[zebraman]

When I started officiating about 12 years ago, I was fortunate enough to be mentored by an excellent official in our group. (Let's call him "Maury" for now). He had been to a few state tournaments and I really admired all aspects of his officiating abilities. He took a special interest in me and played a big part in my quick progression. We became fairly close friends as well.

Maury stopped officiating about 7 or 8 years ago to coach his kid's teams and attend all their games. I admired that about him too. Now his oldest kid is a sophomore and plays on the varsity of one of the schools that our HS association servers. I had been hearing from other officials in our association that he was yelling at officials from the bleachers during his kid's game. I found it hard to believe......

Last night, I officiated the varsity game at the school where his kid plays. I saw Maury in the stands before the game and gave him a quick acknowledgment smile during warm-ups. The game was easy.... not really any tough calls all night and we had decent flow. Both of my partners are good officials. Both coaches were great all night. ... and not a peep from the fans..... UNTIL ------ As Maury's team started to slip behind in the middle of the second quarter, he started to ride my partners. Loud and obnoxious. I was embarrassed for him. Then in the middle of the third quarter, his kid got a shot blocked cleanly and Maury started in on me, calling me by my name at the top of his lungs. I couldn't believe it. After that, he left me alone and continued to ride my partners on calls that were not even close to being controversial. It was completely classless.

With about 4 minutes left in the game, team A calls a time-out so I am holding the ball on the baseline waiting for the teams to return. One of my partners is on the low block about 5 feet away from me. Maury leaves the bleachers and walks behind me along the baseline towards the restrooms. As he walks by, he screams at my partner and says, "a referee should never chew gum, ever!!!" I turn to look at him and his face is beet red, almost purple. I turn to look at the game administrator who follows him out. Never saw him after that. (By the way, my partner always chews gum because he has a medical condition that gives him a really dry mouth and it's the only way he can keep saliva flowing - not that it really matters in this case because it's a ridiculous thing to criticize anyway).

I am so disappointed in my former mentor and what a horse's butt he made out of himself. So incredibly disappointed.