[kwv001]

I have been doing this for 15 years, and have never encountered as big a mess as I had last night. This occured in a boys varsity game, with a two man crew. For your amusement, here is most of the report I filed with the league assignor and the state association. I have removed specific references to protect the not so innocent.

Want to make you aware of a rather ugly scene at the boy’s varsity game last night, XXXX @ YYYY. When it was all said and done, we had a YYYY parent removed from the gym, ejected a YYYY player,ejected one YYYY assistant and the head coach and ultimately abandoned the game with 6:14 remaining in the 4th quarter.

The game had been pretty decent in the first half, although the YYYY coach was complaining about nearly everything that didn’t go his way. Nothing though that crossed the line and merited action. The problem began in the third quarter, when I called an intentional foul on a YYYY player. XXXX had the ball on a break away to the basket, and the YYYY defender shoved him in the back. The YYYY coach didn’t like this call, and eventually earned a technical foul when I am in front of his bench two trips down the floor later and he is still complaining.

In the 4th quarter, I called a foul on XXXX #20. YYYY #14 felt that he had been in the act of shooting, and was upset that I had indicated the ball would be out of bounds instead of him shooting free throws. While I was at the table reporting the foul, he apparently grabbed the ball and made a gesture as if he was going to throw it at me. Although I did not see this, my partner did and immediately intervened and issued a flagrant technical foul and indicated that YYYY #14 would be ejected from the game.

The foul on XXXX #20 was his fifth. While we were sorting this situation out with the table, the mother of YYYY #14 came on the floor, screaming that it was her son we had just ejected, we can’t do that, and then grabbed the basketball. I asked her to give it to me; she refused, indicating I should go to her to get it. At this point, I asked the police officer on site to remove her, and told the game administrator from YYYY that we would not resume until she was out of the gym.

After she had left, while we were preparing to administer the technical free throws, I noticed that an assistant coach from YYYY was standing in front of the scorer’s table. I asked him to return to the bench, and he refused. I then told him to return to the bench, and he informed me that I was an "*******". I called a technical foul (which I deemed to be flagrant) and indicated an ejection. Rather than comply with the ejection, the YYYY head coach informed us that his team would not complete the game, and with his team began to leave the floor. With a security escort, my partner and I left the gym. As we were in the hallway, one of the XXXX captains came running up to us and indicated that they now wished to finish the game. I said they were welcome to finish, but it would be without us.

After I got home last night, I really beat myself up over allowing this to happen. As I play it back in my mind though, I'm not sure there is really anything we could or should have done differently. I think you have to sometimes accept that fact that occasionally stuff happens, deal with it the best you can and move on.