Hey give me the damned ball ref
Arizona was playing at home and whipping UCLA 42-7 just before halftime when a student decided he would make a spectacle of himself by repeating the glory of the 70s and streaking down the field. Here is a link to that bit of nostalgia. Of course a second video in this link also features the 80s era brawl that broke out right after that trip down memory lane. Yep fun times in Arizona. Now it turns out the referee impersonator is being charged with a felony called "criminal impersonation" that can put him in jail for 18 months. Wait a minute, impersonating a referee is a felony in Arizona? Really? A college prank is worth 18 months in jail? You can't blame him for that brawl starting can you? Maybe. According to this report the guy admitted to streaking so he could put it on his application to be on the game show Wipeout. Really dude? Putting on a fake ref uniform and streaking in a televised football game to get on a game show? Maybe you don't deserve 18 months in jail for that but maybe the cops should have tased you when they took you down so you can feel a little bit of pain to go along with your stupidity. Now I wish the head ref had handed you the ball when you went on the field. Then one of those players would have an excuse to flatten you (a la Mike "Maddog" Curtis in 1971) and really make me chuckle. BTW, can you really charge someone for that if they are actually refereeing a game? Hope not, I'd hate to have a few cops putting the cuffs on me when I'm walking off the field. This is what we have become isn't it?
I'm feeling a bit like damaged goods here today. It's been another busy week between work and football and I am one tired puppy right about now. At work, a number of people were on vacation or out sick this week. That crud I had is still making the rounds it appears. I know I'm still coughing occasionally. Kept those of us still in the salt mines busy mining and such.
Thursday night I had a JV game at Northside Christian. It was a typical small school JV game and I had a good time with the guys. The weather was just starting to turn chilly. Nice night. Nothing much to talk about otherwise. Friday night was a bigger game as I had Largo at Boca Ciega. Largo has been one of the best teams in the county over the past 5 years while Bogie has been a perpetual underachiever but I figured this game would be fairly close. It was a perfect night for a football game with temps in the 60s at game time. As we got out on the field pregame to check the field and talk to the coaches we got to see a beautiful purple and pink sunset. Made it worth it to be out on that field.
The game started with a bang as Largo took the opening kick off to the house. 7-0 ten seconds into the game. Bogie drives down the field later on and ties the game up. Then kicks off to the same guy on Largo. This time they managed to tackle him on the 16 yard line. Their 16. Largo punches it in and goes up 14-7. In the second quarter, Largo ran a halfback option with a throwback to the quarterback from around midfield. The QB juked out the one defender with a shot at him and took it all the way. 21-7. Good thing the coach warned us they might run this play. Late in the quarter Largo scores again after a Bogie turnover and at the half they lead 28-7. By the score it looks like Largo is killing them but really, Bogie had been able to move the ball on Largo and mostly stop Largo's running game. Largo's QB was not really effective passing. Some big plays had led to most of Largo's points.
In the second half Bogie continues to stop Largo, who does no favor to their cause by continually trying to pass instead of running and taking time off the clock. Midway through the quarter, Bogie hits a couple of big passes to go from their own 20 to a TD and is down 28-14. Largo then fumbles a few plays later deep in their own end and Bogie punches that in for a score. On the TD play a few players get into it in the end zone. No punches are thrown so we don't have to toss anyone (throwing a punch is automatically an ejection, even if it doesn't connect) but we ended up calling 2 personal fouls on Bogie and one on Largo. The Largo coach wants us to enforce the penalties on the next kickoff but because these were dead ball fouls that occurred after the TD was scored and not live ball fouls, we had to enforce them on the extra point. So Bogie had to kick the extra point from the 18 and got it blocked. Still we are in the 4th quarter and it's 28-20. Late in the game Largo got moving a little and Bogie was desperate to stop them when a guy for Largo breaks a run and gets the clinching TD. On that play I got bumped from behind and my left when I turned to follow the play. It wasn't much of a hit but I guess I stepped wrong when it happened because I felt this pain in my hip. Felt kind of like a pulled muscle but I didn't think much of it.
The game ended soon after and as I was walking back to the locker room, I felt the pain in my hip. "This isn't good" I thought as I walked to my car later. It hurt to do anything much. I just hoped it was a bruise and would go away over a short time. I got home a bit before 11 and after eating a bite the PQ rubbed some Ben Gay like stuff on my hip and I went to sleep. 6:50 came awfully early Saturday morning. I had another 4 game set to work, all on the field. I felt ok but still sore a bit. Unfortunately I still felt pain in my hip. I hoped it would loosen up while I worked.
When I got outside to go to the game I felt how really cool it was outside. It was maybe 55 degrees. Chilly by Florida standards. I was in my usual shorts and short sleeved referee shirt but I brought my long sleeve shirt with me in case it stayed chilly. Fortunately when I got to the field it was already starting to warm a bit. I was working the first 2 games with a very experience group of guys. Not a problem, I figured we would knock those games right out easily. Young kids, only 8 minute quarters, should be quick games. Yeah right. As I warmed up and stretched I felt more pain in my hip. Not good. Stu the guy on the clock told me if I couldn't go, he'd be willing to fill in for me. I told him he might have to as I just didn't know how long I could go.
The first game would have been hysterically funny if it hadn't been so long. 2 teams of 7-8 year olds who mostly hadn't played football before this year. Even though this is week 8 or 9 of their season, they still are all over the place. We could have thrown penalty flags on every play. The visitors were all over the place, the home team was a little better. And anytime someone got tackled hard it seemed, they got hurt. We had so many injury time outs where the kid got removed then was back playing in 2 or 3 plays. Instead of this game being done quickly, it just kept dragging on. Late in the game I turned to the head ref during a time out and said, "Jim, this is like herding cats out here." He agreed. Surprisingly the team mother for the visitors heard my remark and told me "You don't know half of it. The whole team are 7 year olds. Getting them all to do the same thing at the same time is impossible." Mercifully the game finally ended with the home team winning 19-0. But we are already behind after one game time wise and the home team is doing parent appreciation day so before every game they are introducing all the players and their parents and family while they walk on the field. Fortunately I didn't have to run much so my hip didn't trouble me too much.
The next game is the next age group up. Not so new to the game but a little bigger and faster. Even so, we make up a lot of time during the game. Unfortunately, the game ends 0-0 and we have to play overtime. Just one overtime and we do the KC tiebreaker like they do in college. Both teams get the ball on the ten yard line and get 4 plays to score. The visitors score and run in the extra point. The home team scores on 4th down but gets stopped short of the goal line for the extra point and loses. So we don't make up much time in the end. My hip is hurting a bit more but I still didn't have to run much. The only thing saving me right now.
The third game are JV Pee Wees. That's the next age group up, kids around 12 years old. These kids run and pass a lot more. Again both teams are pretty evenly matched. The home team scores in the 2nd quarter but misses the extra point. Still it looks like we'll avoid overtime and the game is going well. Not many penalties or big plays making me run too much. Passing to a minimum. Unfortunately that changes in the 4th quarter. The visitors hit a couple of passes and a big run. I had to chase the plays a bit and I'm hurting, especially when they get a first down inside the 5. I'm hoping for a turnover to keep the visitors from scoring but it's not to be as they get the tying TD. Now I'm hoping they hit the extra point. Wrong again. We are tied 6-6 when the game ends and go to OT again. The home team has the ball first but throws an interception on 3rd down. The visitors run on first down and get to the 6. The home team jumps offsides the next play and the visitors now have 2nd and goal from the 3. They punch it in the next play for the win. I'm pretty much dragging my leg behind me now and I tell Stu up on the clock that I can't go any more so he comes down to take over. Dragging my ass up the stairs to the press box was no picnic but I made it. Good thing I did.
The next game had a lot more action and long plays in it. I'd have melted out there. Late in the first half we had another one of those muffed kicks I mentioned a week or 2 ago. One team kicks off and the ball kinda rolls around for a bit. The receiver goes back to get it and drops the ball when he tries to pick it up. A guy on the kicking team picks up the ball and sets off for the end zone. The head ref chases the play to the end zone and when the guy gets in he gives the touchdown signal. I'm up in the press box telling the announcer that they're blowing the play. When he asked what I meant I told him, that was a muffed kick, not a fumble and the kicking team gets possession at the spot they recover the ball but they don't get to advance it. Luckily Stu was on top of the play and marked the spot of possession. After the TD signal he calls the head ref over and they talk a second then spot the ball on the 24 yard line where it was recovered. And the announcer looks smart telling the crowd why that wasn't a TD. We don't always get the calls right, but we try to. When the game finally ended I slowly dragged my way down to my car and called the PQ to see what was up for lunch. It was about 2:30 and I still hadn't had a bite all day.
I met up with the PQ, her sister and my niece for lunch at 5 Guys. Best burgers and fries ever. If you're unlucky enough to live in an area without 5 Guys, you are missing out. If you do have them around and go to any other chain, you are being extremely foolish and your taste buds will revolt eventually. After lunch we made it home and I basically passed out. I barely got my picks in by 4pm for today's NFL games, the PQ had to keep waking me up as I was snoozing in front of my computer. I did get in 2 good short term investments taking Michigan St +7.5 over Wisconsin and the over in the Penn St/Northwestern game. The over hit before halftime and Sparty did me proud in a wild finish. I trooped off to bed and slept for about 2.5 hours. Could have gone a lot longer but had to get me and the PQ some dinner. I really wanted breakfast so we went to IHOP and I got me breakfast while the PQ had the more traditional dinner at night.
Today I woke up feeling a good bit better. My legs are a bit sore but my hip hasn't bothered me all day. I will go outside and jog shortly as we're going to get our flu shots in a few minutes. We'll see how the hip feels then. So I guess I'm off. No NFL bets today though I might take GB over Minnesota. I am putting something down on Baltimore over Jax tomorrow though. Gotta think what to make for dinner tonight as well. So I'm off. I hope you guys stay lucky.
2 comments:
Your next post is going to include the revelation of your own ref streaking incident, right?
Shh, notice I'm not making any football picking bets with you know who??
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