[BillyMac]

Big Fella, and his family, will be in my prayers.

I've had an unofficial mentor for the past thirty-five plus years, Sandy.

He's a multiple state final official and has been very active in our local board, holding several positions, mostly dealing with training. Everytime he observed me or worked with me he had both positive compliments and negative criticism for me, and he made me a better official. I would observe him in many state tournament games, and he always invited me into the locker room for halftime and post game meetings, often asking if I "saw anything".

He's had health struggles over the years, a broken ankle stepping off a curb, and a heart valve replacement.

He showed up at our first meeting this year (new rules), and he hosted a Refresher Exam meeting, in both cases wearing a surgical mask. He's undergoing chemotherapy for stage IV liver cancer, and is susceptible to germs due to his weakened immune system.

I posted something a few weeks ago and I'll post it again.

When I started officiating almost four decades ago, I often went to wakes and funerals for parents of my officiating colleagues. Now, in addition to going to wakes and funerals for parents of my officiating colleagues, I'm also going to wakes and funerals of my officiating colleagues.

I remember walking into a state tournament quarterfinal a few years ago, seeing Sandy and two other veterans. Sandy was the referee and I approached him and said, "What did they do, pick the three oldest officials on our board to work this game?", without skipping a beat he replied, "No, they picked the three with least amount of hair". All three were as bald as a cue ball.