[mplagrow]

I had a 8th grade season end tournament this weekend. I happen to be the assignor for this tournament. I reffed the third place game, which was played right before the championship game. It was great--two teams and coaches that demonstrated great sportsmanship. Everyone was having fun. At the end of the game, a boy hit two free throws with .6 left to send it to OT (my first of the year). A kid from the other team rimmed out a 3-pointer as time expired in OT, or we would have gone to a second OT. Nobody cried, pouted, complained. It was everything basketball should be, IMO.

I stuck around to watch the championship game. It was the complete opposite. The refs I assigned are both doing varsity high school semi-final games this year, top notch guys. They let the teams play a little, and are as consistent and mechanically solid as anyone. The coaches were jerks, the players were angry pouters, and the fans from both schools were just downright terrible. Watching from the stands, it made me want to quit reffing. Then I'm asking myself why I let this ruin the high from the third-place game. I have one more tournament next weekend, maybe it will leave a better taste in my mouth.

Is there really that much of a decrease in sporstmanship from year to year, or am I just letting the bad ones get to me?