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Rains: Referee’s busy schedule brings new meaning to “Love of the game”

The iron man of college basketball, Steve Welmer, helps officiate about five to six games a week

By B.J. Rains

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Have you ever wondered who that tall, balding referee is who always pulls his pants up and is on TV officiating a game seemingly every night?

Well his name is Steve Welmer, the iron man of college basketball officiating.

Welmer, who has officiated seven Kansas games this season including Saturday’s 69-45 victory against Colorado, called his 90th game of the season last night. He officiates five to six games a week, constantly traveling from city to city for the next game.

During a span from Nov. 20 to Dec. 5, Welmer called a game 16 days in a row. After two days off to recharge his batteries, Welmer reffed another 16 days in a row from Dec. 8 to Dec. 23. In all, Welmer reffed 32 games in 34 days leading up to the winter break.

“Arguably, there probably may never be a guy like me that is able to get a schedule that big,” Welmer said. “I take pride in that because I guess that’s the American way on everything. I guess it’s kind of the male ego thing.”

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Most college referees have worked between 50 and 70 games this year, with many not even coming close to Welmer’s schedule.

Welmer is in his 34th year of officiating, including his 27th at the division I level. This will mark the 14th consecutive year that he has worked more division I games than any other official in the United States.

A quick look at Welmer’s schedule since the Kansas-Colorado game shows just why he holds platinum status on six different airlines. After officiating the Jayhawks’ victory on Saturday, Welmer flew from Lawrence to Detroit that night to get into town for Sunday afternoon’s national CBS game between Michigan and Ohio State. From there, he traveled to Austin, Texas and worked ESPN’s Big Monday game featuring Texas and Texas A&M. Tuesday night he officiated the Baylor at Oklahoma game in Norman, Oklahoma, and last night he worked the Kansas State at Nebraska game on ESPN2.

Most college referees have worked between 50 and 70 games this year, with many not even coming close to Welmer’s schedule. Welmer, who works games for 10 conferences across the country including the Big 12, Big 10, Conference USA, WAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and the Missouri Valley Conference, is assigned a full slate of games by each conference coordinator in August. He lays all of the games out and must choose which game he wants to officiate when mulitple conferences assign him games on the same day.

“It’s pretty easy on Sundays or Mondays or Thursdays because usually only one league will give me a game on those days,” Welmer said. “But then I try to look at it geographically and see if I can stay in the same area for two or three days. Wednesdays and Saturdays are the big days for the coordinators, so I try to split those up evenly or close to even so I can be as fair as possible with everyone.”

Welmer pays his wife, a retired flight attendant from Northwest airlines, to book all of his travel accommodations including airfare, hotels and rental cars. College basketball officials in the large conferences are all paid around $1,000 per game plus $200 per diem and coach airfare.

A normal day for Welmer starts at 4:30 or 5 a.m. when he wakes up to catch the first flight out to assure he gets to his next city on time. He usually arrives by late morning and grabs a bowl of soup for lunch before settling in for a long afternoon nap.

“There’s not very many days where I don’t get a two to three—hour nap every single day,” Welmer said. “Some guys like to get the extra sleep at night and don’t fly out until late morning and get in during the afternoon. For me, it works better to go out early in the morning and then take a two—, three—, four—hour nap.”

Welmer then awakes from his nap, showers and heads to the arena for that night’s game. Referees are required to arrive 90 minutes prior to tip off each night. After the game, Welmer grabs a light meal such as chicken strips, heads to bed about 11 or 12, and starts the whole process again the next day.

“I don’t think I ever go onto the court with anything less than a full tank,” Welmer said. “I feel as good right now as I did in the first of November.”

So the next time you turn on the TV and see Welmer working a game, just think of what he went through just to get there. Or where he might be going tomorrow.

— Edited by Mandy Earles

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