Thursday, March 11, 2010

The referee who openly cheers

Here's my column today -- a high-school story with a neat twist. The Monroe Redhawks, who were the victim of a terrible call in a football playoff game in November, now have a shot at winning a basketball 1A state championship with much the same cast (including the same coach, Johnny Sowell).

The official who made that call is openly cheering for Monroe to win the state title. As he told me in our interview: "I'm hoping like heck Monroe wins it all. I think it will help the school get over some of the misery that I caused them."

Now this official -- who didn't want his name used because he still fears angry reprisals due to his football error -- doesn't officiate basketball games. He's a football and lacrosse guy only. So no conspiracy theories, please.

This official is just watching from a distance, hoping Monroe's players get the chance to win the state title that they might have won in football (although then again, they might not have) had he correctly given them the touchdown that they earned.

Anyway, it was a cool story to work on, and I owe Observer deputy sports editor Harry Pickett one for suggesting it to me.

1 comment:

Magaldi said...

Would you give this a rest?! No offense to Monroe...I hate that a bad call was made, but it didn't cost them the game....it was made in the middle of the 3rd quarter, not the last play of the 4th....you've beaten the dead horse into glue already....