OT--Nightmare
 

Had a strange dream last night.

Had my very first varsity game, and not only was I late, but the only shirt I had was a long sleeve white button down dress shirt.

What's your worst nightmare situation as an official?

Good thing it was only a dream. My real season starts tonight. No varsity games for me...not at that level yet.

I frequently have those types of dreams concerning officiating.

My worse nightmare come true is when I was still on active duty and arrived to my BJV game in my military uniform. I had all my officiating gear except for my shoes. I arrived early enough and lived close enough to the site that I could get home and get my shoes before tip-off. One problem, my partner hadn't shown up. At about 25-30 minutes before tip-off I get a call from my partner that he has been involved in a traffic accident and is nowhere close to the game site.

So, not only did I have to officiate the game as a 1-man crew, but I had to do it in combat boots. Luckily my boots were black and had a rubber sole. A varsity official showed up and joined me 1/2 through the 2nd quarter and my partner showed up at halftime.

My first thought on reading the thread title was a Padgett overtime nightmare....

But anyway, my nightmare scenario happened in my first ever basketball game... the other official didn't show up. I even wrote a thread about it here.

Last year I forgot my whistle and didn't realize it until I was actually at the game site. Luckily, I was there about 45 minutes early (traffic was unusually light that day) and there was a sporting goods store about 2 miles away, so I was able to procure a replacement without making a fool of myself. That spare whistle/lanyard is now permanently stored in my car's glove compartment.

That's not a bad idea at all. I'll start doing that.

Exactly, only I was thinking it was a dream about OT and, as an added bonus, Padgett showed up in it!

The term "OT-Nightmare" is redundant, like having airbags in a politician's car.

Mine came true.

First official game I ever did was 7th & 8th grade boys games back to back games. Never done a game in my life.

My partner no-shows.

The Athletic Director comes in and says, "Guess you'll have to use all your experience tonight". Which was zero.

Went out did'em both no big deal, but was a little apprehensive to start.

Whistles should never be an issue. I travel with 2 in the bag. 1 Always in my jacket pocket. 1 in my car, most times 2. Plus Almost every jacket/sports coat I have has one in its inside whistle.

I showed up one time and couldn't find my whistle (lucky for me my partner had an unopened one) and I swore it would never happen again.

As a souvenir, I hung my very first Fox 40 from my rear view mirror. It's somewhat of a conversation piece and also serves as a spare, but I carry a bag full of whistles in my travel bag too.

About once a season, I leave the dressing room without a whistle and realize it right before the tap...making my partners stall while I run and get one.

That works great...unless you rode to the game with your partner. :D

All my officiating nightmares include forgetting an assignment, forgetting pants, shirt, or shoes, or arriving after the game has started. Seems fairly common.

I once forgot my pants for a basketball game and once forgot my shoes for a football game. A colleague covered the first game of the DH while I drove home and got the pants. My son brought me the shoes, just before kickoff. So I've been fortunate thus far.

Time to pack my football bag for Friday's third rounder. Hope I don't forget anything!

I usually keep a bag in the trunk of the car with a complete uniform...usually my oldest items. I put it in there at the start of the season and it will be there should I ever need it (and I drove).

On 2-3 occasions, it has come in handy...in some cases for the benefit of my partner.

But With Me, It Only Happened Once ...
 

Been there. Done that.

Keep a whistle in your jacket pocket...just put it there and forget about it. It will come in handy someday.

Nightmare on SR 7xx
 

Here is the ultimate...

It's the last weekend of the season, and I pick up a last minute game at school X, about 1 hour from my home. I had done 6 or 7 games that week and a wrestling match. Had a late varsity game on Friday, Sat. game is at 1:00 P.M.

Get to the school early, roll in, get dressed. Life is all good, except for the fact my wife had put in a pair of pants for me that was too big. Everything else was in the washer when I left.

The pants were beltless with an elastic waist. So I pinned the pants, wore ever shred of clothing I could under it, and by the second trip down the floor I was toast. Called time, Told my partners and both coaches the problem, went to the locker room, and came out in a nice pair of brown pants to finish the game. I get back on the floor at the same time the league assigner walks in the door of the gym.

I did a great job at the game, score was 5 point win for the home team, and life is good, except I try to avoid the assigner every chance I can. I still wake up in a cold sweat about it every so often, and have to check my bag with four pairs of pants in it to make sure I am covered for the upcoming game. The U-Haul trailer with my spare uniforms is getting a little expensive to take to every game at this point, and I'm looking at a large panel truck to replace it.

I have a whistle and lanyard in both pockets of my jacket. I move the one from my right pocket to my pants pocket before the game starts, it's the whistle I use. The one in the left pocket is a new, unused whistle for sharing if needed and to serve as a backup.

I have a spare whistle in each of my two travel bags. If I ever have to use one, they get rotated as needed and the oldest whistle gets replaced. I've always got two or three new whistles in their package at home.

You can work through or around blown out pants, no jacket, even no shirt or the right shoes. But it's really hard to officiate without a whistle.

Though I blew mine enough during JH games last night to make up for a game or two elsewhere.