[Mark Padgett]

I was at the pharmacy today (yes, I really do take real meds) when someone I recognized got in line behind me. It was a guy who has coached at least three of his sons in a competitive rec league in this area. We nodded at each other and then he told me how happy he was to see me because he wanted to tell me about an official who "screwed up" and "cost them a game" last weekend during a tournament. It was 8th grade boys. I didn't want to get out of line, so I pretended to listen.

He told me his team had a one point lead with 5 seconds to go when an opponent took a shot from the baseline. The shot didn't hit anything and the same kid caught the ball. The kid then flipped it over his head off the glass and in, just as the horn sounded to win the game. The coach said he couldn't believe the referee didn't call the "travel" which would have given his team the ball back and probably the game. He said he rushed onto the court, yelled and screamed at the referee, and was subsequently told by game management he was suspended for the one game they had left that day.

He "knows" that if they won that game they would have won the championship game and taken home the trophy. He said that official "cost them the championship" and his boys would have to live with that the rest of their lives.

It was about all I could do to keep from puking on his shoes right then and there. I asked him how he would feel if I told him the official did not blow the call and that there is no violation for that under HS rules as long as it was an actual shot attempt. At first he didn't believe me. I asked him if in the over 10 years I had been working his games if he ever knew me to be wrong on a rule interpretation? He just stared and shook his head from side to side. His jaw actually dropped.

The pharmacist then called my number and that ended the conversation. When I left a few minutes later, he was still muttering under his breath and shaking his head.

I hope he lives with that "the rest of his life".