I was a sophomore in high school, me and one of my friends signed up to do 3rd grade YMCA games. We had no clue what we were doing, all we knew is we had watched & played tons of basketball so we figured it couldn't be that hard to ref (I had been umpiring baseball for 3 years by this time.)

It was pretty much a disaster, I don't know how many double whistles we had. I would call a foul and he would think it was a clean black or vice versa. We had no clue who was supposed to be looking where. I think we both just watched the ball the entire game.

Later in the year we actually had to break up a fight...in the stands. One dad started choking another dad yelling, "your kid is killing my kid!!!" Needless to say they were both removed from the gym.

I didn't referee basketball again until 1997 or 1998 and have done so ever since.

South O-Cliff? That is/was a pretty rough part of Dallas. Isn't that where Dennis Rodman grew up?

Bob...you are still a young man...is your memory going already?

Mark, how was Dr. Naismith as a coach? Was he hard you guys back then?

I didn't play for him. I was his assistant coach. I came up with the idea of naming all set plays after successful basketball programs. Unfortunately, all our plays had the same name, "Springfield Y".

Holy cow, a new joke? So the world ends tomorrow....?

I don't know about where he grew up, but he went to school there. The scrimmage wasn't at SOC. They were the visiting team. I've never actually been to SOC, though I've probably been to just about every other Dallas HS.

Yup. :eek:



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m4FI1xplsa...20/Pigs%2BFly.

1973-74 season I don't remember exactly the first game but I remember a series of games at the school where I had previously coached, Elmwood JHS, Cygnet, OH.

Of course I was bad, but I felt that I had the temperament for officiating. I made some mistakes in scheduling early on. In order to get games, a guy and I took an entire freshman schedule at my old HS, Perrysburg, OH. BIG mistake. We saw them so much that we knew who was going to do what violation, etc. They, I am sure got sick of us and we of them.

I got good training. We had to attend 5 rules interp. mtgs. in Toledo each season and there were a lot of good officials there. And they helped a lot when we went out and did JV games and the varsity officials mentored us.

Two years later I got my first varsity game in Lima, OH and after the game I realized that I wasn't ready. Good thing to know.

This past weekend I did 19 games in an adult tournament here and they were all 20 min. halves. I thank the Lord that I still am physically capable of doing this. (Mentally is a different story.) 3-man crew definitely extends a career.

We both had too much to drink that night...............oops wrong thread.

My first patched game was at Bill Murray's old grammar school. 6th grade boys, I was terrible, yet knew how to fake it from watching so many games.

Actually, my first game, many many years earlier was at my grammar school when I was a sophomore in high school. I had no idea what I was doing and got two bucks for the effort. Today, if a school trotted out two unpatched newbies out of uniform, they'd be arrested.

Were the meetings held in MTD's attic?

Can't remember who or where, but my shirt had a collar, my whistle was metal with a rubber mouth guard and a pea and the only call I made was OOB.

I remember going to meetings in Og's cave.

Where well-flamed dinosaur meat was served? I heard of that restaurant chain of caves. ;)

They're still in business. The special is mammoth nuggets. You can only imagine what those are like.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/28...6508d3.jpg?v=0