What is the Biblioholic Reading: Sports Edition

Well I have been talking a lot about how I became a biblioholic, but I have not mentioned what I'm currently reading. This is a dreadful oversight and I intend to correct immediately. Not all of my reading is in academia. I read things from many genres. I plan to post them separately so I can have a theme to each Post. Today's post is the "Sports Edition".

Recently I joined the Nacogdoches Rollergirls womens flat track roller derby (WFTDA) league as a referee. Our first public bout was on Feb. 25th and it was a huge albeit painful success. In order to prepare for the role of a Jammer Ref.,I spent a lot of time reading and memorizing the rules of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. However, being the book junkie that I am I couldn't stop there. I started reading, Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track, this is an exciting inside look into the new roller derby revolution from the skater's point of view. It is a raw and unpolished book that gets a bit racy at times. It is obviously riding on the success of the A&E TV series "Rollergirls". The book successfully maintains the tone of the popular series. Another facet of its success comes from the dearth of current books about one of the fastest growing phenomenons in sports today. All the Roller Derby skaters and fan will read this book. They will get a straight forward in your face account of events a seen by the author. I don't know how many people outside of the Roller Derby world will enjoy it. Read it or not, everyone should attend at least one roller derby bout in their life. They won't forget it.

While Rollergirl: is entertaining, I also wanted to read a more serious treatment of my new obsession. I craved information on the more serious aspects of sports officiating. The rebirth of Roller Derby or Neo-Derby is still growing and working out the rules. As a result I drew on the vast amount of experience and knowledge of officials from all across the sports spectrum.

From the university library I checked out Psychology of Officiating. This is an excellent book. I highly recommend it to referees or officials of all sports, from t-ball to the NBA. Some of the most valuable information is found in the chapters on goals, communication, and burnout. The book covered a myriad of things I never would have thought of as part of officiating. I can not recommend the need for this book highly enough. After reading it I gained a new respect for sports officials and I now watch sporting events on TV for the first time just to see the officials (or "The Third Team") work.

From my public library I got a copy of Successful Sports Officiating. This to was an excellent book whose editors included staff from Referee Magazine. It talks about many things including: communication skills, keeping the game under control, developing your skills and developing your career. One of the many great aspects of this books is that it has pictures and quotes from model officials illustrating the principles discussed in the book. Successful Sports Officiating and Psychology of Officiating are both going to be added to my permanent library whether there is room or not.

If you are interested in sports, either as a player or as a fan I recommend Successful Sports Officiating Psychology of Officiating. After reading these books you will appreciate the game even more, and will understand the "Third Team" or "Third Player" and the game better. Ultimately it will result in enjoying the sport even more and may encourage you to become involved as a ref. for one of your local youth leagues. and/or