Congrats to Bad Zebra!

[Bad Zebra]

Well, this one is in the books. We made it through without any major gaffes or bad calls. As Rut said...we didn't FIU. FRom a personal standpoint, I was pretty distracted to start because of all the off court stuff we had to contend with beyond a normal game:
-TV Cameras on top of us at both endlines
-Cheerleaders crowding one endline
-Media time out procedure
-Visible and close proximity to the evaluator
-Instructed to get very close to table when reporting due to noise level

Couple all those with a big venue, dozens of media surrounding the court, super bright lighting and you've got a real pressure cooker. It took me most of the first half to settle and get comfortable. I was in a pretty foul mood at halftime but we all calmed down and finished strong, I think. My partners did a good job keeping their s*it together and we all kind of regrouped and adapted. I've earned a new respect for D1 guys that do it nightly.

The play itself was good and easy to call. The players were great and responsive...2 pt. game at half time but the better team pulled away and won by 15 or so. The talent level really made it easy to call. Each team had a D1 commit and they really stepped up and performed. Pretty impressive way for kids to respond, really. I'm sure they felt the same pressures we did (and more).

I had a few mechanical flaws in the first half...I'll attribute to nerves. Calling the play was the easiest part. The initial feedback was positive...our first evaluator noted some transitional contact that we let players play through, but I suspect the official evaluator may differ.

All in all, it was a great experience. I'd gladly do it again as I think I'd improve knowing what to expect. Thanks again for all the well wishes. Hope all of you that haven't yet will get to experience that environment at some point. I'll check this one off the bucket list.