Lousy Partner, Lousy Me

[Rich]

And yet there will be people whose jaws will drop when I say I'm working 30+ varsity games with only two different partners this season.

It is an advantage as long as you treat every game as a new day. We have a pregame every night and we arrive early to watch some of the JV game and get in a basketball frame of mind. I also know my partners' idiosyncracies quite well. One of my regular partners MUST have popcorn before a game, for example. But he is also an outstanding official -- and I *know* where he's going to be and I *know* how we work together as a team.

Mechanically, we try to be as by-the-book as possible, too. We switch on every foul, for example. I'm ready to work with any other official (cause I do get called to work with other officials that need a partner) on any given night because we don't alter our mechanics or take anything for granted.

I still wish there would be three in the car instead of two, though. That won't happen anytime soon, I'm afraid.

Rich