The good, the bad and the ugly

[Mark Padgett]

First, the bad. My second game last night was supposed to start at 8:15. I got to the gym just before 8:00 (usual lead time for rec) and the 6:45 game that was being played had just started the second half. At a timeout, I asked one of those refs why they were so far behind. He said there had been a bazillion whistles (6th grade girls), they had started 15 minutes late because one of the teams had to drive over 30 miles to get there and traffic was bad and also because he didn't realize until a few minutes into the second quarter that the timer was stopping the clock after every made basket. We finally started at 8:45 and weren't through until about 10:00.

Now, the ugly. It also was a 6th grade girls game and the final score was H 52 - V 9. Yep, you read that correctly. At the half, it was 24-4. Oh yeah, three girls on the visiting team fouled out. As everyone was leaving, I heard some mom from the visiting team say, "Gee - that was really worth the drive over here." Fortunately, the home coach wasn't trying to pour it on. After they got a decent lead, he made his girls pull up on breakaways and set up their offense. Still, they were just that much better.

Finally, the good. My first game was a forfeit. The visiting team didn't show at all. Why was that so good? We still got paid.