[Andy]

Originally posted by Dan_ref
...well, after last night's game we had the by now requisite post game b1tch-n-moan sessions about the refs from the losing team. It's not even annoying anymore, at this point it's just getting really tedious, imo. Which got me thinking: what if the officials assigned to the first game of the finals decided to send a message by just not showing up. Of course for this to work they would have to convince all the other NBA officials to be out of town, cell phones off, dead batteries in their beepers. Can you imagine the scene? NBA brass scouring Dallas rec leagues in search of a ref 4 hours before game time, finally settling on 2 guys wearing black sweats, collared striped shirt, metal whistle and muddy worn out sneakers...untrimmed beard...60 lbs overweight...of course it would have to be 2 guys because they've never worked 3. In the first minute one of them would get into a fight with a courtside fan, threaten to go home if the arena isn't cleared in 20 minutes...of course could never happen, but it's fun to think about.

Hmmm....I've been reading Earl Strom's book Calling the Shots. This sounds a lot like some of the situations Strom describes in the NBA of the '50s - '60s!