LONDON -- Mike Wood's knee was swollen Monday. So much so that his never-repaired ACL is likely to be an issue for a few more days after pushing his body to the limit -- if not past it.

But once the ACC requested his presence as one of two officials for Duke's five-game, three-day trip to London, he knew what he was signing up for. It wasn't a vacation. He'd agreed to come to London to officiate five games in three days. And Wood was spent by Monday night, as was British official Richard Stokes, which came as no surprise considering the two had officiated every minute of all five games, without a third person, or even an alternate.

	Division I referee Mike Wood will let a coach make his point, but only to a point.

While Duke used this trip to get a head start on the season, Wood prepared himself for the grueling grind of big-time NCAA Division I officiating. The crew chief in conferences like the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and Conference USA had never done anything like this weekend. Never. And may never again. But he certainly got indoctrinated into officiating for the season faster than he ever has before a season.

"This is a bitch," said Wood, who last officiated the Midwest Regional semifinal between Kansas and Illinois in Madison, Wis., last March. "I would never do this and ref this many games. I'll do exhibition games, but nothing like this. But what I try to do is never get out of shape. I maintain my shape by running in the offseason. Try to lift weights, and stay healthy and eat healthy and stretch a lot."

Both he and Stokes had to deal with every coach undressing them throughout games. Both got an earful from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and his counterparts. And the players, notably the Brighton Bears, gave them more lip than either would receive or tolerate in a normal game.

In a Division I college game, Wood would have had a choice word with the head coach to keep his players quiet or else he would shut them up with a technical. But those tactics didn't work here in London. The professional players didn't back off from Wood and he handed out three technicals Monday and threw one player, Sterling Davis, out of the game when it looked like he was going to come after him.

The 47-year-old Wood isn't a fulltime official. The majority of his time is spent with his South Carolina-based business American Storage as well as his many community obligations like being on a hospital board. But he is about as respected as an official in the college game can be, and isn't afraid to share his opinions on the issues facing officials, and what needs to change.

Wood did a sensational job of trying to block out the garbage that comes with dealing with coaches and players and was able to get into a zone, especially when he had to officiate the same coaches and players over three days.

"If you let them know they've gotten to you, you're dead," Wood said.

Wood would listen to the coaches' rant, give them an audience but didn't have a long leash. Coaches do just want to be heard, not ignored, and Wood will hear them out. But he's not going to put himself above a call and think that he can do no wrong.

"If a referee says he doesn't miss stuff then he's a liar," Wood said. "You're going to. We are held accountable to the supervisor of officials and the conference offices. But you have to watch tape."

And what is he looking for?

"Position," Wood said. "If you've got proper position then you'll make the right call. I don't strive for perfection. I strive for excellence. You can't strive for perfection because it doesn't happen in officiating."

Wood would like to see the lane wider to the NBA width, but more importantly, wants the NCAA to change the officials' pregame ritual.

"Let me tell you how ignorant the NCAA is," Wood said. "Thirty minutes before the game, we must be on the court and just stand there. How stupid is that? They don't want you to run sprints. They say it looks bad. They want you to observe the players, watch to make sure they don't dunk before the game. The best way to get ready is to replicate the exercise.

"I tell my officials (when he's a crew chief) to not get hurt in the first minute and pull up lame on a fastbreak," Wood said. "That's when pulled muscles occur."

Wood would also like to see the NCAA use more instant replay.

"If we've got the technology, use it," Wood said. "It's not about who's right, it's about what's right. If you get the play right, no matter how, then no one will complain."

And what's the toughest call? Shots at the end of the game, at the buzzer, said Wood. An official has to see the foot, the hands, the ball and the clock at the same time. That's why he was thrilled when the NCAA made officials review the tape if it's an end-of-game shot.

And, would Wood want to ever be the story, let his ego make him bigger than the coach like a few other officials (While Wood wouldn't say who, the coaches do complain about Ted Valentine trying to be too much of a story himself).

"You only inject yourself when you have to," Wood said. "Fans don't come to see us. It's about the players, not us."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.