High school basketball fans riding the referees

Ahh, reading all this makes me think of the best time I had covering high school basketball -- during a measles epidemic in the late 1980s ...

Epidemic (and it was spread over a number of counties) cost the schools about two weeks worth of games, with no end in sight ... so the school boards, with the OK of the state association, decide the let the teams resume playing games -- but without spectators: no students (save for cheerleaders, and they had to provide proof that they had received their shots), no parents, no fans ... only teachers, administrators and us small-town media guys (and we had to have the same proof of shots as well) ... amazing how quiet and less obscene coaches will get when there's no cheering to drown everything out

 

Why in hell would you need cheerleaders at a game with no fans? Isn't that like having theater ushers for a rehersal?

 

I asked that very same question (and even some of the refs I knew working those games asked it as well) -- you could hear the crickets chirping over the silence from school officials on that one ...

 

cheerleaders work just as hard as the hoops players, damnit!!! why shouldn't they be there?

 

Most of the referees I called with had either been doing it 15-plus years and/or were college officials.

Next argument.

 

And I'm sure this is true with every high school game in every sport in every city/town in America.

 

3BF, then most of the refs you were working with are liars. If they were college or high level refs, they wouldn't be doing too many high school games. Not the way most associations work.

 

One of my favorites when I played high school ball in the 1980s: "Foot Locker! Foot Locker!"

Do they still do that one?

 

My dad is a high school football ref in Alabama, been doing it for almost 15 years. He didn't this fall because he was tired of all the bullshit. And it is bullshit.

The association makes sure to send a team of refs to a game with no ties to either school's team. So, living in a large town with two high schools, he went to a lot of podunk games in podunk towns. Places where bleachers are rotted wood sitting on top of gravel that obnoxious people use to fill Coke cans and fling them at the officials. My dad had a welt for about a week on his shoulder. Of course, podunk deputy dawg just looks the other way while grinning.

When I was in college, I would come home on Friday nights and make a little cash running the chains. I learned that they traveled in packs for safety. We met at a Dennys, rode in one van or SUV to the game. I was told that as soon as the game was over, prop the chains against the fence, meet the group and walk together to the vehicle. I'm sure we had some people follow us at least once. People are fucking insane when it comes to high school sports.

 

No, because I watched most of them call junior college, and higher, games.

 

Last night high power private high school comes to town to face Podunk's girls team. Private school ends up winning by 60 points. As lead goes north of 40, private school backup point guard catches pass and takes four steps without dribbling. Ref calls travel. Boos rain down from private school fans telling ref to call the game both ways and to open his eyes. And they were up by over 40 points. My jaw dropped.

 

I can think of two reasons why people would be on the officials if they make a bad call in a blowout. I'm not sure how much sense this makes but:
1). If a kid makes a bonehead play when his or her team has a big lead, does the coach say "Aw fuck it, we're winning big, who cares?" or does he chew the kid out? If that the players should still play hard and not make mistakes regardless of the score, than the same should be expected of the officials.
2). When a team is getting its ass kicked, its players get frustrated and if the officials let stuff go, somebody could get hurt.

I still think if your team is winning or losing by 30 or more, you have no right to complain about the officials, but maybe I miss the point.