| A new stage for Battimo NHL Dot Com Mark Simon December 5, 2003 The man under the helmet may look a little familiar. ECHL referee Max Battimo has a past that makes him recognizable to hockey fans, but more likely to their children. When Battimo (pronounced Bah-TEAM-oh) was 11 and living not far from Los Angeles, he decided that he had an itch for acting and asked his mother to get him an agent. He began going on daily auditions, appearing in commercials and small guest star roles. By 1987 he had a role on a new television show for The Disney Channel called Good Morning Miss Bliss. Battimo played Mikey Gonzalez, best friend of Zack Morris (played by NYPD Blue star Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Samuel "Screech" Powers in a comedy about life for a teenager in junior high school. He filmed a season's worth of episodes and the show garnered a small audience. But when The Disney Channel declined to renew Good Morning Miss Bliss, NBC picked up the show, renamed it Saved by the Bell as part of its Saturday morning lineup, and made some changes. Battimo was not asked to return for the new season. The show lasted more than 100 episodes, spawned spinoffs, became a huge hit and still airs in reruns on TBS, with the Good Morning Miss Bliss episodes serving as Season No. 1. Flip on the television early any weekday morning and Battimo may be on the screen. The show rates extremely high with pre-teens. Gosselaar, Mario Lopez and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen became stars in their post-Bell careers. After being let go, Battimo walked away from acting and didn't go back. Battimo became, in his words, "a regular teenager" and a hockey fan. He got into the sport right around the time Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, played Midget and Bantam hockey beginning at age 16, and also played in Canada in the Kootenay Junior Hockey League. Upon returning to California, he was working as a supervisor at a roller rink when an official didn't show up for a game. Battimo was tabbed as his replacement and became a youth and adult league official. When he was 26, he was "discovered" by Michel Voyer of the California School of Officiating, who worked in the West Coast Hockey League. Battimo was then hired by WCHL director of hockey operations Adam Keller and made the unlikely jump to the pro game as a linesman. This is his fourth season as a pro official and his first as a full-time referee. He will work 75 games, primarily on the West Coast, allowing him to maintain residence in Santa Monica, Calif. "Max is someone who has made it through the ranks quickly," said ECHL manager of officiating Jim Norquay. "He has a good rapport with players and coaches, which is something you need in this business." Battimo noticed in making the switch to the ECHL after the two leagues merged, that the game is a little different now. "These are kids that are trying to make it to the NHL," Battimo said. "The game is faster and harder to officiate. But it's more enjoyable for fans to watch." Battimo enjoys the work, saying it's a good way to keep in shape. He maintains a sense of humor about taunts from fans, shaking it off as part of the game. "During games you block it out," said Battimo, acknowledging no one has made any cracks regarding his acting career. "It's kind of comical actually. Yelling at the referee is nothing to take personal. You're not there to please the fans. You're there to do a job." Battimo said in the future, if he can't make it to the AHL or NHL, he wants to become a fireman. To that end, he recently completed an EMT class at UCLA and plans to work as a lifeguard this summer. He also works as a youth hockey coach for the LA Junior Kings. Most people aren't aware of that, because of some of the odd things that have appeared about Battimo on the internet. One web site lists a bio for him stating his real name is Braxton, he is from Italy, married, and owns a group of Italian restaurants, none of which is true (Battimo is single, half-Italian, but a native of Argentina, and has never owned a restaurant). Coincidentally, he still bumps into one of his old friends, as he officiated some adult league games in Los Angeles not long ago in which Gosselaar played. E! has called asking for help on a True Hollywood Story: Saved by the Bell project. There's even talk of a class reunion show. The past seems to come up every now and then. "Sometimes I'll get calls from my friends at 2 a.m., telling me to turn on the TV because I'm on," said a laughing Battimo, who stills gets the occasional residuals check because of his time on the series. "I usually just hang up on them. Sometimes, if I'm at a bar with my friends, they'll go up to the women there and say 'This guy's a television star.' A lot of people still tell me it was there favorite show growing up. I had a girlfriend a while back who knew all sorts of Saved By the Bell trivia. Wherever I go, somebody knows who I am. It follows me around." |
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