Earl Strom

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Earl Strom
Earl Strom

Earl "Yogi" Strom (December 15, 1927 – July 10, 1994, born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania), was a basketball referee for 29 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and for three years in the American Basketball Association (ABA). Strom was considered by many to be the greatest referee in the history of the NBA for his ability and colorful personality. Strom officiated 2,400 regular season games, 295 playoffs games, seven All-Star games, and 29 NBA and ABA Finals. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995. He wore uniform number 12 for the majority of his career. He wore the number 10 in his first stint in the NBA from 1957 to 1969, prior to joining the ABA. When Strom returned to the NBA during the 1973-74 NBA season, the number 10 was already reassigned to Darrell Garretson, Strom took the available number 12 for the remainder of his career in the NBA.

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[edit] Biography

Strom graduated from Pottstown High School in 1945 and attended Peirce Junior College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he graduated in 1951. Strom became an NBA referee in 1957 after officiating high school for nine years and college games for three years. In 1961, he and Mendy Rudolph made NBA history when they refereed all seven games of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks. Earl was elected NBA Crew Chief in 1967 and 1968, and throughout his long career, Strom was respected for his colorful style and ability to control the game. His reputation for fairness earned the respect of players, coaches, officials, and even fans. In a 1990 USA Today poll, Earl was considered the league's top official in the NBA.

Strom's decision to retire from the league was partly the result of a long-time feud between him and longtime Supervisor of Officials, Darrell Garretson, who also served as an active official. The disagreement was over officiating philosophy on how games should be called. His final game was Game 4 of the 1990 NBA Finals between the Detroit Pistons and Portland Trailblazers played June 12, 1990 in a game that saw Strom correctly wave off Danny Young's half-court heave that would have sent the game into overtime had it come before the buzzer.

After his retirement from the NBA, Strom briefly worked as a television color commentator for the Los Angeles Clippers and for college basketball's Northeast Conference.

He died on July 10, 1994 after fighting a bout with brain cancer.

[edit] Richie Phillips and the NBA

Earl Strom had difficulties returning to the NBA from the ABA. The NBA did not want him to return. Strom was represented by Richie Phillips, a union leader, to assist in getting Strom's job back with the NBA. A suit was filed against the NBA for breach of an oral contract when John Nucatola, then Supervisor of Officials, told Strom that he wanted him back. The league filed preliminary objections to have the suit dismissed, but were overruled by the court. The NBA then moved for summary judgment which was denied. This ultimately resolved the matter and Strom received his job back.

[edit] Famous incidents

  • Strom was officiating an NBA game between the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets with Dick Bavetta as his partner for that game. The game was close at the end and Earl made a last-second call against the Nets, ending the game with a win for Sixers. Suddenly Dick Bavetta ran across floor to the scorer's table, saying, "No! No! I got a push off against McGinnis!" Earl Strom then challenged Bavetta, "Are you over-ruling my call?" "I got pushing off right here!" Bavetta insisted, which reversed Strom's call and the Nets wound up with the victory. With the game over, players were walking to their respective locker rooms when the door to the referees' locker room flew open and Dick Bavetta came staggering out. His uniform was ripped and he was wearing a big welt over his eye, running to get away from Strom. Strom stepped out into the hallway and hollered after Bavetta, "You'll take another one of my (bleeping) calls again, right, you (bleep)?"
  • After Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, Red Auerbach confronted Strom in the hallway near locker rooms. "That was the worst officiated game I ever saw!" said Auerbach, referring to the fact that the Lakers shot 14 fourth-period free throws to the Celtics' one. He also told Strom, "You're a gelding," though he was not quite so Elizabethan in his choice of words. Strom stared back at him and said, "Arnold, you're showing all the class I knew you always had."
  • During a game in 1982, then head coach of the Utah Jazz, Frank Layden, had seen enough of his team's poor performance and wanted an early leave. Layden verbally abused Strom to entice Strom to eject the coach out of the game. Strom knew what he was trying to do and when Layden asked Strom why he did not eject him, Strom replied, “I know what you’re trying to do, Frank, but if I’ve got to stay out here and watch this shit, so do you”.
  • Wilt Chamberlain saved Strom from an angry mob during a game in Memphis, Tennessee. Strom made a call that went against the St. Louis Hawks and at halftime was called a "gutless bastard" by Hawks general manager Irv Gack at the scorer's table. Strom asked Gack to repeat the comment as Strom reached across the table and grabbed Gack by the shirt. Fans start coming down from the seats and Wilt Chamberlain, who was playing for the Philadelphia 76ers at the time saw this. Wilt stepped across the table picked Strom up and said, "C'mon Earl. Let's get the hell out of here."

[edit] Books

[edit] Quotes

  • "If you ever stop to say 'What's going to happen to me if I make this call', you might as well take your whistle and shove it because that's all the respect you're giving it."
  • "Officiating is the only occupation in the world where the highest accolade is silence."
  • "If you were my wife, I'd eat it." In response to a woman heckler who had yelled at him: "Hey Earl, if you were my husband, I'd feed you rat poison."

[edit] External links

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