My assigner is out to lunch. He assigns me a game 180 miles north of our usual territory. I get there 1/2 hour early - change - walk out of the locker room - and it's a Hockey Rink. Both coaches wanted the game to go. So I told them I was a basketball official but I'd do my best. I talked to the scorers. They wanted to divide the game into thirds but I nixed that. We went with two 16 minute halves. Then, I made my first screw up at the Jump Puck when I threw it up in the air. Then the fouls - nobody knew how to play! I called time-out and stopped all the hand and body checking. Talk about moving screens. We shot free-throw-slap shots from the blue line. What got to me was the constant Goal Tending. I threw both the chunky dressed players out which made it 5 on 5 - just right. The final score was 103-97 and both sides said it was the damn best hockey game that anybody ever saw.

John Crow: Was that you out there? You did a damned good job on the ice. I was sure wishing that would have been me though. Hope to see you again real soon!!!!!!

Even my wife, who doesn't like sports loved this one.

Delayed whistles
 

John,
Did you work it alone... blue line to blue line?
Good post.
mick

now as you know i'm from the great white north and enjoyed every word of this post. My question is how did you call the offsides? did you use the free throw lines as the blue lines? and did the red light go on every time someone scored?

keep smiling
SH

Yeah...its' funny. I work alot of games alone. Seems my partners always get sick at the last minute. One guy called and said he had "explosive diaherra & hay fever". When I was young I use to watch Phil Espsoito play for the Bruins...3 seconds all the time. They never called it.

John,
I used to work alone a lot, until I changed my mouth wash and deodorant. ;)
Tony Espo,, here at Michigan Tech, and the Black Hawks, was in there even more.
mick

I wouldn't call his bluff on the explosive diarhea thing, cause if he came to ref, he'd just make a mess of things anyway.