Hangin Out With Smeagol

I took my last final today. You know, I did really well of finals this year. If only I would stop forgetting to turn in really important assignments...
Ha, "It's not my fault, I forgot!" That was my excuse for everything growing up. Sometimes it was true.
Anyways, on the tests that I know about, I got an 88 and an 84. I tried so hard to get an A on either one!!! I seriously don't think I've gotten an A on a test since I last took a religion class. I'm just not meant for this school thing. Maybe I should just learn a trade, like welding or croquet.
Two blind dates this week. Both named Melissa. Coincidence? I think so...
So now I have all this time on my hands and nothing to do... I could pack or clean my car, but that'll get old real quick.
What I'm tryin to say, I guess, is "I think I'm ready for another adventure!"

Reflections of a Retired Official... Again!

Well, Tuesday marked my last day of work. I only had one hour, and I reffed the Division 3 men's championship where one of my former bishopric member's went home with a t-shirt.
And so it was... until Fall comes around.
Now we look back on the good times of the year... and then I say to myself, "Wow, I've already blogged so much about the funny/interesting/annoying stuff of officiating this year that I've got nothing else to say!"
Except this: Last Wednesday I had a full-blown reconciliation meeting with the guys who followed me home. I went with the intention of getting the meeting over with as soon as possible and delivering the message that I really held nothing against them for their one act of thoughtless impulsiveness. I let this be known pretty much right away in our little get together, but the fellow running the whole business (an old, mellow gentleman who gets paid to be old and mellow) had a much longer process in mind... a much longer and much more official process.
So the guys issued formal apologies, and very sincere I might add. At least, it felt sincere. I told them that I had much worse on my mission, and as long as they weren't Lakers fans, they were already forgiven. (They were from California, but they were not on the dark side... in fact they were anti-Jazz fans!) Whatever they did didn't matter anymore, except for the suspensions they have to fill come Fall semester. And now it's all over, and they will be ever more respectful and keep cooler heads during their games. We could use more players like them.
I've always thought that you can tell a lot about a man by his actions on the basketball court. Exercising self-control to the degree of keeping your temper and irrationality in check while still having a competitive edge is one of the highest degrees of self-mastery, in my opinion. That's why girls are so much more spiritual than guys. I mean, how often do you see one of them resort to absolute carnality in the heat of a basketball game?
You can quote me on that one.
Ultimately, this year with the stripes has been surprisingly rewarding. As much as I complain and share the stories of the bad ones, there were a whole lot of good ones who told us, "Hey, you guys did a good job." And we always did a good job. This growing multitude of generally good guys is joined by the losing team of the Division 3 championship (as well as the winning team, I reffed them about abigilion times and they rarely complained), and by my three new friends on Facebook, two of which were riding in a Blue Sedan a few weeks ago.

Warm fuzzies all around!!!

Win Much?

You know, if it wasn't for Crash Team Racing, my nephews, or games of 21 no-tips with Colin and Justin, I'd think I never win at anything!
Take a look at my fantasy team. I only lost twice during the regular season, and the second loss was because I didn't sub anyone in. Now here I am, ousted in the first round. For the record, I placed Kevin Durant at my number two draft pick because I had a feeling (that's higher than any player except Lebron James). I also made all the right moves during the regular season, acquiring Chris Anderson and Jamal Crawford, and holding onto a hurt Ginobli. Then I made all the wrong moves in the post-season, like not sticking with Roy Hibbert and Beno Udrih. And Baron Davis up and gets hurt too...
So brag all you want, Jonny Bravo. The game is all luck, and you got lucky.
Then my volleyball team for my volleyball class. We keep getting ahead, then choking away five or ten point leads. I think it's me. I am a virus. Whatever team I am on doesn't do well. I mean, look at my high school and intramural record! (My intramural record, between 4 seasons of basketball, 2 of football, 1 of soccer, and 1 of water polo, is about 5 wins and however many losses the rest of those games constitute... which is somewhere in the vicinity of 50). Oh yeah, add one loss for the one game of Ultimate I played on Ziggy's team.
Well, what can I say? You know the saying, "You win some, you lose some". In my case it would probably be, "You win some, but you lose a whole lot more than 'some' ".