When circumstances conspired to force me to ref a game on Rob's Court last Sunday (June 1), I just shrugged. Heck, I've been reffing games in the Tucson Basketball League since 1988. As a matter of fact, I reffed the first-ever game in the TBL. It was me and now-legendary Pima College Men's Basketball Coach Brian Peabody. (Pima Women's Coach Todd Holthaus never reffed in the League, but he did play for a while, back when we were at the Steve Daru Boys and Girls Club.) But, how hard could it be? I've got lots of experience and so what if my body is almost twice as old as it was back then?

Then I realized that I would be reffing the defending A League champions, Splash Pad. It would require my best effort. They were playing a new team, Tucson Gooners, a team that had started the season with wins over powerful Skoden and the Basketball Junkies. It was a great game, fast-paced and clean. The Gooners were shooting well from outside and held a six-point lead at halftime. The Gooners briefly went up by double digits, but then Splash Pad slowly chipped away and finally caught up with about three minutes to go. The ageless Dylan Johnson hit a short jumper to put Splash Pad up with 1:45 to go and they held on for a four-point victory. 

Had the Gooners won, I was prepared to say that there's a new sheriff in town ("and his name is Reggie Hammond"). But the status quo prevailed, if every so slightly.

This Sunday, things began rounding into shape after a couple horrible weeks of scheduling on my part. Not nearly enough close games the past couple weeks, but things are getting better. Some of the scores yesterday included:

--Wolves 63, Most Hated 62

--Los Suns 53, Mambas 52

--Peloteros 63, Underdogs 61

--Bandits 58, Ham 55

--The Boys 52, 520 Personal Training 50

We'll have another big week full of games this coming Sunday. I know that it's Father's Day, but as I have always said, "Mother's Day is sacred but nobody gives a crap about Father's Day." And I'm a father; have been for a long time. But, it's just different. If you're doing Father's Day stuff, come play your game and then go and enjoy the rest of the day. Or, do things in the other order.