Woodie

I got this thread, in an email about Haywoode Workman.

After reading the article, and thinking about Woodie, several adjectives about him came to mind, all positive–hardworking, mature, intelligent, tough, classy, competitive, unselfish and a leader.

I had the pleasure of working with Haywoode while we were both with the Pacers in the early 90′s.  He typified his name, Workman.  That is exactly who he was, a workman.  Notice that all of my adjectives that I used in describing him did not include any physical attributes.  How often do you see that when describing  an athlete?  In fact, Haywoode was a solid athlete.  If memory serves me correctly, Haywoode was a star track athlete when in high school in North Carolina.  However, in the arena of the highly athletic NBA, that is not what stood out about him.  Maybe above all else, what separated him from others was his toughness, both mental and physical,  and his competitiveness. 

I think he will make a fine ref, if there is such a thing…He will not be intimidated.  Even when he was a role player, he was never afraid to speak up, even if it meant chatising one of the stars on the team.  If he felt they were not playing the right way, he’d tell them and guys took it because they had such respect for him.  I loved that about him.

I like seeing an ex-player becoming a ref.  I think there is a need for more guys, who have played, getting into reffing.  A lot of refereeing has to do with feel, and ex-players have a natural advantage. 

Gosh, this may mean that now there are 2 referees that I have liked.