Bob Delaney keeps it official.

Bob Delaney has been a top referee in the NBA over the past 20 years. If you have been watching the 2008 NBA Playoffs you probably have watched a game or two that he has called, (or likely disagreed with).

Many are discovering his incredible past with the release of his book Covert: My Years Infliltrating the Mob, chronicling his pre-NBA career as a New Jersey State Trooper going undercover inside the Mob for three years.

I recently interviewed him for Peace Magazine, to talk about Covert, and he shared a great anecdote of an early NBA experience. Whether it’s the players, coaches or fans, Delaney hears it from everyone, but who’s evaluation does he give any credence to? “My mother. She critiques me about everything, whether she thinks I’m running right, making the correct calls, gaining weight, she’ll call me and tell me right after the game.”

Well she didn't wait until after the game to let him know one night at Madison Square Garden, as Delaney called a foul on her favourite player Patrick Ewing. "Everyone in the Garden thought it was the wrong call", he says. "As the booing grew louder, I looked up into the stands like a little boy seeking that parental approval, only to have my mom booing me just as hard as everyone else. She's my biggest fan and harshest critic" he chuckled.