....is about to come to an end. My last game of the year is a boys second round regional game tomorrow night.

Last night I had a first round regional game -- the second lowest winning score for the first round in the entire state, 35-33, with the losing team having a clean three attempt at the buzzer that hit back iron, front iron, then fell off. My three fingers were in the air contemplating how I was going to navigate the students running on the floor after the ball fell in :)

It's been a good season, regardless of the (IMO) premature end, which was out of my hands. Had 44 varsity games scheduled (the teams here can only play 20 in their seasons) and was able to work 36 of them (I travel for business and the job comes first). This is the first season I can remember where I didn't work a single youth/FR/JV game -- I usually fill in for at least a couple, but nobody came calling this season.

Well, time to wash the uniform one last time and pack the bag. Noticed my hair spray nozzle was clogged last night and I think I'll fix that problem by getting a haircut. We have a good game tomorrow night, so I'm already excited about that.

This summer, unlike the last few years, I'm signed up for 3 camps. So I'll be picking up the whistle during the summer, which normally means nothing but "baseball season" for me.

Anyone else finishing up soon? Or already done?

--Rich (about to turn his thoughts to spring, no snow, and baseball)

I was done last friday. Getting ready to start AAU.

I'm done w/ my college and high school seasons. Got roped into doing some Jr. High games. Plus I'm running a camp to teach teenagers how to referee in conjunction with a youth league. Oh and the pro-am football league. So I guess I'm never done. That's just the way I like it.

I've got a HS boys regional quarterfinal tomorrow (2-seed v 7-seed) and a Juco regional semi on Saturday. After that, who knows? Seems like some areas of the country give out playoff assignments ahead of time, but not here. We don't get assigned until the match-ups for each round are set.

My season finished last Friday with two rather forgettable games. An unfortunate way to end, but it certainly doesn't dampen a fabulous season overall. I'm already looking forward to next year.

As for me, I'll work some AAU stuff this Spring and start studying my football rule books for the Fall. After taking over as a white hat last year I found out how much I still have to learn in that regard.

I'm also planning to attend my first BB officiating camp this summer. I'm excited for that as I'm also taking my son with me. He's 18 and just completed a full season of officiating at the B/JV level this year. Not bad for a kid thats still in High School.

Hope everyone else finishes up with a bang!

Dave

We had our assignments on January 13th for the entire postseason -- they just fill in the sites during the playoffs. I was just asked about regional, sectional, and state availability for baseball by email Monday. Of course, I have basketball games on my calendar for the 2008-09 season, too, so they believe in wrapping things up early here.

For me, the next few weeks will be about healing. I tweaked a groin a few weeks ago and for the first few minutes of my games it's a bit tender. I do better when the game is a "runner," but with a 35-33 game last night there wasn't a huge amount of hard running. That's OK, my judgment got a workout :D

I've been a white hat for a few years now, and you can never learn too much about how to manage a football game. The interesting thing about football is that you don't just have to worry about managing the game, you also have the "crew leadership" aspect of the job as well -- at least to some degree.

There's no place on the field I'd rather be. I worked as a wing for quite a while and I like being in the middle of the field and I like being the one responsible (to a good degree) for the pace of the game.

Hopefully, it was your own. . .

Ba-dum-BUM!

I've got one more night of two games (JV/V) on the Red Lake Reservation where they had the shootings a year ago. Should be an interesting trip.

Had a good season, 32 games, just enough. Worked 3-man for the first time and love it.

After a month of watching quality NCAA ball in March, I'll get the FB books out and get ready for another season of white-hatting a young crew. I love FB!

My last game was this past Thursday Boys/JV. I got to the GYM thinking to myself this is the last game of the season I won’t over due it. I will have some fun with it and enjoy my last game. NO chance of that. MY partner no showed, so I worked the first half by myself. Varsity Official showed up in the third quarter to help me out. What a way to end the season. Now I will shut it down for a couple of weeks and rest the body. Then it time for AAU and summer Pro-Am.

Glad you had a good one last night, Rich. Ours was not so pretty. Finish strong with the 2 vs. 3 matchup you got.

Actually, I feel kinda good about the games we got. We had a D1 girls game last week and then 2 D2 boys games this week. I'll probably watch some games this weekend, although I wish I was working. Maybe next year -- it's still only my fourth year in the state.

I'm done. My last game was a State semifinal last weekend. It was the second year in a row that I was fortunate enough to be selected to work at the State tournament.

The most enjoyable part was getting to see the friends that I have made from Vegas again. Talking about officiating with some of these folks who work in the PAC-10 and other smaller conferences in southern Cal is a real treat.

I was done last Tuesday. Had another great season, now it's time to sit in the stands and enjoy some good post season basketball and watch the officials!!

Good stuff.

Forksref,

I worked in Red Lake a couple of times this winter. It is an interesting experience. You need to ignore the three fans that will be on you all night. The coaches and kids are excellent. Most of the fans are very good fans and know their basketball. But there are those three.....

I have three section games starting tomorrow night, a girls section quarter final, and a quarter final boys and semi-final boys section game. Also, I have a state girls quarter final at Williams Arena.

Had a great game last night. The home team undefeated, the visitors have three losses going into the game. Packed gym, spectators standing in the balcony, band playing... visitors go up by 14 in first half, but run out of gas in second half and lose by 5. This game reminds us why we officiate high school basketball.