More rec league follies

[Mark Padgett]

Saturday morning little guy rec. I had 5th grade boys for three games. The usual happened in the second game. The howler monkey starts yelling "3 seconds" while shots are going up. At first I ignore it. After all, his team was getting waxed.

However, the third time it happened, I went over to him at a break and tried to calmly explain the rule. He said that I didn't have to explain it to him since he "had reffed for four years."

I told him that was even more reason for him to know the rule. He said he knows the rule and I then asked him that if that was the case, why was he interpreting it incorrectly?

He just stared and I told him that if he could tell me how, during a period of no team control, how team control is reestablished, I would give him five bucks.

Again, he just stared. I said, "That's what I thought. Now sit down and don't complain until you actually have read a rulebook. In fact, I think I know where you can get a big print version with lots of pictures."

That was the end of his yapping for the day, although I'm still stumped by one of his earlier statements that "tall kids have elbows."

That was news to me.