duncan228
07-02-2008, 12:27 PM
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20080702_NBA_referee_Crawford_completes_college_de gree.html
NBA referee Crawford completes college degree
By PHIL JASNER
THIS WAS IN Los Angeles a couple of years ago, a day off between games for NBA referee Joe Crawford. His colleagues had decided to have lunch in nearby Venice Beach, a pleasant respite from the job at hand.
Crawford, uncharacteristically, declined.
He was going, he said, to the Los Angeles Museum of Art to view two pieces, to compare and contrast them and write a paper on the subject.
"They looked at me as if I were nuts," Crawford recalled, laughing.
Crawford, who will turn 57 on Aug. 30, has been a referee in the league since 1977 and has worked more playoff and Finals games than any of his active colleagues, including the clinching Game 6 of the recently completed Finals in which the Boston Celtics defeated the Lakers for their first title since 1985-86.
"I went to the museum, spent several hours there, took notes, went back and did my work," Crawford said. "It was enlightening."
He has completed the last of five courses he has taken online and on campus via Neumann College's continuing adult and professional studies program. With that final course - learning Spanish - he has completed his degree in liberal studies.
"My wife [Mary] said, 'I didn't know you were a liberal,' " Crawford said, laughing. "I said, 'I am now.' "
His plan is to participate in formal graduation ceremonies in May of next year.
They say you can't rewind life. But Joe Crawford, a graduate of Cardinal O'Hara High, decided he could, at the very least, catch up on some things he had missed.
Directly out of high school where, he admits, he was "a bad student," he spent a semester at the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico.
"Passed all my courses, but didn't like being away from home," he recalled.
From there, he went to work in a factory, taking some courses at Delaware County Community College. But his eyes were focused on a career as a referee, not on a college degree. He spent time as a mail carrier. No one in his family had a college degree. It wasn't a priority. His late father, Shag, was a legendary National League umpire. His brother, Jerry, is a prominent major league umpire. This is the way it was in his environment.
"I worked every game I could," he said. "I worked high school games, the Eastern Basketball Association that became the CBA, wherever I could."
The NBA hired him at age 25. He was 54 when Mary saw a mailing about continuing education at Neumann and encouraged Joe to consider it.
Enter Dr. Tish Szymurski, the dean of the continuing adult and professional studies program.
"I was scared to death when I called," Crawford said. "But she suggested I come in to talk about it. She didn't know anything about me. She didn't know I was a referee until she asked what I did for a living. She asked why I wanted to get a degree and I simply said it was something I really wanted. I'm thinking, 'What am I doing? I'm a ref. I'm not a kid anymore.' She said, 'You're going to get it.' "
He adapted his schedule to essentially serve two masters.
"I'd study during flights, and in hotel rooms," he said. "Game days, I'd ride the exercise bike, read the case book, do my preparation, then study."
The enthusiasm he brought the day he met Szymurski never left.
"I've had students tell me they circled the building five times before they walked through the door the first time," Szymurski said. "I've had others say they called five times and hung up the phone before they said hello, before they could work up to it. But with a lot of them, once they're in, they realize they can do it. I haven't had many come in with the enthusiasm Joe brought."
Szymurski examined Crawford's credits from Santa Fe and Delaware County, then added them to what the college calls professional development credits, which are based on levels of learning and training in the workplace. She became his adviser.
"The students I advise always have my contact information," she said, "but it was different with Joe because of the hours he worked, the amount of time he was on the road. But I told him I'd always be available. He'd call and I'd be on vacation, or food shopping, or in a mall or getting my hair cut. But that was OK. I became educated on the NBA and what he did, and we both ended up learning a lot."
Joe Crawford is in Boston. Again, a day off between games. He is preparing to go out to dinner with his game-day partners. But he also is awaiting his grade on the first paper he has submitted. He goes back to his hotel room to check.
"The professor has left me a note suggesting I redo the paper," Crawford recalled. "I went back downstairs and told the guys I couldn't go. I worked on it until 2 or 3 in the morning. I got an 'A.' "
The original plan was to have Crawford finish his work by July of next year.
And then he got suspended by the NBA after an in-game dispute with San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan late last season. Crawford is hardly proud of the moment. He openly acknowledges that he has made mistakes in his career, that he hasn't always handled situations the way he should have. His passion for his profession and for the league sometimes gets in his way; he says he is trying to be "a work in progress, to improve as a referee and as a person."
"But when I got suspended," he said, "I doubled up on my course load. That was good, because it kept my mind off everything else. I was determined to turn a complete negative into a positive."
He smiled as he explained that, since enrolling at Neumann, he has written papers "on Darfur, on the airline industry, on America's addiction to oil, on interracial relationships." He has even become one of the speakers when Neumann holds promotional meetings for prospective students in the program.
"Joe's right there next to me, telling his story," Szymurski said. "He says, 'If I can do it, anyone can.' "
NBA referee Crawford completes college degree
By PHIL JASNER
THIS WAS IN Los Angeles a couple of years ago, a day off between games for NBA referee Joe Crawford. His colleagues had decided to have lunch in nearby Venice Beach, a pleasant respite from the job at hand.
Crawford, uncharacteristically, declined.
He was going, he said, to the Los Angeles Museum of Art to view two pieces, to compare and contrast them and write a paper on the subject.
"They looked at me as if I were nuts," Crawford recalled, laughing.
Crawford, who will turn 57 on Aug. 30, has been a referee in the league since 1977 and has worked more playoff and Finals games than any of his active colleagues, including the clinching Game 6 of the recently completed Finals in which the Boston Celtics defeated the Lakers for their first title since 1985-86.
"I went to the museum, spent several hours there, took notes, went back and did my work," Crawford said. "It was enlightening."
He has completed the last of five courses he has taken online and on campus via Neumann College's continuing adult and professional studies program. With that final course - learning Spanish - he has completed his degree in liberal studies.
"My wife [Mary] said, 'I didn't know you were a liberal,' " Crawford said, laughing. "I said, 'I am now.' "
His plan is to participate in formal graduation ceremonies in May of next year.
They say you can't rewind life. But Joe Crawford, a graduate of Cardinal O'Hara High, decided he could, at the very least, catch up on some things he had missed.
Directly out of high school where, he admits, he was "a bad student," he spent a semester at the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico.
"Passed all my courses, but didn't like being away from home," he recalled.
From there, he went to work in a factory, taking some courses at Delaware County Community College. But his eyes were focused on a career as a referee, not on a college degree. He spent time as a mail carrier. No one in his family had a college degree. It wasn't a priority. His late father, Shag, was a legendary National League umpire. His brother, Jerry, is a prominent major league umpire. This is the way it was in his environment.
"I worked every game I could," he said. "I worked high school games, the Eastern Basketball Association that became the CBA, wherever I could."
The NBA hired him at age 25. He was 54 when Mary saw a mailing about continuing education at Neumann and encouraged Joe to consider it.
Enter Dr. Tish Szymurski, the dean of the continuing adult and professional studies program.
"I was scared to death when I called," Crawford said. "But she suggested I come in to talk about it. She didn't know anything about me. She didn't know I was a referee until she asked what I did for a living. She asked why I wanted to get a degree and I simply said it was something I really wanted. I'm thinking, 'What am I doing? I'm a ref. I'm not a kid anymore.' She said, 'You're going to get it.' "
He adapted his schedule to essentially serve two masters.
"I'd study during flights, and in hotel rooms," he said. "Game days, I'd ride the exercise bike, read the case book, do my preparation, then study."
The enthusiasm he brought the day he met Szymurski never left.
"I've had students tell me they circled the building five times before they walked through the door the first time," Szymurski said. "I've had others say they called five times and hung up the phone before they said hello, before they could work up to it. But with a lot of them, once they're in, they realize they can do it. I haven't had many come in with the enthusiasm Joe brought."
Szymurski examined Crawford's credits from Santa Fe and Delaware County, then added them to what the college calls professional development credits, which are based on levels of learning and training in the workplace. She became his adviser.
"The students I advise always have my contact information," she said, "but it was different with Joe because of the hours he worked, the amount of time he was on the road. But I told him I'd always be available. He'd call and I'd be on vacation, or food shopping, or in a mall or getting my hair cut. But that was OK. I became educated on the NBA and what he did, and we both ended up learning a lot."
Joe Crawford is in Boston. Again, a day off between games. He is preparing to go out to dinner with his game-day partners. But he also is awaiting his grade on the first paper he has submitted. He goes back to his hotel room to check.
"The professor has left me a note suggesting I redo the paper," Crawford recalled. "I went back downstairs and told the guys I couldn't go. I worked on it until 2 or 3 in the morning. I got an 'A.' "
The original plan was to have Crawford finish his work by July of next year.
And then he got suspended by the NBA after an in-game dispute with San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan late last season. Crawford is hardly proud of the moment. He openly acknowledges that he has made mistakes in his career, that he hasn't always handled situations the way he should have. His passion for his profession and for the league sometimes gets in his way; he says he is trying to be "a work in progress, to improve as a referee and as a person."
"But when I got suspended," he said, "I doubled up on my course load. That was good, because it kept my mind off everything else. I was determined to turn a complete negative into a positive."
He smiled as he explained that, since enrolling at Neumann, he has written papers "on Darfur, on the airline industry, on America's addiction to oil, on interracial relationships." He has even become one of the speakers when Neumann holds promotional meetings for prospective students in the program.
"Joe's right there next to me, telling his story," Szymurski said. "He says, 'If I can do it, anyone can.' "