First time partner cracked me up

[Mark Padgett]

Last night I worked with a guy for the first time. He's been around for a while, but we just never crossed paths. In Q2, A1 has ball near his endline in front court and passes to A2 who is in their back court. Partner calls violation. Coach A wants explanation. Partner: "Your player was below the free throw line and passed the ball over the center line. That's a two-line offside."

In Q4, he had an inbound violation when B1 moved off the spot to throw the ball in. Coach B asked what the call was. Partner: "He was off the spot when making the throw. That's a balk."

Late in the game, he called an intentional foul (good call) when a kid ran into another kid from behind. He reported it as a "cross body block". I asked him about that and he said, "You think maybe it was a chop block?" He was smiling when he said it.

I spent the last quarter of the game waiting to see if he was going to call "icing".

After the game, I asked him about a technical he called on Coach B. He said that in a situation like that, he always thinks "WWJD". I said, "Really"? He said, "yeah, you know - What Would Joey Crawford Do?"

I'd work with this guy anytime.