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| Don Cline, centre, shows a picture of himself refereeing a Western basketball game to Robert Collins, left, the former PUC director of community and recreation services, and longtime Free Press sportswriter Bob Gage in this January 2002 photo. (QMI Agency file photo) |
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A love affair with family and basketball
REMEMBERED: Don Cline
In the upcoming days, there will be a mountain of tributes from around the world for London's Don Cline.
His sudden death Sunday at age 64 has left not only the basketball community stunned, but those who knew the personable referee off the court.
His public epitaph will be one that denotes his status as one of the best and most respected amateur basketball officials in the world.
A more personal epitaph will be one that he would have found more important, a man focused on family and a devoted husband and father.
Bill Smith, a man who played when Cline refereed, officiated with Cline and was a scorekeeper when Cline worked games, nailed the man with the same certainty Cline whistled a foul.
"On and off the court, he was always a gentleman and a gentle man," Smith said Tuesday.
Those few words defined a man who had reached the pinnacle of success in his sport and in his life.
Cline died of an apparent heart attack.
"It was totally unexpected," said Jocelyn, Cline's wife of 39 years. "It happened so suddenly with no health issues.
"We're just on autopilot right now, one foot in front of the other. It's been heartening to see and hear, the calls, all the nice things people have said about Don. It will hard later on but it helps now."
Cline leaves two daughters, Emily, 27, and Becky, 29. Becky is on her way back from France where she works at the Juno Beach Centre.
"He was such a terrific father to the girls," Jocelyn said. "He participated in their lives. A relative in England said his girls were his prized possession (and) I included myself in that, and Don's dog Heidi in that."
Cline retired from officiating in 2002 with an eye-popping international and national resume.
He worked two Olympic Games (1984 in LA and 1996 in Atlanta), three Olympic qualifiers, three Pan American Games, two men's world championships, three women's world championships, 22 Canadian men's university championships, plus countless London and Ontario high school championships.
"He never ever, no matter what the circumstances, lost his cool. No matter how close the game, how aggressive teams were playing back and forth, he never lost his cool," Smith said.
Through all the years of adrenaline-pumped games, Cline never lost the respect of the players he officiated.
"As a player, you are never going to agree with all his calls. It's just natural," said John Stiefelmeyer, a former Western Mustang and MVP of the 1991 CIS championship team. "He was the guy if you knew he was reffing your game, you knew you were going to get a very fair referee. He was the type of individual who would always, after the game, if you wanted to talk to him, he would talk to you.
"He would always come to our practices before the season started and explain any rule changes. Sometimes the referee was just the referee but there was a face to Don. Forget the referee piece, you could always talk to him."
Stiefelmeyer recalled an OUA championship game against Guelph that Cline worked. It was a close game and Stiefelmeyer fouled out on a call by Cline.
"The game was on TV and I went and watched the foul," he said. "I knew I didn't foul him. We eventually won but after I said to him 'Don, there's no way I touched him.' He said 'John, from my view I had to call it' and he went through the whole explanation and by the end, you still didn't agree but you respected him because he would talk to you."
Keeping a potentially volatile situation calm was one of his strong suits.
"He was one of my mentors," said Ted Gibb, who at 63 still referees and assigns high school and college games. "Don was an interesting guy. He took professionalism to an extreme. Don knew everyone. When we did games together he would go over and shake hands and introduce me to the coaches and call them all by name. When the two captains came out at the start of the game, he'd call them by name.
"But once the game started it was 'coach' and 'No. 14' and occasionally, if he really felt he needed to say something to the coach or players to keep something under control, he would very quietly address them by name. He'd say 'Paul, I need you to get yourself under control. Let's get back to basketball.'
"And invariably, the game calmed down."
Larry Rooks has been a friend of Cline's for many years. They played basketball together at Beck Collegiate and after university, worked together in the PUC recreation department.
"He was very quiet," Rooks said. "But he loved his two girls. He took pride in what he did and he never tooted his own horn. He had reached the pinnacle of officiating, not only in Canada but worldwide, and you would never know it."
Rooks nominated Cline for London's Sports Hall of Fame several years ago and readily admits he's "miffed" Cline has not been inducted.
"He should have been in when he was alive," Rooks said.
An oversight that should be rectified with the next vote.
And just one of several tributes suitable for a gentleman and a gentle man.
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