Getting your player ready...
Referee Joe DeRosa is home for Christmas, but he’ll soon be back on the road — and inside an NBA arena. On Christmas Eve, the Ohio native checked out of a Detroit hotel after working a Bulls-Pistons game and was told it was the 173rd night he’d spent in a Marriott hotel this year. DeRosa, now in his 20th season as a referee, is known as one of the league’s best officials. He’s worked the NBA Finals six straight years and is set to call his 1,200th game in 2009. DeRosa works about 70 games in the regular season, then spends two months working a dozen or so playoff games.
