Saved at the horn by an unbelievable shot

[Mark Padgett]

Boys varsity HS rec tonight. Final seconds of regulation and the score is tied. Already, I'm having nightmares about an OT. With a few seconds left, a player runs down a loose ball at midcourt, scoops it up with one hand with his back to his basket, flings it over his head backwards and as the horn sounds, it swishes in!

The place, which was full of parents, went nuts. Even the other team came over to high five the kid. One of the losing players yelled that he didn't care that he lost on a shot like that.

My partner is an English teacher at that high school. He has the kid in class and told me he's giving him an automatic A.

My only regret is that no one was taping it.

[All_Heart]

Wow!

You've got to get a hold of that tape. Someone must have been taping the game.

I had a half court shot last week to force an overtime. Fans stormed the court.

[Nevadaref]

A Utah State player hit a nearly full-court shot just after the halftime buzzer last night as they beat Nevada by two in overtime. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it on any highlights because it didn't count. It was still a heck of a shot!

[BillyMac]

From Mark Padgett: "I'm having nightmares about an OT."

Mr. Padgett: I dream about overtime games. I don't want to take away from the excitement of the game winning shot in your game, but why do my fellow officials pretend, at least I hope that it's pretending, to dislike overtime games? Overtime games are exciting for players, coaches, fans, and officials. If nonofficials hear us pretending not to like overtime games, they might get the wrong impression that we just want to finish the game, get our paycheck, and go home as soon as possible. Remember we also have coaches, players, and fans on this Forum. Officials on all levels. Please, please stop this pretending. It makes me ashamed to be an official.

From Mark Padgett: "My partner is an English teacher at that high school."

I am a retired middle school teacher. When I was trying to bank away as much money as I could to put my three children through college, all at the same time, I worked a lot of games, as many as six games a week, in my local high school recreation league. Games were pretty good. Some athletes who didn't want to make the six day a week committment to playing high school varsity basketball, and some football and baseball players, whose coaches encouraged them not to play another varsity sport, even though they were good enough to, trying to stay in shape, and have some fun during the winter months. What I really enjoyed about this league was getting to watch my former students grow into young men. They got to see me in a different light, not as their science teacher, but as someone who shared a common love of the game of basketball. In a few cases I developed a good rapport with these former students that I was, unfortuately, unable to develop in the classroom. Now that my children have completed college, and I now longer officiate in this league, I still carry some fond memories of these games, however, I don't miss getting home at 11:00 p.m. twice a week.

[Texas Aggie]

I had a circus shot in a boys 8th grade game once. The kid was a very good point guard and he was chasing a ball OOB (his frontcourt) on the right sideline, about even with the top of the key, or even a bit higher. Anyway, I'm 8 feet or so behind him thinking he's just going to throw the ball back, when he grabs the ball, then throws it BEHIND HIS BACK into his own goal. I was shocked that the ball went in that it took me a second to realize it was a three point attempt and signal it!

After the game, we were leaving and the kid's dad came up to talk to us. I didn't know at first who he was, but I think my partner did. I said something about the shot and he just shook his head. He said, "he is such a hotdog!" No doubt his head exploded after that shot, but I hope someone got it on tape.

[eastcoastref]

Sounds like a great story. Just one problem -- why is a guy who teaches at one of the schools officiating the game?

[BillyMac]

From eastcoastref: "Why is a guy who teaches at one of the schools officiating the game?"

eastcoastref: I too, at first, thought the same thing as you, but if you look at the original post carefully, you'll note that it's a recreation game.

[WhistlesAndStripes]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Boys varsity HS rec tonight. Final seconds of regulation and the score is tied. Already, I'm having nightmares about an OT.

I thought that surely you were preparing to unload on your partner, based on your posting in a previous thread quoted here:

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Overtimes? Personally, I don't allow them. If the game is close near the end, I tell my partner, "If this goes into overtime - IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!"

I tell people that, as an official, I don't care who wins the game. All I care about is that at the end of regulation time, one team has at least one point more than the other.

[mplagrow]

I saw an 8th grade girl hit a three-quarter court shot on a high school floor--a second AFTER the halftime buzzer. Crowd went nuts anyways!

What are you afraid of if a ref in grade school does his/her own school? I'm just curious. Are you more worried about bias, perception, or the tough spot he/she would be in if they called a difficult call against his/her own school?

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by mplagrow

Are you more worried about bias, perception, or the tough spot he/she would be in if they called a difficult call against his/her own school?

All of the above. It's just wrong.It's a no-win situation for everyone.

[BillyMac]

From mplagrow: "What are you afraid of if a ref in grade school does his/her own school?"

Easy answer: Conflict of interest or percieved conflict of interest.

The only way that I would officiate a high school game where I was a teacher is if I got a call from my assigner fifteen minutes after the scheduled start of a game at our local high school, that is less than a mile away from my house, that one or both officials did not or could not show up for a game. Even then, I would make sure that all those involved, athletic directors, site directors, coaches, and players, know that I was filling in in an emergency situation. Even then I would ask them if they preferred only one official to two officials that included me.

I am a retired teacher. I live in the town that I taught in. I close out games at my local high school. There are plenty of games for me to officiate outside my town.

I just looked through the NFHS Officials Code Of Ethics on page 75 of the NFHS Rule Book. I was surprized that there is nothing mentioned about conflicts of interest. Why not?

[mplagrow]

I used to be a teacher, and due to circumstances I often had to ref my own school. This was in a small Lutheran grade school. I agree that it can be difficult, but the fact is that you are often harder on your own kids because you don't want to seem biased and you know their tendencies.

I'll never forget an 8th grade girls' tournament game I reffed with my own students involved. With time expiring, I called a shooting foul on a girl from my school. "We" were ahead by 1. Team B had not hit a single free throw all night. The girl missed everything on the first toss. Second toss, swish! Team B won by 6 in OT.

Now, I know it was the right call. Nobody held it against me.But it was indeed tough to be in that position!

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

From Mark Padgett: "I'm having nightmares about an OT."

Mr. Padgett: I dream about overtime games. I don't want to take away from the excitement of the game winning shot in your game, but why do my fellow officials pretend, at least I hope that it's pretending, to dislike overtime games?

I'm not pretending. I don't like them. When I work overtime, I want to get paid time and a half.

[BillyMac]

Regarding conflict of interest: Many,many years ago, my son played in Little League, B Division, on a team that I coached. In this league batters batted against a pitching machine. First and third base coaches were also expected to act as umpires. In one partciular game, my son tried to go from first to third on a single to the outfield. I was the third base coach/umpire. My son made a great slide into third, but the outfielder made an even better throw, and the third baseman made a great sweep tag, just barely getting my son out. I called my son out, tough call, but the right call. My son and my wife didn't speak to me for the rest of the weekend.