From Michigan, a Q&A with a longtime referee:

Mike Vernon has worked at Aircraft Precision Products for 35 years.

He's now a quality control technician and one of the highest seniority workers at the Ithaca plant.
However, the 57-year-old 1969 Ithaca High School graduate has a much more visible second job.

Vernon has been refereeing boys' and girls' high school basketball games in mid-Michigan for more than three decades, including a couple of state finals.