When will you know it's time to hang up your whistle?

[daves]

Originally posted by ChuckElias

You will clutch your chest, let out a gasp, everything will go black, and you'll hear a quiet voice say "You're missin' a great game, ref."

Chuck

A number of years ago I was officiating a game with an older gentleman. I started to worry when he threw his nitroglycerin spray into his pants pocket before the game. I wondered whether I would have to do CPR out there on the court. This fellow was old, slow and out of position although he was a really nice guy. After the game another official came to the locker room and started to jump in this guy's stuff. Basically, he told him he was too old and slow and that he should seriously consider retiring the stripes. One thing that he said was, "I hope someone has the guts to talk to me like this when I'm too old to officiate." Interestingly this fellow has started to get other officials give him that talk, though not as brutal as he was to the other guy. Not surprising to me the new old guy refuses to hang up the whistle. He is deluding himself that he still has it. I have done several games with the new old guy recently and he's constantly 'short-courting' me. I recently did a game with him and there was a steal and a breakaway. I was the trail and he was the lead. It didn't take me long to pass his position on the floor. Anyway, that's a case of 'you can dish it out but you can't take it.'