Embarrasing Moments

zebraman · #1 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 12:02pm

Looking at a previous thread (where some officials had accidentally hit players while doing signals) made me think about embarrasing moments on the court. What's the most embarrasing thing you've done or seen by your partner?

I had a high school game at Key Arena before a Sonics game last year. The floor is raised about 6 inches above where the courtside seats begin. My partner was trail and then turned to run towards lead as we went the other way. He went too wide ( real wide) and fell completely off the court in an avalanche of chairs. Fortunately, there was a turnover and play stopped. It took him about 20 seconds to untangle himself from all the chairs.

Z

rockyroad · #2 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 12:13pm

Ouch...who was your partner??? Give us a name...

Worst I have seen in a game was at a tournament...sitting in the stands watching a buddy work a game with his fly open and white underwear on...we were laughing our heads off trying to get his attention during a time-out about 3 min. into the game, when suddenly his wife walks down out of the stands, walks right up to him, whispers to him and then walks back into stands...his face turned beet red, he zipped them up, and then looked up and glared at us... gotta hand it to him, he wasn't thrown by it and reffed a great rest of the game, but he took a lot of crap at the rest of the meetings that year...

Mark Padgett · #3 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 12:45pm

That's easy. I had a partner once who let a game go into overtime!!!!!

Now that's embarrassing.

mick · #4 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 12:49pm

Quote:

Originally posted by rockyroad
Ouch...who was your partner??? Give us a name...

Worst I have seen in a game was at a tournament...sitting in the stands watching a buddy work a game with his fly open and white underwear on...we were laughing our heads off trying to get his attention during a time-out about 3 min. into the game, when suddenly his wife walks down out of the stands, walks right up to him, whispers to him and then walks back into stands...his face turned beet red, he zipped them up, and then looked up and glared at us... gotta hand it to him, he wasn't thrown by it and reffed a great rest of the game, but he took a lot of crap at the rest of the meetings that year...

Two years ago, I was wearing black in a new gym, yet somebody's wife walks down out of the stands, walks right up to me, whispers to me and then walks back into stands....

firedoc · #5 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 12:56pm

I was working a JV game. We were shooting a 1-and-1 foul shot and I was the lead. I had a momentary lapse of concentration and thought we were shooting a two-shot foul. The shot went up, missed, and I stepped into the lane, and I wound up with the ball, much to the astonishment of the players, who stood there dumbfounded. I went to the table to make sure that they credited me for a rebound in the official book. We then, of course, went to the AP arrow to determine possession.

joshlamerritt · #6 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 01:03pm

Quote:

Originally posted by zebraman
What's the most embarrasing thing you've done...

I had a game where one of the cheerleaders reached out acted like she was grabbing my butt while I was standing on the end line about to administer a throw-in. I would have had no idea that this had happened except that a couple of minutes later I am running down the court and I see my wife in the face of one of the cheerleaders. Fortunately, my wife had brought a friend with her who convinced her not to take this girl outside and let her have it, so the situation was difused.

My wife has not gone to a game with me since...

[Edited by joshlamerritt on Nov 19th, 2002 at 12:11 PM]

mick · #7 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 01:04pm

Quote:

Originally posted by firedoc
I was working a JV game. We were shooting a 1-and-1 foul shot and I was the lead. I had a momentary lapse of concentration and thought we were shooting a two-shot foul. The shot went up, missed, and I stepped into the lane, and I wound up with the ball, much to the astonishment of the players, who stood there dumbfounded. I went to the table to make sure that they credited me for a rebound in the official book. We then, of course, went to the AP arrow to determine possession.

Stop it!!!!

(at least you got the ball)

Andy · #8 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 02:05pm

Boys JV game.

I'm trail coming up court with the ball. No pressure, so I am half-jogging with a nonchalant 10 second count going. I didn't pick up my foot enough and caught the toe of my shoe on the court....SPLAT...down I went! I was right next to the kid dribbling the ball so all six people in the stands (remember, it was a JV game) saw the whole thing. I looked at the videotape later and saw that my foot caught right at the half court line. It looked like I tripped right over the line painted on the court.

I told the coach when I arrived at the gym that I thought the paint on the line was a little thick!

fletch_irwin_m · #9 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 03:27pm

This one has already made the rounds in our association.
I had lost a lot of weight prior to and at the start of the basketball season last year. (My first) I am sure you know what is coming next:
Middle School Boys game. As I am running down the court from Lead to Trail on a FB, I feel the britches start to slide down a little bit. Not to fear I tell myself, I will give em the ole' "Officials Hike" when play stops. BUT NOOOO, the idiot point guard turns it over, and as I plant I feel the pants sliding down one cheeck. As I pivot I feel the pants sliding down the other cheek. So I hustle as fast as I could with the pants sagging like Eminem. There is a bang-bang play with the ball going out of bounds and a player out of bounds. I make no call. To make matters worse, the supervisor of officials is at the game with the exact same angle as I.
After the game he asks why I did not make a call. I told him I had two reasons. The first that I thought the offensive player exagerated the little bit of contact and that the defensive player did not do all that much. He told me I should have called it, then asked what my second reason was. I said, because my pants were falling down and I would much rather be heckeled for missing a call, then loosing my pants!!

ChuckElias · #10 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 03:34pm

Where's Oz to tell us about the time he was wearing "tear-away" pants (with the snaps up the legs) while officiating a women's game?

Chuck

LepTalBldgs · #11 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 04:42pm

Rec ball (8th grade) last year. I was thinking about doing this reffing thing more seriously so was trying to work on mechanics, etc. Unknown to me the chief howler monkey in the rec league is the instructional chair for first year refs in our unit.

Mid-way through the season my partner gives him a T after warning. We shoot free throws and notice he is muttering something. Turns out he said "At least shoot the free throws at the right basket".

Sometimes you can't win.

DownTownTonyBrown · #12 (**permalink**) Tue Nov 19, 2002, 06:51pm

End of last season. Before game was starting. I bent over to move a rug along the endline (lots of fan traffic - rug for snow and water collection). Was wearing a newly tailored pair of pants; first time I had worn them. The bendover split them from the waistband to the bottom of the zipper. Several High School kids got a good laugh. By this time I was locked out of my dressing room. So I'm standing there amongst all of these entering fans (some of who I know and are trying to talk with me)and laughing high schoolers. All the while trying to attract the attention of the administrator so I can get back into my dressing room. After several minutes with my back to the wall, one hand over my butt, and one hand in the air waving... I got back into my dressing room and was able to change pants.

I used to wonder why I should carry a spare pair of pants... now I know ... and I know very well.

Ohh and I haven't been back to that tailor since.

Tim Roden · #13 (**permalink**) Wed Nov 20, 2002, 02:05am

Boys JV game in one of the top five rated high school gyms in thd country. The varsity that night was being worked by some officers who were watching me work for the first time. So it was important for me that night to look good. There was a fast break, in transition, I was the lead. I look back and see the ball coming straight for my head. I look up to see a player in front of me to catch the ball, so I turn left to avoid the ball and him and I end up falling all over the home bench. I still want to get a copy of the video to find out how exactly I ended up there. That was the question at half time when the varsity officials started talking about the game. The bench was a good three feet away from the floor.

rainmaker · #14 (**permalink**) Wed Nov 20, 2002, 01:40pm

Fast-paced varsity girls, summer league. I'm new lead on a fast-break. The break-er is right behind me, looking behind her to catch the pass forward. She didn't see me, her foot forward caught into my back one, and I headed for a face-plant. Amazingly, I did a forward roll, got smoothly to my feet, made the endline before the ball, and called the foul on the shot. I'm still trying to figure out how to work this into my regular schtick since it got me a lot of sympathy!

Dan_ref · #15 (**permalink**) Wed Nov 20, 2002, 01:55pm

Quote:

Originally posted by rainmaker
Fast-paced varsity girls, summer league. I'm new lead on a fast-break. The break-er is right behind me, looking behind her to catch the pass forward. She didn't see me, her foot forward caught into my back one, and I headed for a face-plant. Amazingly, I did a forward roll, got smoothly to my feet, made the endline before the ball, and called the foul on the shot. I'm still trying to figure out how to work this into my regular schtick since it got me a lot of sympathy!

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Referee!