Game Log 1/4/06: U-G-L-Y

The game turned out about how I anticipated--a 22-point victory for white. But it should have been a lot more of a blowout--neither team played well at all. The score was locked--no points scored--for about the last 5 minutes of the second quarter.

In other words, tonight it felt like work. And I was up to the task.

We must have called 45 fouls--15 of them in the third quarter, probably another 15 in the fourth. Each team shot about eight million free throws and made about 27 of them. We wanted to let a few go, but we simply couldn't. For the most part, the fouls were just a result of poor play, but we had to make sure they didn't get chippy or grow into frustration fouls. The three of us met together during almost every dead ball. I said "I know this is going slowly, but we have to keep using our whistles. We can't let things get out of control." We were consistent with each other. The clock slowly--slooooowwwwwwwly--ticked down. Nobody got hurt. We got out.

I felt like the man in charge today, and I must have acted it. The coaches treated me that way. Some of it was that one of my partners was a 16-year-old kid...a fantastic referee who's working his way up our association with a bullet. He made a call that the Red coach didn't like in the first quarter. Talked with him a while--my partner had to show him his palm. And the coach came up to me and said "Would you go up to him at a dead ball and explain the new rule?" Bizarre situation.

Let's set aside the fact that I'm certain my partner got it right (he's that good).

The fact that the coach came to me means that, in this crew at least, I was viewed, justified or no, as the Guy In Charge.

That felt good.

Only one of my calls was overly challenged, a block call. The coach said "That was PERFECT." She was waiting there a long time, yes...but I felt like her legs were beyond her shoulders. The contact wasn't with the defender's torso--it was a trip on the leg. I told White's coach as much. He said "You had to reach deep for that explanation, huh?" I turned to him, actually smiled, and said: "Not this time, coach. That's actually what I saw." And it was (although I wish I had the video to be sure about it). In any event, it's a nice reminder to be sure to referee the defense.

Also, as lead, twice I called fouls on a drive when the coach was yelling that the player travelled. I'll have to ask if, in three-man situations, the T or C has the feet. As lead, I simply don't have the ability to focus both on the contact and on the feet.

THINGS I DID WELL: Game management, kept ugly game under control, coach management
THINGS TO WORK ON: Referee the defense, get switches (I still don't know where to go a lot of the time), get rotations (missed a few early).

NEXT UP: Friday night. JV and Varsity games at a nearby religious school...a fun place to work. The standings say it'll be another blowout, but it's still always fun to work there.