Whistling While They Work : Holding Court : From a Run to a Walk: Hackney Says It’s Time to Slow Down

Everyone who knows Al Hackney says he is mild mannered. He’s not a guy who shouts or pushes people around. But give the man a whistle and people start saluting. And after 25 years as a basketball official, Hackney finally has moved into the “at ease” mode.

Hackney, 48, is considering a move off the court and into the stands. The players are gaining a step every season, he says.

“Your body is only good for so long, then you just break down,” Hackney said, then laughed. He may be kidding, but he’s serious about the game-induced fatigue. “In the month of December I lost 15 pounds and 2 inches around my waist, and I worked 23 games. It takes its toll physically. Right now I think the important thing is to train younger refs.”

Hackney is an excellent candidate to do the training. He has worked 15 years in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., he traveled with Athletes in Action from 1973 to 1981, has worked international games, and, by his own count, has worked in 101 Division 1 gymnasiums.

Like many officials, Hackney got his start first as a player then as a coach. In 1967-68, he coached at Newport Harbor High School.

“I just love the game and like the opportunity to be close to it,” Hackney said. “I just didn’t want to put the amount of time into coaching that it required. As an official, I can do my job and go home.

“Sure, there are some people who are going to throw things or say things to you. That’s natural. When we put on the striped suit we know the price. Everybody wants a piece of you. But as much as everyone gets on us, they respect us. You know, without us, the game doesn’t go.”

But Hackney almost has disproved that. He once worked a high school game alone. “You don’t want to do it,” he said. “It’s not fun.”

He once worked a junior college game between Riverside and Citrus alone because the assigned partner failed to show. “The players were real gentlemen,” he said. “They went and got the ball for me when it was loose. I think it was one of the smoothest games I’ve ever worked.”

Hackney sees the official’s job as maintaining control and still allowing the game to flow naturally.

“You try to work things out,” Hackney said. “Discussion is a sign of intelligence. Arguing is a sign of ignorance. I try to let the kids run the game, not my whistle. Late in a one-point ball game, someone is going to foul. I figure it’s their foul, not mine. It wasn’t my whistle that decided the game.”