Officials drawing too much notice

It used to be officials considered it a good day if they weren't noticed.

Not anymore.

Whether it's an NBA referee tossing a ball at a fan or ejection-loving (and, apparently, thin-skinned) major league baseball umpires, those supposed to stay in the background are drawing way too much attention.

The suits in New York aren't happy.

One executive, baseball head of discipline Bob Watson, reportedly will call umpire Bill Hohn and let it be known his ejection of Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt on Monday crossed the line. Oswalt was unhappy with a ball-strike call but didn't yell in Hohn's direction, and the umpire escalated the situation.

Baseball also recently fined umpire Joe West after he tossed Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle and manager Ozzie Guillen for arguing balk calls. West is the same ump who had criticized the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees for playing such long games.

Maybe he has a point about that, but West goes against umpire/referee tradition by being all too willing to grant interviews. He also is a country music singer and songwriter and has a publicist.

No doubt he's available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.

But baseball always can count on the NBA to take away some of the heat and produce referee-related controversies. It's NBA tradition for fans to question how games are called, especially in the playoffs.

Most refs, though, don't let the fans get to them. Not Joe DeRosa, who was suspended for a game after tossing a ball at a heckling fan during the Boston Celtics-Orlando Magic series in the Eastern Conference finals.

You can't call three incidents an epidemic, but those who officiate games can't forget it's not about them. Yes, we're talking to you, Joe West. Or is that your publicist?

■ TAKING A SHORT CUT -- Sure, take out 10 miles, and the marathon doesn't seem so daunting. That's what 69-year-old Anthony Gaskell did at the London Marathon in winning his age division.

Six weeks later, the marathon realized Gaskell didn't run the full race. Gaskell told London's Daily Mail he was injured and wasn't trying to cheat.

"I simply walked through a short cut to the end of the course where my belongings were waiting for me," he said. "I had no idea that anyone thought I'd won. I didn't bother to check the website for the final standings because I knew I had dropped out."

Sounds reasonable, but Gaskell also said he runs for an athletic club. That was news to the club, which hasn't received his dues in at least 12 years.

Maybe Gaskell should use Joe West's publicist.

■ FRESH FLUSHES -- Nothing says fun like flushing a toilet.

That's what the Pittsburgh Penguins seem to believe. They hope to find 250 students to be the first to flush the toilets at the team's new arena.

They must've hired Joe West's publicist.

The June 10 event is called "Student Flush," but let's hope the Penguins don't think this is the way to attract their next generation of fans.

COMPILED BY MARK ANDERSON LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL