Been awhile

Yes, it's been a bit. I took some time recovering from my Flyers depression. But now it's back to the ice. Did some officiating at a little kids tournament. Things went real well. This weekend it's an adult tournament. Adult leagues are quite different. Try and reason with a hot-headed 20-something or an over-the-hill 35-year-old who thinks they know it all. Not fun at all. But not everyone is like that. There are plenty of guys who play the sport for the right reason -- because it's actually a tremendous sport. So I am looking forward to this weekend. I will check in over the weekend to keep you posted.

July 4 holiday

Last Sunday I officiated a championship game at the squirt level. It was my first championship game and I will admit to being very nervous. Even in a spring season, a final game is a final game. I tried to be very focused and make all the right calls. I missed an offsides or two which is tough but being the lone official on the ice is just as tough. The game was a very good game. It was 2-2 late in the third period when I called one team for two penalties late in the period. It did lead to the other team scoring the winning goal but a penalty is a penalty. A lot of players for some reason believe that because a game is close at the end that the officials shouldn't make a call. Wrong. A penalty is a penalty no matter what the situation or point in the game. So stop all the screaming at the officials and talk to your kids about taking bad penalties. So now we have a break or two before the next season starts. I like the rest but I'm ready to get back out there.

Things were going fine when...

It was an uneventful weekend of referee duties ... that is until today. High school kids play 4-on-4 games where play virtually goes unstopped for 45 minutes. There are three periods naturally, but no penalties are called unless there is something major going on. Offside plays are called when they're obvious. But for the most part the intention is to keep the kids playing non-stop. It's a conditioning exercise for the most part. And all was fine. Until a second game this morning. One team was crushing another team -- I mean a 25-1 crushing. It was ugly. So the officials at that point just try to keep the game moving in order to end the ugly affair. Well, it only got ugly after the game when an irate parent went overboard and starting yelling and screaming and ranting and raving. When the explanations weren't sufficient, the parent -- a local attorney by the way -- decided to call the official -- me -- a "moron." Very classy act by the way. I suppose he thought he was in court. Geez, I hope not because he's not likely to win many cases calling the "judge" a moron. In any event, the man -- who also plays for a men's team and is terrible and a dirty player -- simply embarrassed himself anyway. People were staring. Some were actually laughing at him. I just looked him in the eye and thanked him...And people wonder why officials would like to see empty stadiums for kids to play their games? It's parents and fans like this that ruin it for everyone. That's OK. I'm sure he feels good about himself, that as an attorney he argued his point. Problem is he was definitely "out of order," or more likely out of his mind...

Silly comments

Turns out some bush league Chicago reporter asks one of the healthy-scratch Black Hawk players about Chris Pronger and basically the guy makes an idiot of himself by trashing Pronger. Now there are a couple of things wrong with this picture: the guy, who I refuse to identify because he's such an idiot, has never accumulated more than 9 points in any NHL season; he is trashing Pronger, a future Hall of Fame player; and he tosses this stuff out AFTER the finals are over thus eliminating the chance of Pronger ripping out the guy's tonsils. Well, there's always next year, that is, if the guy is even playing...And people trash Philly? C'mon, you'd never hear a Philly athlete trash someone like that.

Flyers lose

Oh well, what a great run. The Flyers were great in the overtime but it wasn't meant to be. Goalie Michael Leighton lost his starting job for next season with that soft goal in the OT. That shot from Patrick Kane never should have slid under him or past him. Well, I had the right score -- but the wrong winning team.

Unreal

The Flyers managed to tie the game at 3. Now we're headed to OT. The Flyers are not a good OT team but I'm not sure the Hawks are any better. Here we go...

Tonight's game

So far not so good. The defense is letting Leighton down again. Bad clears, bad passes, allowing the Hawks to be in front of the net. Leighton is actually playing very well. I still think at 10 p.m. that the team will pull it out.