[BillyMac]

From Mark Padgett: "I'm having nightmares about an OT."

Mr. Padgett: I dream about overtime games. I don't want to take away from the excitement of the game winning shot in your game, but why do my fellow officials pretend, at least I hope that it's pretending, to dislike overtime games? Overtime games are exciting for players, coaches, fans, and officials. If nonofficials hear us pretending not to like overtime games, they might get the wrong impression that we just want to finish the game, get our paycheck, and go home as soon as possible. Remember we also have coaches, players, and fans on this Forum. Officials on all levels. Please, please stop this pretending. It makes me ashamed to be an official.

From Mark Padgett: "My partner is an English teacher at that high school."

I am a retired middle school teacher. When I was trying to bank away as much money as I could to put my three children through college, all at the same time, I worked a lot of games, as many as six games a week, in my local high school recreation league. Games were pretty good. Some athletes who didn't want to make the six day a week committment to playing high school varsity basketball, and some football and baseball players, whose coaches encouraged them not to play another varsity sport, even though they were good enough to, trying to stay in shape, and have some fun during the winter months. What I really enjoyed about this league was getting to watch my former students grow into young men. They got to see me in a different light, not as their science teacher, but as someone who shared a common love of the game of basketball. In a few cases I developed a good rapport with these former students that I was, unfortuately, unable to develop in the classroom. Now that my children have completed college, and I now longer officiate in this league, I still carry some fond memories of these games, however, I don't miss getting home at 11:00 p.m. twice a week.