Your worst game ever?

[Texas Aggie]

Probably last year. Early season tournament assignment for a private school thing. Allegedly varsity. This game amounted to the 7-8th place game, as both teams had lost their first two games. Immediately, it was clear even this game was going to be a blowout. The bad team was poorly coached and lived by the motto "if you can't beat 'um, beat 'um up." We (2 man) struggled to keep control from the middle of the first quarter, but were doing OK. The biggest problem was that we were trying to keep the clock running and throw a bone to the losing team by calling fouls against them and only the felonies committed by them. By the 4th quarter, it was apparent that strategy was flawed. The winning team started getting a little miffed about how they were getting hammered and no call was made.

One example of the contact was a good wrestling throw down move that the losing team was using -- calling it a block out. On a rebound, they'd grab the other player, and throw him down. Unbelievably I let one of these go, then started calling them. The coach was irate from the middle of the 3rd quarter on (down by at least 35 at that point), and in the 4th, my partner threw out one of the premier wrestlers on the losing team after he threw an elbow. The coach started asking me if we gave him a warning first, and I told him, "no, we don't give warnings for flagrant fouls." Then, he started loudly complaining. I had passed on a T before then, but late in the game, it was starting to get out of hand. After I warned him twice, he continued his loud protests, and I dumped him. My first ejection ever. I do know the coach was shocked beyond belief and might have had some job issues because of it. This was supposedly a Christian school!

While I stand by the ejection, I performed poorly. But to some extent, it was worth it due to the things I've learned:

1. Don't automatically go into blowout mode (i.e. ignoring fouls committed by the team getting pummeled), especially early in the game. You might be judicious in your selection of what to call, but don't EVER ignore things like takedowns or other completely physical moves that have no place in any basketball game. I can't believe I swallowed my whistle on that one play.

2. Don't ignore the T even if the team's coach you need to hit is behind by a bunch. Had I hit the coach earlier, ejection may not have come about.

3. Warn once, then enforce. Most coaches don't want to be ejected, and won't chance a second T.