First T, and it was on an official!!

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I have a TF story that will have everybody falling down drunk from laughing.

When our, Andy, our younger son was in 3rd and 4th grade I coached his basketball team in the Toledo Park and Rec. League. This was a 10 & under league. The game were 6 min running clock quarters; the only time the clock stopped was for TO's, injuries and every whistle in the last minute of the game; and now pressing was allowed. Before the start of each quarter the HC of each team would come to center quarter with his five players and he and his counter part on the other team would match up their players: PG, C, and FW's.

It was the last game of the season. We had only won one game (no snide comments from the peanut gallery) and we were playing the team we had our only win against. I felt sorry for our opponents because they had not won a game and we were about 10 points up on them at the end of three quarters. But there HC was a nice guy who knew I was a basketball official. The TO between quarters ends, we have the AP Arrow, and we all walk out to center court to match up our players, something that takes about 20 sec at the most. We had just matched up our first players (the PG's) when the R sets the ball down at the division line and starts a five-second count. I looked toward him and told him that we had started lining up our players. And then it came like a bolt of lightning:

WHACK!!!

My opposing HC looked at me and said with note of suprise in his voice: "Did he just T you?" I responded in a shocked voice: "I think so!" And then we started laughing. The players started laughing and all of the parents started laughing, even the parents of our opponenst started yelling at the official. It is the only time in my life I did not feel sorry for the verbal abuse that an official received from the fans.

MTD, Sr.