USA Football

USA Football’s Officiating Director Tony Michalek and Officiating Consultant Bill LeMonnier have had a busy January. Michalek, an NFL umpire since 2002, was selected to work the NFL Divisional Playoff between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys on Jan. 13. LeMonnier, a veteran Big Ten and Arena Football League referee, called the action between then-No. 3 Virginia Tech and No. 8 Kansas in the 74th Orange Bowl on Jan. 3. Both games drew rapt attention from national television audiences as the Giants defeated Dallas, 21-17, and Kansas nipped Virginia Tech, 24-21.

“Anytime teams from the same division play each other in the playoffs, there are usually hard feelings from thetwo regular seasonmeetings,” says Michalek regarding Sunday’s game between NFC East rivals in Dallas, which drew the highest TV ratings for an NFL Divisional Playoff in 11 years. “As expected, this was a hard fought, intense game that wasn’t decided until the very end.

“Our crew had a great year and the league office was very pleased with our performance this weekend,” added Michalek.“The crew seemed to get better each week. It’s a shame the season came to an end because we really had a lotof fun this year.”

Says LeMonnier of this month’s Orange Bowl, “The game was extremely competitive with emotions high on both sides from the player introductions to the last play. Overall play was pretty sharp with few penalties (nine). Our calls graded out well, our mechanics and game tempo were good.”

USA Football will make its presence felt at Super Bowl XLII by hosting the third-annual USA Football Super Bowl Officiating Seminar on Feb. 1 at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Michalek and LeMonnier will lead the seminar for 150 youth, high school and college officials. Seats at the seminar are going fast and may be purchased for $45 by clicking here. Cost includes dinner and prizes.

“This is a great night of officiating education,” says Michalek, who has led or attended more than 100 officiating seminars and clinics since becoming an official in 1982. “The hands-on training, call analysis, and discussions on officiating philosophies that this seminar covers sets it apart.”

The USA Football seminar also discusses officiating mechanics and rules applications for all levels of play. Endorsed and supported by the NFL’s Officiating Department, this USA Football event regularly draws officials from more than a half-dozen states.

Michalek and LeMonnier co-author USA Football’s online officiating curriculum. Both men are now cutting training video for officiating members which will air soon on usafootball.com as well as being shown at their clinic presentations throughout 2008. USA Football’s tandem in stripes travels the country to fortify officiating on the sport’s grassroots level and encourages football-savvy people to act on their interest of becoming an official.

Michalek and LeMonnier will make more than 20 USA Football officiating presentations in 2008. To learn when Bill or Tony will be near you, click the gray “Officiating” button on the usafootball.com homepage.