Greg Hansen's top 10 officials and referees in Tucson history
- Updated
Star sports columnist Greg Hansen counts downΒ the top 10 sports officials and referees in Tucson history.Β
Editor's note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Today's list: The top 10 officials and referees in Tucson history.
On a fall day in 1927, Ralph Deal, a former UA football player, climbed a ladder to the top of UAβs new gymnasium and dipped a brush into a large can of blue paint.
He filled in the outline of the B on Bear Down Gymnasium, a lasting memorial to his fallen teammate, John "Button" Salmon, namesake of Arizonaβs "Bear Down" rally cry.
After that, Deal made his name in another side of sports. For 38 years, he officiated college football and basketball, and all manner of high school sports in Southern Arizona.
"In football season, I would start with a six-man football game at Patagonia in the afternoon, then drive to Bisbee for an 11-man game that night," he told me in 1990. "The next day Iβd officiate the UA game at Arizona Stadium."
Deal was the most well-known referee in Southern Arizona for almost four decades, working Territorial Cup football games and acting as the official scorer for the entire 81-game basketball winning streak at Bear Down Gym.
He is plainly one of the 10 leading officials in Tucson history, but thatβs where the crowd forms. When I began these rankings, I was unaware of the difficulty of narrowing the lists to 10. Tucson overflows with current and former referees/officials of a notable scale. If I left your favorite (and deserving) official off this list, let me hear about it.Β
Over 34 years, Ferrara worked more than 1,000 professional fights, including those with George Foreman, Oscar de la Hoya and Roberto Duran. World title bouts: 36.Β
The Tucson High grad umpired 31 NCAA regionals and two College World Series and hundreds of high school baseball games.Β
Hard to separate Tucsonβs current Pac-12 basketball referees. Scofield has worked 19 NCAA tournaments, mostly in womenβs basketball, and the 2016 Final Four. Rastatter has worked, at last count, 14 NCAA tournaments and the Pac-12 championship game, among others.Β
For 25 years, Baker was the Southern Arizona coordinator of high school referees and officials, who officiated every possible sport himself.Β
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Another inseparable duo; both worked Pac-12 football games and Rose and Fiesta Bowls for a quarter-century, then became Pac-12 TV replay officials.Β
The 2007 USA Track and Field official of the year. Reynolds has worked two Olympic games and more than a dozen NCAA and U.S. track and field championships.Β
The Salpointe Catholic grad has been an MLB umpire steadily since 2000. He worked the 2005 All-Star Game.Β
For 22 years, Deal worked Border Conference football games and virtually every UA-ASU football game.Β
For 32 years, Markert called high school baseball, football and basketball games, including 19 state championship games.Β
You name it, Moore worked it: WAC basketball, RMAC football, high school sports, umpiring until he was almost 90.Β
Bob Beal, for 27 years a Pac-12 football official, which included 14 bowl games. Pat Flood, the QB on Tucson Highβs 1952 state championship team, worked Pac-10 games for almost a quarter-century and also called the 1996 national championship game. Gordon Overstreet, the Pac-10 basketball observer through the 1980s and 1990s, also worked WAC football and a Fiesta Bowl. Jerry Gastellum, a long-time Pac-10 football referee, has officiated scores of top football games played in Tucson and in the state tournament.
Β
Editor's note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Today's list: The top 10 officials and referees in Tucson history.
On a fall day in 1927, Ralph Deal, a former UA football player, climbed a ladder to the top of UAβs new gymnasium and dipped a brush into a large can of blue paint.
He filled in the outline of the B on Bear Down Gymnasium, a lasting memorial to his fallen teammate, John "Button" Salmon, namesake of Arizonaβs "Bear Down" rally cry.
After that, Deal made his name in another side of sports. For 38 years, he officiated college football and basketball, and all manner of high school sports in Southern Arizona.
"In football season, I would start with a six-man football game at Patagonia in the afternoon, then drive to Bisbee for an 11-man game that night," he told me in 1990. "The next day Iβd officiate the UA game at Arizona Stadium."
Deal was the most well-known referee in Southern Arizona for almost four decades, working Territorial Cup football games and acting as the official scorer for the entire 81-game basketball winning streak at Bear Down Gym.
He is plainly one of the 10 leading officials in Tucson history, but thatβs where the crowd forms. When I began these rankings, I was unaware of the difficulty of narrowing the lists to 10. Tucson overflows with current and former referees/officials of a notable scale. If I left your favorite (and deserving) official off this list, let me hear about it.Β
Over 34 years, Ferrara worked more than 1,000 professional fights, including those with George Foreman, Oscar de la Hoya and Roberto Duran. World title bouts: 36.Β
The Tucson High grad umpired 31 NCAA regionals and two College World Series and hundreds of high school baseball games.Β
Hard to separate Tucsonβs current Pac-12 basketball referees. Scofield has worked 19 NCAA tournaments, mostly in womenβs basketball, and the 2016 Final Four. Rastatter has worked, at last count, 14 NCAA tournaments and the Pac-12 championship game, among others.Β
For 25 years, Baker was the Southern Arizona coordinator of high school referees and officials, who officiated every possible sport himself.Β
Another inseparable duo; both worked Pac-12 football games and Rose and Fiesta Bowls for a quarter-century, then became Pac-12 TV replay officials.Β
The 2007 USA Track and Field official of the year. Reynolds has worked two Olympic games and more than a dozen NCAA and U.S. track and field championships.Β
The Salpointe Catholic grad has been an MLB umpire steadily since 2000. He worked the 2005 All-Star Game.Β
For 22 years, Deal worked Border Conference football games and virtually every UA-ASU football game.Β
For 32 years, Markert called high school baseball, football and basketball games, including 19 state championship games.Β
You name it, Moore worked it: WAC basketball, RMAC football, high school sports, umpiring until he was almost 90.Β
Bob Beal, for 27 years a Pac-12 football official, which included 14 bowl games. Pat Flood, the QB on Tucson Highβs 1952 state championship team, worked Pac-10 games for almost a quarter-century and also called the 1996 national championship game. Gordon Overstreet, the Pac-10 basketball observer through the 1980s and 1990s, also worked WAC football and a Fiesta Bowl. Jerry Gastellum, a long-time Pac-10 football referee, has officiated scores of top football games played in Tucson and in the state tournament.
Β
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