Referee denies using profanity
Parents stunned by alleged retort during game
04:45 PM CST on Thursday, January 29, 2004
By DAVID McNABB / The Dallas Morning News
MESQUITE A veteran referee denied through his attorney that he used profanity or had any interaction with fans while officiating the Mesquite Poteet-Mesquite Horn s basketball game Tuesday night.
Several parents and fans said that Woods, a 19-year game official, turned toward the stands and directed a profanity at them as a Horn player was set to shoot a free throw.
(Woods) recollection is that he didnt say anything to anyone but players, attorney George Yarbrough said Thursday. He never said anything to anybody
(Woods) doesnt remember anything out of the ordinary said by the fans. Just the regular stuff.
Parents said there had been some yelling at the officials but nothing of a personal nature.
"(Woods) turned around and said (the profanity) very distinctly," said Teresa Carey, whose daughter, Triauna, plays for Poteet. "And all the little kids went, 'Oooohh.' "
Said Velma Wommack, whose daughter, Jessica, plays for Poteet: "Everyone's jaw dropped. We all turned around to look at each other like, 'Did he just say that?' "
Woods was escorted from Poteets gym and the game suspended at halftime. Poteet assistant principal David Medina -- the on-site administrator in charge -- asked Woods to leave. The game was completed Wednesday night, with Poteet winning, 46-24.
Dallas Basketball Officials Association president Steve Mankin said Wednesday hes investigating the incident but couldnt comment. Elvenn Richardson, the co-official at Tuesdays games, said its against DBOA policy for referees to discuss games.
Yarbrough said he was retained by Woods to help him through the investigation process.
Several people connected with officiating and game management said incidents involving referees are typically handled differently.
Paul Galvan, a longtime official and former supervisor with the Southwest Conference who is now Fort Worth ISD athletic director, said Woods probably should not have been ejected.
Galvan said he believed the usual procedure would be for the school administrator to make a complaint to the Texas Association of Sporting Officials, of which every referee must be a member.
"They could have gone to the referee and said they don't want to hear any profanity," Galvan said, "and then make a report."
TASO assistant director Steven Ellinger said if a school administrator routinely assigned to monitor games doesn't hear something personally, "it might not be a good thing for fans to think they can go say this and get rid of the official."
Ellinger said if the security officers had intervened first, then it would have been a legal matter and out of the hands of school officials and referees. He said there have been complaints made against officials for inappropriate language in the past, and that TASO has the power to ban or suspend officials for such language.
Ellinger said it was basic TASO policy that officials shouldn't interact with fans. "It's just not a win situation," Ellinger said.
Longtime coaches and officials said it's the first time they had heard of a referee being ejected.
"I have heard officials and fans get into it," Duncanville boys basketball coach Phil McNeely said. "But I've never seen the official go."
Staff Writer Kate Hairopoulos contributed to this report.
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