I admit it. I’m the kind of fan (fanatic?) who can’t resist “helping” officials in a sporting contest. Obviously, the umpire’s vision is impaired. I could tell from the left field corner that the pitch was low and outside.
Among the spectators in the bleachers, I am able to detect holding by a football player in a pile of arms and legs. What was the referee looking at?
To think: Once upon a time I had the thought, fleeting though it was, to put the whistle where my mouth is and become an official, but, I thought further, why subject myself to such despicable sideline abuse?
These memories popped up as I was talking with one of the state’s finest officials, Mike Gentry, this year’s recipient of the Michigan High School Athletic Association ’s Vern L. Norris Award, presented annually to a veteran official who has been active in a local officials association, has mentored other officials, and has been involved in officials’ education.
“I was stunned,” he said when he heard the news. “Why me?”
I’ll tell you why, but first his background.
“I’m a Catholic boy all my life,” he said. He was raised and educated at St. Jude School on Detroit’s east side in the vicinity of Seven Mile and Moross, and then at Harper Woods Notre Dame, class of 1971. Today, he’s a parishioner at St. Isidore in Macomb Township, a faithful attendee at Sunday morning’s 9:30 Mass.
He coached CYO sports at St. Jude for nearly a decade with the intention of making coaching a career, until one of his players’ parents who also served as a local referee suggested Gentry give officiating a try.
He registered as an MHSAA official in the 1978-79 season. In a span of 38 years, Gentry has officiated at hundreds, nay, thousands of football, basketball and baseball games in southeast Michigan, and has worked 10 state finals in baseball, boys and girls basketball, and football.
Asked about any memorable games, he picked the Catholic League’s Prep Bowl A-B championship last fall at Ford Field between Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s. The Shamrocks prevailed in the closing 22 seconds, 17-14.
“That was a classic,” he said. “My crew was equal to the task.”
And, therein lies the nub of Gentry’s passion for officiating: “It’s all about preparation. My motto is that the crew of officials should be the best team on the field or the court.”
Viewed in the context of officiating even as recently as 10-15 years ago, preparation is laughable compared to today’s technology-driven resources — e.g., videos, online conferences — and clinics and workshops providing tools that officials are encouraged, if not mandated, to start, continue, or improve their experience as an official.
“It’s amazing what’s out there,” Gentry said. “Officials just starting off are elevated four, five years ahead of what we were.”
In the beginning, Gentry was mentored by Ted Wilson, who in 1992 was the first recipient of the Vern Norris Award. That sparked a passion in Gentry to “pay forward ... for the doors that opened for me” by mentoring and guiding a number of young officials over the years. Three officials he mentored who are 25 or younger are a part of his six-member football crew.
“Ask those who have had an opportunity to receive (Gentry’s) guidance, and they’ll describe him as selfless, dedicated and truly invested in building up the next generation,” MHSAA executive director John E. “Jack” Roberts said.
“We are a fraternity,” added Gentry. “We struggle to get things right ... to do a good job to the best of our abilities.”
He was inducted into the Catholic High School League Hall of Fame in 1996.
For the last 20 years Gentry has worked for Fraser-based Carmela Specialty Foods, currently as the chief operating officer of the wine division.
He’ll turn 64 in July. “The day I call a perfect game, I’ll retire,” he says.
Hmm, it would be a good idea if this sideline judge retired now.
Don Horkey may be reached at [email protected].
