Relations
Society of America (PRSA). The Award is given annually to
someone outside the public relations profession who
demonstrates superior knowledge and use of public relations
skills for the betterment of their own organization and the
community at large.
þ
Phil Van Hoy, Van Hoy,
Reutlinger, Adams & Dunn, was named to The Best Lawyers in
America list for 2006
þ
Rotarians and guests are invited to a private tour and
reception (6:00 PM-8:00 PM) at the
SYMPHONY GUILD ASID SHOWHOUSE, 911 Ardsley Road,
on October 12. Aside from the tour, guests will enjoy fine
wines, specialty beers, cheese and the Youth Symphony will
fill the night air with beautiful music. Admission is $25
per person. Registration will be coordinated at the Rotary
office - make your check payable to Charlotte Rotary.
þ
John Snyder recognized
Megan, a sophomore in
Myers Park's Interact club, for her work on four Habitat
Houses in Sri Lanka.
þ
Lamar Thomas introduced
this year's exchange student from Colombia,
Paz Carrero Tovar, who is
enrolled as a Junior at Charlotte Country Day School. Paz is
anxious to learn about living in the United States and would
appreciate interaction with club members. If you have
tickets to a ballgame or would like to invite Paz to dinner,
please contact Lamar, Lee Tabor,
or Ed Wadsworth.
þ
Paul Schmidt introduced
Ed Sanz, Fort Dearborn
Partners, as the club's newest member.
þ
The Twin Club committee was established to facilitate an
exchange of information between Charlotte Rotary and
Arequipa, Peru. Katie Tyler
is chairing this group that has set up a program to help
Arequipa volunteer firemen learn the modern techniques of
firefighting in the USA. A team of five Arequipa firemen
were on hand for lunch and expressed gratitude to the
Charlotte Firemen, Charlotte Sister Cities, and the Rotary
Club for this invaluable exchange. President Herb was
presented a pin worn by the Arequipa firefighters.
þ
Charlie Greer made a
brief presentation of the 2005-2006 budget. Charlie
explained dues will be increased from $88 to $93 (first
increase since 1999 or 2000), and that contractually, meals
were raised to $18. The Club is in good shape and operates
with reserve funds around $115,000. Expenses were detailed
and total $315,238. The Benevolence portion, totaling
$81,500, represents $65,500 for Community Service; $9,000
for International Service; and $7,000 for Vocational
Service. Bringing total funds to $396,738. A question
received after the fact was how proceeds ($32,000) from the
golf tournament are journalized. The Foundation for the
Carolinas handles all funds for the tournament. The $5,000
shown on the budget is the club's Gold Level Sponsorship to
the tournament. If you have other questions, please contact
Charlie, Herb, or Sandy.
þ
TOUR OF HOPE is coming
to the Buddy Kemp Caring House.
Myra Johnston and staff are working hard to host
cyclists arriving on Thursday, October 6th, from the
Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope Team, as they ride across
America to raise awareness about cancer clinical trials.
George Hincapie, who won a leg of the Tour de France, will
be riding with the group. Everyone is welcome to attend the
Rally at Buddy Kemp Caring House, 242 S. Colonial Avenue,
between 10:00 and 3:00 on Thursday.
þ
Powell Majors recruited
a few fabulous workers to handle mailing the 2nd Quarter
invoices. Thanks to Bill Meanor,
Jim Haney, and Karen &
Herb Harriss! |
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Attendance
Record |
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10/04/05 |
10/05/04 |
| visitors &
guests |
24 |
13 |
| club
members |
182 |
187 |
| total
attendance |
206 |
200 |
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New Members | Resignations |
Steve Meckler
Ed Sanz |
Eric Baldwin
Eric Carrig |
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Wedding
Anniversaries |
11 Jane and Chris Thomas
12 Amy and Edwin Peacock
13 Elaine and Bill Stegelmeyer
13 Martha and Jim Woodward
14 Pam and George Wilson
15 Michelle and Robert Fish
15 Lalla and Bob Reid |
| Birthdays and
Birthplaces |
12 Chuck Woodyard, Shelby, NC
14 Gib Smith, Charlotte, NC
15 Joni Davis, Charlotte, NC
16 Tom Barnhardt, Charlotte, NC |
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