The Wake

So the ref blew a call. So what? The zebra turned his head and missed the illegal screen under the hoop. Big deal. Big deal!?

“The refs need to see both sides of the game. They can play physical, but we can’t play physical,” said former Minnesota Golden Gopher and current NBA player Bobby Jackson last April. “I’d rather have high school refs than NBA refs.” It comes as no surprise his comments came after the Sacramento Kings lost to the Utah Jazz that night. Hopefully, Jackson remembers to file the $7,500 “donation” in his tax return after the NBA fined him for those comments.

Moms, dads, Bob Knight, it doesn’t matter; freaking out over a tickey-tack foul is the most enjoyable and entertaining part of the game. Ever since Dr. James Naismith rigged a peach basket in the YMCA gym, there were probably a few players who took issue with his officiating, even though he did invent the game. Next to apple pie and baseball, ref-bashing finishes a close third as an American pastime.

Well, it’s a pastime, until it becomes criminal. A father in Pittsburgh body slammed a referee February 10. Why? The official had booted his wife for using four-letter language to criticize calls. It gets worse. In Wagoner, Okla., a 36-year-old coach choked a 15-year-old referee for blowing calls in a tee-ball game.

So if a tee-ball game breaks out into a Simpson’s episode and a basketball game breaks out into a steel-caged Wrestlemania match, what happens at the University of Minnesota’s Rec Center during intramural basketball?

“Bad language is a given, but the players aren’t going to fight,” said sophomore Greg Eubanks, an official for almost a year. “After being a referee, you appreciate what referees do.”

Eubanks represents a small minority of students who both officiate and participate in intramurals. For those who haven’t donned the referee shirt, the referees become an easy target. One intramural game featured a referee with little experience resulting in major backlash.

“This ref hasn’t blown his whistle once all half…once when I was under the hoop a player came across my arm and there wasn’t a call,” said freshman Kyle Berding as he emulated the infraction. “I’m not using him as an excuse for why we’re losing, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Junior Grant Boelter is the intramural equivalent to NBA officiating veterans like Jack Nies and Dick Bavetta. He has called 3-second violations and “over-the-backs” for four semesters. Boelter understands players’ sentiments and said he tells players why he made a questionable call.

“After talking to players, they are more receptive and understanding of why I make certain calls,” he said. “No one knows how hard refereeing is until you do it.”

Even during the most blatantly obvious transgressions, players instinctively gripe and shrug their shoulders trying to do their best “who me?” impersonations. While one game was in progress, basketball player Nick Dabruzzi, expressed his displeasure with the officials saying, “They’re not very good. I’m getting hammered all the time…they let it get too fast-paced and out of control.”

The intramural league is separated into an A, B and C divisions with the top players competing in the A bracket. No matter the level of play, referees’ pay starts at $7 an hour. In the A-division, competition reaches its pinnacle. Bodies crash into one another, curse words fly unabashedly and the refs get an earful.

Sophomore referee Jenny Lacourciere said she gets more disdain from players because of her sex. “Guys give me a harder time. I definitely get more dirty looks, but I just don’t let it get to me.”

“Sometimes I still hate refs, but at least now I see the other side,” she said.

What about the fact that it’s just an intramural game? Are these players overreacting?

“Well, it gets competitive,” said Berding. “[Our team] pays to play intramurals. If it was just pick-up games I would go out and have fun, but we are paying for these games.” Intramural basketball teams pay $90 to participate. “If I’m paying for these refs, I would like them to do a good job.”

And so it goes—a mutual finger-pointing from each camp: the players and the referees. Whoever is right or wrong doesn’t matter. Each semester referees return and players sign up for intramural hoops…until that first body slam.