Oh boy - this is gonna be fun

[j51969]

I had an AD I work HS ball for call me this week for a 6th grade boys A, B game. He was in a bind and since he has always treated me good I said yes. When I get to the game the gym looked like something out of Hoosiers. No three point line and a clock that looked like it was 100 years old. My partner was a early 20ish year old kid who had a collar on his shirt and a metal pea whistle. He had only worked about 6 games in his life. His mechcanics were off but he hustled and did really well. I thought he was going to blow the whistle 100 times. We worked on some of his mechcanics and positioning, and were out of there in 1 1/2hrs. It brought back some old memories of me when I first started.

[Mark Padgett]

Last night I worked a 7th grade boys game, then drove to another school to work a 7th grade girls game. If you think the first game was more fun, you're exactly wrong.

I worked that game with an older guy (and he must be really old for me to consider him an "older guy") who is in only his second year as an official. Where should I start? He never raised his hand on calls despite the fact that I mentioned it to him numerous times, so I had a tough time knowing what his calls were. He used his own mechanics for fouls including pounding his chest with his fist (I still have no idea what those fouls were for, since he didn't verbalize them either). He missed obvious foul calls right in front of him so I had to start calling them no matter where I was on the floor, which meant I had to start watching his area, too. He called at least 20 travels, about 10 of which were actually travels. Both coaches were just plain disgusted with him but their comments never rose to the level of deserving a T. To his credit, he asked me about five times on rule interps, since he didn't know what to do.

Second game, just the opposite. Partner is a long time veteran and a really nice guy, too. Called a great game, communication was great and we had some good dialogue during breaks. 100% opposite of the first game. Oh yeah - it was a blowout, which makes it even better.

[TimTaylor]

Have fun tomorrow Mark!

Canby boys tournament is this weekend - I've got three tomorrow morning and two Sunday morning (all 7th/8th grade)......with any luck my "T" count for the season won't go up.....

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by TimTaylor

with any luck my "T" count for the season won't go up.....

I just spoke with Tim Donaghy. He said he'll give you odds on that.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by j51969

My partner was a early 20ish year old kid who had a collar on his shirt and a metal pea whistle. He hustled and did really well.

I use my old shirts for sub-sub-varsity games and I left my Fox 40 in the locker room after my last varsity game. However, thanks for the compliment, I may look, and run, like I'm in my twenties, but I'm really a lot older.

I bought some Nyquil at WalMart this evening. The checkout clerk asked me if I was eighteen. I answered, "Thank you".

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

I bought some Nyquil at WalMart this evening. The checkout clerk asked me if I was eighteen. I answered, "Thank you".

Are you sure the clerk didn't say "eighty"?

BTW - we have a guy who works our local kids rec league who still wears a collared shirt and has a toy whistle with a pea inside. At least it's black plastic. Oh yeah - he has the old style lanyard, too. And he wears black "Roy Orbison" glasses with a rubber band across the back of his head.

On the up side - he's a pretty good official.