[Mark Padgett]

Got a call late yesterday afternoon to work a 5th grade boys "competitive" game at 6:15 that had just been rescheduled. I took the game, mostly because the gym is three minutes from my house.

First - the good: final score was home 44, visitors 14 - I love blowouts.

Next - the bad: partner, on successive possessions called a "travel" on the inbounder using the "travel" mechanic, then a "reach" foul using a "reach" mechanic. Later in the game he called an "over the back" foul. Fortunately, he didn't use any mechanic.

Finally - the ugly: one of the boys on the visiting team cried three times after being called for fouls. When he eventually fouled out, he sat on the bench and cried. The first time he did it, I thought he might be hurt so I stopped the game to check. I learned my lesson after that. BTW - his coach (who was not his dad) never said a word to him the whole time. He just let him cry. I dunno - maybe this is a common occurrence with this kid?