Was my partner weird, or was it just me? (OK - that's too easy)

[Mark Padgett]

Last night I worked with a guy for the first time. He's a seven year vet. Before the game he told me he didn't like the fact that one of the teams had a player wearing number 13 because every time he calls a lot of fouls on a player wearing that number it brings him (the ref, not the player) "bad luck".

Of course, I thought he was just kidding but he swore he was serious. He said things such as falling down during the game, having a flat tire on the way home and finding his car "keyed" in the parking lot were just a few of the things that have happened to him when he has done this.

Being someone who doesn't believe in this nonsense, it was hard for me even to keep a straight face, but I asked him if these things happened only when he called "a lot of fouls" on a number 13 and never any other time, including when he called "a lot of fouls" on a different number. I also asked him how many fouls is "a lot". He stammered a little and just shrugged his shoulders. I then asked him what happened when both teams had number 13's. If he called a "lot of fouls" on both, did he get "double bad luck" or did it cancel itself out?

Again, he just shrugged. I left it at that, thinking this guy is a nut job and made a mental note to see if it affected how he called the game.

It wasn't a factor because the kid wearing 13 was a sub and only played a few minutes. I did call one foul on him, but that was the only time he deserved one.

BTW - nothing bad happened to me on the way home, but maybe that's because I live only a few minutes from the school.

Anyone ever hear anything even remotely like this before? I'm still thinking about it.

Hey - maybe he can appeal to the NF to get 13 declared an illegal number! I should have suggested that to him.