poker < basketball.. or is it vice versa?

ok, so I have intended to write more about poker, all the while keeping some personal stuff in the mix, but really focusing on some of my poker experience as well. After all, it is a poker blog. But things have been really keeping me jammed up lately. The company has a lot of very cool things going on, with some very exciting possibilities, and of course, basketball is coming to an end. I didn't play much or any poker this weekend at all because of the bball schedule. I did get to play the friday night donkament (I love you Kat!), and had a blast. Bam has a funny post up about it that says more than I could.

I knew basketball was going to be a very big part of the weekend. i had 2 games myself to coach, my daughters team, who I don't coach, had two games, and I was playing myself on Sunday night. Which we do every sunday night.

Saturday was a pivetol game for us. If we won, we had a shot at a playoff spot. This is something our girls deseerved with the way they have played all year long. We were playing a team that we lost to already when I was without my two best players, and my daughters team lost to them in overtime last week. So we knew it was going ot be a rough game, and it meant a lot to both of us. Basically a swing game for each team.

To keep your interest, I will tell you now that I was ejected from the game midway through the second period. The game started out innocently enough. There were two referees there i had never seen before, and usually they don't have anything to do with the outcome of a game. We are talking about 9 year old girls here. But lest anyone think that this is a rec league type of atmosphere, its not. These girls are the top talent in the area for each comunity. 100's of girls try out and only 10 per team make it, so the competition is fierce.

So the first period is going along nicely, and we are tied early on, about 2 minutes in at 4-4. It is a very aggressive game, and there are fouls being called. A lot. Only I didn't notice who was getting the calls. The score keeper looks at me and says, "coach, thats 3 on #12". 3? we're 2 minutes into the game? I asked how many team fouls and he said 7. 7!?!?! How many does the other team have? "One", he replied.

Ok, so 2 minutes into the game we have 7 team fouls, they have one. That means that the other team gets to start shooting free throws anytime my girls foul anywhere on the court. 2 minutes into the game mind you.

One of my girls brings the ball up in transition and gets pushed in the back and out of bounds. The ref calls it a turnover and my assistant coach yelps, and moans and complains from his seat. The ref calls time out, and comes over to us and says, "no more. We are doing the best we can, your girls are being aggressive, could go both ways, etc. etc. etc". Really the standard line. He was addressing my assistant coach, so I looked at him and said, yes you are right, but we (now at 10) have 10 fouls to their 1. Its a little inequitable. He stated he would see what he could do about it. (fucking Noob)

So the game goes on, and the score keeper looks at me again and says, "coach, thats 4 on 12, and 4 on 20. Let me tell you that 12, and 20 are two of my best players. Let me also tell you that combined, neither of them have had more than 4 fouls cummulatively all year long. So I'm a little suspicious at this point to say the least. We have the lead to this point by a basket.

We go into the second period... the fould count is now 17-5, and the score is 12-11, us. Then it happens. One of my girls gets the ball in open court mind you, and is dribbling across half court when she is chickend wing from behind. The ref, still under the inbounding basket, blows his whistle and calls a travel. I hear from behind my parents just gasping, and some audibly complain, and I just jump out of the seat and say whoa whoa whoa! to the ref. I ask him to talk and he waves me off with a grimace calling for the other girls to come inbound the ball. I call a time out and walk out onto the court towards him. He charges me.. yes, charges me, gritting his teeth and sticking his chest out telling me to sit down. the other ref comes from behind and T's me up for being on the court. I tell him that I called a timeout, and he says, well he didn't give it to you.

One of the parents comes out of the stands. Not in any threatning manner, just to voice his opinion to the ref that he can't come at a coach like that. The ref throws him out of the game.

He continues to to tell me to sit down, and that he will eject me if I don't. The gym is in complete silence now. There is probably 100 people in the stands, and I can't let this go on any further. I tell him I want an explanation, and the guy gets into my face again, gritting his teeth telling me once last time to sit down, then bumps me with his chest.

I laugh out loud to make sure everyone hears me, then I whisper to him that he has no fucking idea who I am. Then I get T'd up again, from the other ref. I say he bumped into me. Then the other guy ejects me from the game. and the gym for that matter.

I tell him I'm not going anywhere until I get an explanation. "My girls and their parents deserve an explanation of why he is so incompetent at his job. Why I have 17 team fouls and the other team has 5. Why the whole gym saw this girl get chickened winged, and he calls a travel."

He tells me to get out again, and I mumble a few different things. At this point I see some of my girls getting visibly upset, and I decide to cut all losses and exit. I go out to my truck and try to cool off but it aint happening. I was totally steamed. I really wanted to embarrass this guy. What a fucking donkey. I have seldom been this upset. I really am a calm guy and when I blow up it is more out of fun and sillyness, but this guy really got to me. I wanted his liver.

then I start to think about the situation and realized that our best shooters would be out of the game with their next foul. SO I wrote a note to the assistant coach, and called a parent on her cell phone to come out and get it. When she came out she told me that the other team was awarded 6 free shots. 2 for each technical, since we had more than 10 team fouls, and instead of the travel call, they called it a foul on us. The girl made 4 of the 6 and they went on to take a 10 point lead before the half ended.

The note I wrote to the assistant coach was a game plan to play a possesion offense subbing the two girls in foul trouble to be in the game only on offense. This worked because every possesion, we got to stop the action and sub in those two girls. Neither of them fouled out. However, we ended up losing the game by a point. I was pissed.

I waited in the parking lot until the game was over, and I spoke to the parents afterwards, and fortunately they were all in favor of what I did. In fact, several made comments of thank you for sticking up for the girls and the team.

The bottom line was that it still cost us our playoff shot, and I don't know where to go from here.
I want that mother fucker like no one else I have wanted before. I know, I have anger issues, but that mother fucker took away a shot for my girls something they have worked so hard for because he couldn't admit he was wrong. Now understand that they are PIAA officials. Some of these guys ref the at the Highschool level, and even the collegiate level. They are trained to do the right things. This is what makes it so frustrating for me.

Either way, its over now, and nothing I can do about it. I just can't wait fot the tournaments coming up. God I hope I run into that pric.

Anyway, I missed the opportunity to play Mike in our first round of Heads up matches for the HUC, but I'm sure we will get it done this week. I didn't play at all on sat or sun online, and missed defending my title of the brit blogger tourny on stars. Oh well.

Hopefull I can calm down a little today. I have our last game tonight against the only undeafeated team in the league so it means nothing for either of us. I just want the girls to play their hearts out and hopefully pull out an upset.