[fullor30]

With eyes glazed over. I didn't deserve the game, I was only in my second year and thought every time the phone rang prior to the game, it was my assignor deciding I wasn't ready. He called a few days before the game and I saw his name on caller ID and my heart sank. I had my speech prepared how I was ready and up for it. As it turned out, he asked me to do the soph game as the school didn't want a certain official. In retrospect, doing the sophomore game loosened me up.

The game was a breeze, I was in Cadillac most of the time and looking at the tape , I did fine. Mechanics were good, no questionable calls, not a peep from either coach(one of them had a reputation for being pretty dramatic and a screamer).

I had a very basic over and back call the first minute of the game and the announcer was drooling " This is a veteran crew, and it shows, with a great call early in this contest". The only thing 'veteran' about me was my grey hair.

In my area, Chicago, they now have a cable game of the week, so they are fairly commonplace. This was about 6 years ago and the PBS station did the broadcast of which they only did four or five all year . It was a big deal.

I'm sure plenty of officials were watching and said how the heck did he get this game. Two top ten teams in the state. In my little world, it's been the highlight of my career.

Just call your game, don't change anything, stay loose and have fun!