[mj]

Originally posted by Rich Fronheiser
I'm where we get to pick our partners and get our own games. I only work with good officials cause the games I get I'm asked to provide 2 officials. When another official calls me, it's because he wants to work with me.

I've had four games this season -- all varsity boys. I've enjoyed being on the court for all four even though the games were all pretty lopsided. Last night was a blowout, but my partner and I found a reason to laugh on the court near the end of the game (mad scramble in the backcourt where I ended up with a 10-second violation -- you had to be there). I could've gone two more quarters, easily. The coaches were great, though -- the losing coach almost fielded a live ball that was thrown in the backcourt and was heading out of bounds and even though he was losing he joked that I'd probably called a backcourt violation on him.

Now, the flipside. My partner and I braved the elements last night and drove 1:30 into a place where my cell phone actually said "Dream on" when I tried to place a call . We arrived an hour before the varsity game and walked in the gym to watch some of the JV game. On the way up we were joking about JV officials at some of the smaller schools and the uniforms they wear -- Byron collars, windpants, white shoes (local small-town officials who don't belong to an association because, well, it's not required here). Well, one of the officials had all three last night -- windpants, white shoes, and a collared shirt. The other one was in black jeans. We got through a minute of it before we couldn't watch anymore. Of course the laughing at the irony of our discussion wasn't helping either.

Slipping down into another state tonight for my first 3-whistle game of the season.

Rich

I feel this is a huge advantage that we have in Wisconsin. I can't imagine going to a game not knowing who your partner is. We also get to travel together which makes the time go by faster when you're on those long road trips to far away places, right Rich.

MJ