This heckle is no more. It has ceased to be.

I went shopping for ref shoes at the mall yesterday. The sore ankle freaked me out, but it looks like it's absolutely nothing--the pain was gone the next day. But it did freak me out enough that I decided I needed new ref shoes.

In the past, I've ordered them on-line, but after shutting down early for tendinitis two seasons ago, I've concluded I have to wear the things before buying them. So--to Foot Locker.

I was greeted by a very friendly, helpful clerk who put up with me as I tried many different pairs of shoes. I noticed he was wearing the old, collared black-and-white ref shirt. And in the midst of this, out of nowhere, it occurred to me:

I can't remember the last time a fan told me to "Go back to Foot Locker!"

It used to be one of the top five heckles in frequency. What I liked about it was that every pinhead fan who shouted that thought he or she was the only person clever enough to come up with it, when in reality about they were in a subset of about 15 percent of all heckles.

What happened to the Foot Locker heckle?

And all at once it hit me:

In our area, varsity officials now wear the grey (which I don't care for). Foot Locker salespeople have not made the switch. Therefore, during varsity games anyway, officials no longer dress like Foot Locker salespeople.

Heckle, we hardly knew ye...