The Official Forum  

Go Back   The Official Forum > Basketball

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old Thu Feb 17, 2005, 09:48am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 15
Hi everyone-

I received the bad news yesterday that one of our fellow officials on our board (Board 49 - Southern Tier NY), Ed George, passed away unexpectedly. He was relatively young, too. I would say no older than 45.

I don't know if there's anyone on this forum who may have known Ed, but I just wanted to share a little bit about him as I had worked with him just about 2 weeks before he died.

I'm a first year official, and Ed was my partner for a girls JV game at a small Christian school in my area. Prior to that day, I had not met him, only talked to him briefly on the phone. I only had about a 10-minute ride to the game, but Ed came from his home which was over an hour away. As you can tell, Ed really loved officiating, and I believe this was his 9th season in stripes.

Ed was very positive. He was helpful and encouraging throughout the game, giving me tips and complimenting various parts of my game, too. There were some points in the game were things got a little screwy and I got a little flustered, but Ed was there with a big smile and relaxed demeanor and helped get things back under control.

I had to leave right after our game, but before I left Ed mentioned that he'd enjoy doing another game with me again sometime. For me, I don't think I could've heard a nicer compliment, this veteran official showing that he had confidence in my abilities as a rookie. I told him I hoped for the same.

Later in that week I called him to get some thoughts down for my evaluation sheet. He once again was very encouraging, and took the time out of his work schedule to talk about our game together and things I could work on.

Ed was such a positive and engaging individual, and you could tell this within just a few minutes of speaking with him. I feel I was incredibly fortunate to work with him, even though it probably was just no more than 2 hours we spent on the court together.

This Friday is Ed's funeral. He will be buried in his official's uniform, as that is what he was most proud of. Please keep his two young boys in your thoughts, as no doubt this must be an incredibly difficult time for them.

Thanks for listening.


Joe

Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old Thu Feb 17, 2005, 10:30am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 246
What do you say about an individual like that. I am sure that if he touched your life the way he did in such a short amount of time that he has done the same with many during his life.

It saddens me to know that a person like that has left us. I try to understand that God needs him and wants him to serve a more important role for him now, and I sure he will do just that.

This is the first I have ever heard or read about Ed and he truly sounds like a wonderful person and a asset to the officiating world. For someone to be buried in their officiating uniform he must have really loved the game and giving back to people like yourself jcurtin.

I will most definitely keep his family and loved ones in my prayers.

God Bless us all
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:31pm.



Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0 RC1