A perfect quarter of basketball officiating.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Yesterday was what everybody would call the Elite Eight (Four sections: North, South, East, and West.) for the Ohio Special Olympics State Championships. Daryl Long and I had four championship games in the West Section with three-man crews.

I had a perfect first quarter in the second game. I lined up in the U2 (Remember my motto: Never be the R. And in a three-man game, the U1 has to signal the clock to start, so the U2 only has to go left into the C position or right into the L position.) for the jump ball to start the game. The ball went to my left and i glided into the C position opposite the table. For the next eight minutes I went from free throw line extended to free throw line extended while the two teams kept the ball on the table side of the court. I had nothing in the paint the entire quarter and I never had to sound my whistle. I was just along for the ride.

But alas, my perfect game came to an end with 6:09 on the clock in the second quarter. I started the quarter in the L position but one time down the court was all it took to get me back in the C postion opposite the table, when a player the Visitor's attempted a three-pointer from my corner which was an airball. He let out a loud f*****k, which was heard by everybody in the bleachers in our corner of the gym. So my first whistle of the game was an unsportsmanlike technical foul.

When I break up a perfect game I do it in a big way.

MTD, Sr.