Game Log 6/13/2009: Damn it. I'm buying another T-shirt.

The first game today was very high quality. Summer ball...so only minor coach whining. I was slowing down at the spot--at least when I remembered, which was often--and the calls were all fine.

Then, I made a mistake that I swore this season that I wouldn't make again--and it was a big, impactful call with less than a minute left.

Shit. Damn, hell, and shit.

Blue is down by one. They're playing good defense. I hear people shouting "Foul!" There's minimal contact. I call a foul.

They weren't fouling.

Not much to say here, except it was probably the worst single call I've made in years. It was out of my area, it was wrong strategically, it was wrong factually, and I'm supposed to have learned that.

Massref very kindly told me that he's "been there, done that, bought the T-shirt" last time I made this error. But, for whatever reason, I guess I needed a second screw-up to get it in my head.

Damn. Damn, hell, shit, and damn.

I did the only thing I could do. I told the coach I'd blown the call. He was, needless to say, unhappy (unlike the incredibly classy guy in January). His team wasn't removed from the game...had the ball with a 2-point deficit (the kid only made one of two free throws) with 45 seconds left, then the ball with a 3-point deficit and 20 seconds to play.

But the coach was fixated on the call, actually shouting "Where's the makeup call? Where's the makeup call?"

Coach, I'll get them wrong on accident occasionally--and on very rare occasion s(today, alas, being one), egregiously. But I will never, ever get one wrong on purpose.

Anyway, the second game was a little bit of a blur. It was a blowout, and not much went wrong. I won't say my focus was 100%, but it was good enough.

It'd be nice if I could get right back out there to get this taste out of my mouth, but I have nothing on the schedule. I'll just re-commit to handing this situation better, and I'll be secretly thankful that I got to learn in a summer game instead of a big one later on.

THINGS I DID WELL: Bounced back from screwup, managed game after screwing it up, handled clock situations, slowed down at spot
THINGS TO WORK ON: Does three T-shirts mean that I need a hotel in the "been there, done that" location?

NEXT UP: As much as I hate summer ball, I wish I had a game right around the corner to wipe this one away. But, alas, I likely won't work again until November, unless there's some other tournament rolling into town..