I did my first "real" varsity game last night. It was girls varsity but two really good programs, long-time , respected coaches, conference match-up, etc. Actually, I was contracted to do the JV game. The acting AD came in with the varsity off. who was there and said that they needed one of us to stay and do the varsity game because the other varsity guy wasn't coming. (The host school recently fired their AD, so I imagine that's where the contract mistake originated from.) Anyway, I stayed and got to work a really well-played game that went overtime and ended 68-67 on a banked-in threepointer at the buzzer. My partner, who has state final and college experience said I had a great game and he would be happy to work with me anytime. What a rush!! I even made the 10:00 news for about 5 seconds or so. Sorry to ramble but I had to share this with somone who understood.

Congratulations,Tom. Hopefully your partner shared his good opinion of your work with your assigner.

Hey Tom, congratulations!! My first college varsity game came about very similarly to yours. I was a last-minute fill-in, but felt that I had a terrific game, with only one minor exception. I'm glad yours went so well. Keep up the good work, and it'll pay off. Good job!

Chuck

Hopefully one of many "firsts" in your career!

(good ones, of course)

There's still nothing like the rush that first V game delivers, eh?

Way cool, Tom! Keep up the great work! Didn't the rush keep you up to the 1 am news to see if you were on then?

What was your minor exception? Inquiring minds want to know...

My minor exception from my first college varsity game:

Setting: D2 game, visiting team is ranked #6 in the region. Tight ball game, but no real problems all afternoon.

Time winding down, and home team leads by very slim margin, 4 maybe 5 points. Visitors hit a 3 to cut it to a 1 or 2 point ball game with less than 10 seconds remaining. NCAA rules, so clock is stopped after the made basket. Home trying to inbound, but visitors are pressing hard. I am trail official on the bench side and as my partner gets to about 4 on his 5-second count, I hear home coach request TO.

So I blow my whistle, point to home bench and announce "time out". But apparently the visiting coach thought the whistle came from my partner and that a throw-in violation had been called.

Basically, I wasn't forceful enough in communicating what I was calling. Each coach thought they were getting the call. When I explained that the TO happened first, he went just bonkers. He freaked out. And then I doubted myself. I thought "Jeez, did the wrong team have the ball?" I couldn't figure out what got the guy so jacked up.

But the fact was, I made the right call (granting the TO), but I didn't communicate it well enough to my partners or the coaches. That was a good lesson learned. Sometimes it's not enough to get the call right. In that particular situation, everybody has to know immediately what the call is. Communication!

Chuck