I know people's schedules are starting to wind down, so I thought I would share this story. I had a game a couple of weeks ago that was the last regular season game for these two small schools. The home team was playing for the outright league championship, the visitors were above .500, so we anticipated a good game. The stands were packed because it was Senior Night. It was a great game - the players played, the coaches coached, we reffed, the fans cheered. After the game in the locker room, my partners and I were discussing, like the commercial, life doesn't get any better than this. (Well, except for the fact that one partner found out his job was eliminated earlier that day. But that's another story.) Anyway, we're basking a little in the warm glow of a fun evening, when the home coach comes in and tells us we did a good job, thanks for coming, etc. Also, would we want to have some cake? They had some cake and ice cream brought in for Senior Night, and he thought we might like some as well. We said thanks, maybe we would. We still needed to shower and dress, so I figured there wouldn't be any left by the time we were done.

Well, we got done about 15-20 minutes later, and went down the hall to the cafeteria. When we got there, the place was packed - I'm sure the whole town was in there. We stood in the doorway, and my first instinct was to turn and run - after all, fans and refs mixing after a game has "disaster" written all over it, right? My partner, who was obviously hungrier than I was, said "Let's get some cake!" So we went in, some people pointed us in the direction of the food line and we got our cake and ice cream. As I was walking back to the seats, I noticed we had even been in line before the parents, because they had been waiting for the players to get dressed. We sat down in an inconspicuous corner, and enjoyed the heck out of our cake. We even talked to a couple of parents, and had a good time before we thanked the coach and left.

Has anyone else had a similar experience mingling with the fans after a game? Should I have gone with my first instinct and left, so there wouldn't be any problems? Or should I feel guilty about my guilt, and just enjoyed the moment more?

Oh, I should mention, the home team won by 30 in case that has any affect on the answers...;)

Sounds like a great story, never experienced anything like that before.

So I'm assuming the home team won? haha :)

Usually where I go the AD's and coaches for the most part are happy you are there! No officials, no games. It's that simple. Usually before the game, if there isn't a small refrigerator full of drinks they always ask what we want at half and at the end of the game. Candy bars, drinks, pop corn, whatever we want. I was even doing a Fresh/Soph tourney one Saturday that was 3 games. AD went as got us all Subway for lunch! Like I said, around here, ADs and coaches will go out of their way to treat the officials right.

This past football season we had a non-conference game where one team was from Indiana and the home team fixed the visiting team a meal for after the game. They asked us to join them. So my crew did and everyone was thankful and nice to us. No one made any big stick of calls or anything. Most of the questions were about where we lived and how long we had been officiating. Everyone was extremely nice. The home team did win in a blowout.

I also did a basketball game just a few weeks ago and one of my partners and I went out to eat. I we both had our girlfriends with us and my partner had a relative with him as well. We were approached by some fans and they were nothing but nice. Usually I do not go to a place in town, but we were both far from home. The home team lost that game in overtime and it was an emotional game on senior night. Of course there were only a couple of fans that approached us, but there were no problems.

Peace

It isn't at all unusual for me to hang around to watch a varsity game after a JV game I officiate, and I do a lot of them. To this point, no one has said a thing to me. I do make it a point, however, to keep a low profile, staying away from the crowd as much as I can.

I have had a few conversations with coaches afterward. All very pleasant. This I'm even more careful of. Only once have I initiated the contact. Not a good idea, I know, but it didn't blow up in my face.

I fully expect to employ the "get in, get done, get out" philosophy when it seems like the crowd/coaches/players are particularly hostile. In most cases, I find it as you did, and see no need to be in a hurry to leave.

I'm sure it is different in certain areas, and for varsity games. Or maybe I'm just pushing my luck.

I have found that depends on the school, and I suppose, by extension, the administration. There are some schools that have set us up with a pizza after the game, or sandwiches, chips, and pop. And there are other schools that let us dress in a classroom with no blinds, and point out the water fountain at the other end of the school. And, I'm talking high school level. I know most jr. highs and middle schools don't have the luxury of extra locker rooms and concessions, but I'm still amazed at the treatment at some larger schools. I think there might still be some "small town hospitality" out there - I think that's what I experienced.

Where I am, hospitality is usually pretty good. There is one school in particular, however, that goes above and beyond. For every game, they have a hospitality room with all the fried chicken, buscuits, chips, and vegetables that you can eat. It is awesome. And here we do JV/Varsity double headers, so you can hit up the food and drink after both games. We officials usually end up eating in there with the sheriff's deputies, so it makes for good conversation as well.

It's not unusual for us to receive food after the game or be invited to eat if the team is being fed. For the most part, we have a very good relationship at most schools. But I don't recall having cake and ice cream. :)

At a small school in farm community that is their entertainment when basketball is at home. Everybody turns out. You never hear any complaining from the coaches or fans. After the game they feed you this great bar-b-q and homemade pies that all the moms make just for after the game. We didn't get to go there this year because they combined with another small school and played all of their home games at the other location. It was nice to go there once a year and have fun with the local community. Forgot to mention as soon as you walk in they give you popcorn and beverage of your choice. I think they think we are too thin...

Just starting to get some varsity games and of course, I get the small rural schools outside of the city, but hey, that's OK, I like it. I like it because it's the town social event. Several times after showering we were invited for some BBQ or other food and soft drinks and usually end up talking with the locals for awhile. A little light banter is always fun when kept in a positive context.

Once when I was in High School, one of the officials won a cake in the cake raffle. It was not a fun game to watch as a student, and probably worse to officiate (it was a girls game, one team about 15-5, the other about 5-15, and the game ended up as one would predict), I would venture to guess it was the lowest level and worst played game he had all year (he had worked the Boys State Championship of the classification above the year before) but he looked pretty happy afterwards when he found out that he had gotten something beneficial out of the 60-mile trip to work the game.

In Utah there is a school called West Desert High School. It literally is in the middle of nowhere. If you look at a map of Utah, look for Wendover on the Utah/Nevada border. Then go due south about 90 miles and you'll find a spot called Trout Creek. This is where the school is located. Total school population K-12 is 74 students.

Every year for the first home game of the season (just before Thanksgiving) they have a fundraising turkey dinner for the Women and Men's basketball program.

Win or loss the referee's are just shy of being ordered (I had to fight the principal to pay for mine) to come and get a plate of food and enjoy. We spend the time talking with the fans there and they (even with a loss) still take the time to thank us for coming all this way (3,3-1/2 hours one way) and calling the game.

These folks are the salt of the earth and I wouldn't hesitate for one second to sit in the middle of the room with them.

Sounds like a case of the officials getting their "just desserts".