I'm done!

[BktBallRef]

Last game of the season last night. Sad but time for some R&R. But what a great ending! My last FOUR games went down to the wire!

Game 1 - A conference tourney 1st round game, boys, two teams tied for 4th, so it was essentially the #4 seed/#5 seed, which is usually the best 1st round game. Winner goes to the playoffs, loser goes home. A put back at the buzzer wins the game, 54-52 Final. Only 22 fouls.

After the game, I saw an asst. from the losing team in the hallway. He shook my hand and told me we did a nice job. I told him that we had worked two buzzer beaters this year and that his team was on the short end both times. He said, "Yeah, but it sure wasn't your fault."

Game 2 - A conference semi game. Visitors down one, hold the ball for a final shot but turn it over with 29 second remaining. 60-54, Final. Only 19 fouls. Visitors head coach joked with us outside the gym after the game. A good guy. Had to show him in the case book where catching your own airball wasn't traveling. Didn't get my $5.

Game 3 - Sectional playoffs, 1st round girls game. Visitors come back from 10 down in the last 4 minutes. Down 3 with 6.0 seconds left. Drive down the floor after a FT, shooter fakes, STEPS INSIDE THE ARC, and let's it fly. Ball swishes as the buzzer sounds. Visitors erupt. I'm T, tableside, turn to the table and signal 2! Home team erupts. 48-47 Final. We sprint, with some stupid asst. chasing us. 28 fouls.

Game 4 - Sectional playoffs, 2nd round boys game. Loudest gym I've been in all year. Home team down 2 with 8 seconds left, partner calls a foul on visitors, star player to the line for 1&1. Misses, rebound, foul on home. Visitors' star player goes to line for 1&1,7 seconds left. Misses, home rebounds, timeout, FT line extended. Inbounds, drives and star misses at the buzzer. 55-54 Final. Asst. coach waits outside the locker room to shake our hands after we shower.

Two hours home and I'm done.

[JosephG678]

Sounds like a great way to end your season! That's what officiating is all about!

[Dan_ref]

Nice. Good to be done. Hurts that there's no more.

At least 2 more for me, hopefully they are as good as yours.

[mick]

Nice finish!

[tjones1]

Congrats BktBallRef on a complete and successful season!

[dblref]

I know how you feel, Tony. My last game is tonight and it might just be the last game of my career. I am taking the entire summer off and see how my knee feels. I'm afraid my age has caught up to me and ortho doc told me I could be looking at knee replacement if I didn't cut way back. Bummer!

[BktBallRef]

A former partner of mine is faced with the same prospects. Not only is his knee bone against bone, but so is his hip. We normally work a doubleheader 2 nights a week. He's hoping to come back next year and work one night a week.

I hope things work out for you.

[ChuckElias]

I have one more tonight at WPI. Then it's sit by the phone and see if anything else comes in.

BTW, Tony, I'm sorry your season's over, but I'm glad that's all you meant by "I'm done!" I was afraid something happened and you were leaving the forum or, worse, officiating.

[mick]

Originally posted by ChuckElias
I have one more tonight at WPI. Then it's sit by the phone and see if anything else comes in.

BTW, Tony, I'm sorry your season's over, but I'm glad that's all you meant by "I'm done!" I was afraid something happened and you were leaving the forum or, worse, officiating.

Chuck,
Tony gave up worse officiating years ago.
mick

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by mick
Tony gave up worse officiating years ago.
mick

It's all in the punctuation!!

[David M]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BktBallRef
After the game, I saw an asst. from the losing team in the hallway. He shook my hand and told me we did a nice job. I told him that we had worked two buzzer beaters this year and that his team was on the short end both times. He said, "Yeah, but it sure wasn't your fault."

These are the only compliments I take seriously.

[Junker]

I have my last real game of the season tonight. One of the teams I've seen 4 times in the last 2 weeks (not my idea, but that's the way I was scheduled). A couple of weeks ago I was ready for the end of the season, but since then I've had some really good games and made some really good contacts (I don't get a full varsity schedule yet, but I'm pretty hopeful for next year). Last night I watched some friends of mine work and afterward we sat at a guy's house and BSed over a cold one or two until after 11. That's what I'm going to miss most about the season. Tonight after my game, I'm going to watch some of the same guys and script them. Should be fun.

[TimTaylor]

4A freshman boys game. We were in the smaller gym & it was SRO. The game was run & gun from the opening tip & never let up. Initialy the visiting team got up by as much as 10, but the home team hung in there and was down by only 4 at the half. Home team caught up shortly into the 3rd, and from there until the end of the game it stayed very close - no one lead by more than 4. We had something like 22 lead changes in the 2nd half, 8 of those in the last 3 minutes of the 4th. It came down to the wire - home up 52-51, at the line to shoot 2, with 6.8 seconds left on the clock. Home made both FT's, visitors brought the ball down and got 2 chances at a 3 to tie it before home controlled the 2nd rebound & time expired. It was so loud in the gym I couldn't hear the final horn - and I was the L, standing almost directly under the scoreboard.

I had a great partner - guy I went through classes with. We have very similar philosophy and worked very well together - good thing, cause it was intense from start to finish. The only down side was the 60+ fouls we called, and not one was a chippy. Both teams were very physical & emotional, so we had to do what was necessary to keep a lid on it. We stayed right on top of things and managed to quickly defuse a couple of situations that could have gotten pretty nasty. Discussing it post game we both felt there was no way we could have called it any differently without letting the game get completely out of control. After showering/changing, we ran into both coaches out in the hall talking with each other, and they both told us they thought we did a very good job of managing a really tough game.

It's kind of sad to see the season end, but this was a great way to go out!