Ok, this board is kinda, sorta, ok it's really slow.

Does anyone have any crazy, stupid, funny stories from previous camps? Maybe we can revisit this topic again in 6 weeks after everyone has gone this year.

BTW, I'm talking about ref camps, not band camps.

You're not interested in the underwater banana-eating contest?

Here's a Boy Scout camp story (OK, it's off topic - so what).

There was a kid the rest of us didn't like (not unusual for a bunch of 11 year olds). At camp, we tied him to a tree with rope, blindfolded him and told him to be afraid of any bears that might come by. We then pretended to leave, then pretended to make noise like bears. He wet his pants.

I just told this story to my 10 year old grandson who is going to Scout camp for the first time in a few weeks. He thought it was hilarious. In fact, he's already talking with his buddies to determine who to pick.

My daughter wasn't too pleased that I told him, however.

I wonder if anyone has done anything like this at a referee camp? Perhaps some prank involving fishnets?

What if he's the kid that gets picked? :(

Then he'll just haveta put on the fishnets- like his grampa.

So this isn't going in the direction I'd planned but at my first Boy Scout camp they took me Snipe hunting, when some other boys jumped out of the woods to scare me, I started beating the crap out of them and then someone hit me in the head with their flashlight and I had to go get stitches. After that, we were no longer allowed to have Snipe hunts.

How about the tents that you had to lay down plastic to have a floor. We would get guys on all sides and move the tent over and set it up right next to where the guys were sleeping, that way when they woke up they had a perfect view of the sky and they never knew what happened.

I'm looking more for pranks while staying in the dorms or funny storys of guys falling or pants tearing while working. I'm sure there's some stories out there.

Highly unlikely. He's the biggest kid in his troop.

Camp, now this brings up some memories. Band Camp, last year. :) We were sliding down the dorm halls with soap and water. What a time we had and hopefully will have again this year. I will be marching at LSU's half time show this year as a part of a state honor band.

:rolleyes:

I'm with your daughter....this is hardly something to be proud of

People falling down and people wetting their pants because they're scared is very funny.

Not when the cause is a bunch of punk kids ganging up on someone - and a bunch of dumbass camp leaders and parents who think it's okay because it's not happening to their kid.

:rolleyes:

Good grief.

I guess you have never seen Full Metal Jacket. ;)

Peace

Frankly, compared to a lot of stuff I've done in my life, this isn't even in the "Top 100" jerky things.

:rolleyes:

....and good for you.

Ok, so Mark thinks it's funny and canuckrefguy doesn't.

Let's move on to other stories.

Not crazy, stupid or funny, but amazing:

I'm evaluating at the Ontario Summer Games and these two rookie refs had 6 great PC calls in one game! It was amazing! And one ref was a 17yr. old girl! She later correctly called a block near a sideline. And used an NBA mechanic. I nearly rolled onto the floor laughing.

After my first year of officiating high school basketball, I went to our state's HS referee camp. My second game that first day was with a partner from another part of the state, also finishing his first year.

By the time the first quarter ended, he had called at least 10 "three second violations" on each team. Even more amazing is that neither camp evaluator said anything to him after the quarter ended so he called about 10 more on each team in the second quarter. Any time a player even hesitated in the key, his whistle sounded. Longest half of my life. Coaches kept asking me what was going on...... and being in my first year, I really didn't know what to say so I just kind of kept quiet.

The evaluators finally got to him at halftime and the second half was much better.

Z

Two weeks ago I worked with a rookie official at a camp, and we drew to of the top teams in the U17 division of the tournament. Tough game for a rookie, and one of the coaches jumped on him early. The rookie got flustered after the first two minutes and lost all forms of mechanics. He started blowing the whistle and waving his arms frantically each time he made a call. No fist, no open hand, just two arms waving frantically. I knew the coach that was jumping on him, and I asked him to back off, since my partner was new. He was worried about winning the game, so he didn't care. After about five minutes, the evaluator made a switch and put a more seasoned ref on the floor with me, and we finished the game without incident. At halftime, I talked to the new guy and told him it happens to all of us. I'm now glad I'm not a "rookie" to this level of ball anymore.

Was observing a pretty tight game. One official was a rookie and one was not. The rookie called a good PC foul on A1 driving to the basket. He blew the whistle, gave a signal and the kid threw the ball at him. Guy gives a T which sets the coach off even more. He starts screaming and cursing (gets a T), which gets the asst coach going (another T). The opposing team immediately set down and shut up after the 2nd T. 5 T's and an ejection later they were finally reporting the violations to the table. The best part was the non-chalant way they reported all the violations. Both reporting in the order they occured and by the official who called the violation.