Referee

Terry Moore, who refereed and judged boxing matches for 36 years after a distinguished career as a middleweight fighter in the late 1940s and 1950s, was struck and killed by a car Saturday night in East Baltimore.The 65-year-old Mr. Moore -- his real name was Norman Theodore Barnes -- began boxing at age 15 after wandering into the Joe Gans Athletic Club gym.He said he could throw the punch that boxing coach George "Bright Eyes" Whyte was having trouble teaching to a student. "All right, kid, let's see what you can do," the instructor told young Norman, according to a later newspaper story.

Raymond Leroy Klingmeyer, a former boxer and referee who is a member of the state's boxing Hall of Fame, died Friday of renal failure at the Bel Air Health and Rehabilitation Center. He was 88. "When he came into the ring, he looked like a referee. He had a presence, like an old-time referee … that commanded the respect of the boxers," said Patrick Pannella, executive director of the Maryland State Athletic Commission. "He was knowledgeable about any possible event that could happen in the ring," Mr. Pannella said.

Charley Eckman has called his last cab.The former sportscaster, referee, National Basketball Association coach and raconteur whose trademark "call a cab" and tell-it-like-it-is views endeared him to Baltimore sports fans for 40 years, died yesterday of cancer at his Glen Burnie home. He was 73.Mr. Eckman was known for his rubbery-faced, cigar-waving, iconoclastic antics delivered in a raspy-voiced style that sometimes was short on correct grammatical usage. He was credited with using an expression so often that it quickly became a cliche.

Two weeks ago, Jerry "The King" Lawler suffered a heart attack on live television. In the time since, websites have reported and speculated on Lawler's condition and the events surrounding the incident, which played out on live television. On tonight's episode of Raw, fans had the chance to hear from The King himself, who shared some shocking details about his condition immediately after awakening at the hospital. Lawler did not even remember being part of a tag team match on that episode, let alone the events that followed.

It's official. Rich Logue still enjoys wrestling.Logue became a wrestling referee about 10 years ago following a successful career as a wrestler for Westminster High School. The Finksburg resident developed into one of the top officials around, working the state tournament for the last three years.Logue, who wrestled at 132 and 138 pounds, spent four years on the Westminster varsity. He won the Carroll County championship twice, the Tri-State tournament twice and made the state tournament twice before he was graduated in 1980.

James J. Wyman, who was an owner of a house inspection business, a sports referee and active in Republican politics, died of a heart attack Wednesday while refereeing a football game at John Carroll School in Bel Air. He was 50. The longtime Wiltondale resident was born in Washington and raised in Rockville and Monkton, where he graduated from Hereford High School in 1967. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1971 from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., and in 1982 earned a second bachelor's degree in economics from what was then Towson State College.

Raymond Leroy Klingmeyer, a former boxer and referee who is a member of the state's boxing Hall of Fame, died Friday of renal failure at the Bel Air Health and Rehabilitation Center. He was 88. "When he came into the ring, he looked like a referee. He had a presence, like an old-time referee … that commanded the respect of the boxers," said Patrick Pannella, executive director of the Maryland State Athletic Commission. "He was knowledgeable about any possible event that could happen in the ring," Mr. Pannella said.

LAUREL -- Arnold Heft took advantage yesterday of his experience as a National Basketball Association referee in making a pitch that appeared to help win a purse for one of his racehorses.Heft, 71, hasn't refereed since 1961. But when he began to talk about the need for consistency in making decisions, it fit perfectly with the thinking of six members of the Maryland Racing Commission who voted to reverse a stewards' decision and elevated Heft's horse, Tacoboy, from fifth to fourth in a race here Oct. 6.It was a unanimous decision by the commissioners, who studied videotapes of the fourth race.

Basketball referee Wilbert T. Spivey collapsed and died yesterday at halftime of the Randallstown-Patterson boys game he was working at Coppin State College.Spivey, 43, had an apparent heart attack during the game, which was part of the third-annual Mayor's Basketball Academy tournament.Following courtside efforts by two athletic trainers and others to revive him, he was taken by ambulance to nearby Liberty Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.The game continued, and Randallstown, ranked No. 18 locally, won easily.

LAS VEGAS -- Richard Steele is a pit boss, supervising the gambling tables at the downtown Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino. The owner is Steve Wynn, who also owns the Mirage hotel on the Strip.The Mirage was the site of Monday night's heavyweight fight between Mike Tyson and Donovan "Razor" Ruddock. Steele, the pit boss, was the referee.What was the Nevada Boxing Commission thinking when it let Steele, even though he is a world-class referee, work this fight at his boss' hotel.Steele wouldn't have been inside the ring in New York, said Randy Gordon, chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick's decision to grab an official at the conclusion of the Ravens' 31-30 win Sunday night drew the headlines, but that doesn't mean that Ravens coach John Harbaugh has escaped the NFL's attention. The league announced Monday that it was opening an investigation into several coaches who had run-ins with officials Sunday, including Harbaugh's self-acknowledged bump of a referee while attempting to call a timeout in the fourth quarter. “We are reviewing incidents from yesterday's games involving the game officials and Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan,” the NFL said.

Nearly two weeks into the preseason, Ravens Pro Bowl outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said the replacement referees would have little impact on the outcome of games if the Ravens performed well. "We [the players] get paid to make plays and if we do our jobs, then we take the game out of the hands of the officials," Suggs said. "The outcome of a game should never come down to a referee's call. " Amen. The injured Suggs hasn't been able to play this year, but maybe he should talk to his teammates before they play the New England Patriots here Sunday night.

Ravens veteran safety Bernard Pollard has never been one to mince words, and he stayed true to form today when he was asked about whether he had any concern about the replacement officials who are on track to referee Week One.   "You know what, this is what it is right now,” said Pollard, letting out an audible groan as the question was asked. “I would love to see the refs come back. I could care less if you fine me or whatever. I would love to see them come back, but this is the business part of the NFL. They want things to happen, the refs want things to happen.

Enough is enough Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune I can live with the one-game clip. But if I were dean of discipline, Rajon Rondo also would have to agree to some conditions. Start with publicly apologizing to official Marc Davis. Acknowledge that you intentionally bumped him. He didn't get in your way, as you pathetically claimed. Go to some elementary schools and tell the kids that what you did was inexcusable. They look up to you; they're watching you. Why should they respect referees after seeing what you did?

NFL referee Tony Corrente's first encounter with Baltimore Ravens Matt Birk and Michael Oher this season floored him, literally. The Ravens were scuffling with a couple of Pittsburgh Steelers during the season opener on Sept. 11, and Corrente, trying to intervene, was knocked flat on his back by the churning mass of some 1,000 pounds of football player. His next encounter, coming when he worked the Ravens' final regular season game on New Year's Day, Corrente made sure to personally thank Birk and Oher.

William Alfred Long, a retired fuel oil salesman and longtime referee of high school and college lacrosse, died of pneumonia Nov. 16 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore. The Homeland resident was 80. Born in Baltimore and raised in Irvington, Pikesville and Waverly, he was a 1949 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School. He proved himself a skilled writer at the University of Baltimore, according to family members, becoming editor of the school yearbook before graduating in 1953 with a marketing degree.

The big blue Lincoln is rolling down the expressway, taking the referee back to his house in Timonium. It is dark outside. The referee's face is lit by the --board lights. It is time for dinner. The referee is hungry. The gym was hot and the game was not.This has been the routine for 20 years now. Leave work in the middle of the afternoon. Change into the black-and-white shirt, the black pants, the black shoes, the whistle. Get in the car, find the gym. Work the game, work up a sweat, get called a few names.

Joseph DiRenzo Jr., the referee who signaled touchdown on Doug Flutie's unforgettable "Hail Mary" pass in 1984 and officiated many other big games in nearly 30 years as a National Collegiate Athletic Association referee, died of a heart attack Friday at his summer home in Sarasota, Fla. The Severna Park resident was 62.Mr. DiRenzo, who had been an executive in several oil and real estate companies, was regional sales manager for Dynasplint Inc. at his death.He was active in the Severna Park community and was chairman of the Anne Arundel County Physical Fitness Commission in the early 1980s.

Joseph Lee "Spanky" Reppert, a highly regarded former lacrosse official who founded two leagues, died Wednesday of a stroke at Bethany House Hospice in Auburn, Ala. The former longtime resident of Tally Ho Road in Lutherville was 66. The son of a Chessie System executive secretary and a homemaker, he was born in Baltimore and raised in a home at Northern Parkway and the Alameda. Mr. Reppert was a child when he acquired the nickname of "Spanky" because he bore a strong resemblance to the short, pudgy actor Spanky McFarland from "The Little Rascals.