If arenas are empty, you won’t believe who would miss having fans at games
If the coronavirus pandemic leads to games being played in empty arenas later this year, among the people that will wish the fans were there are … referees.
You read that correctly. And the more rabid the fan base, the more the referees will miss the derisive shouting, booing, jeering and cries for — wink, wink — justice.
“That’s part of the fun of it, people voicing their disapproval,” said Barry Mano, the founder and president of the National Association of Sports Officials. “We can handle all that. So, working in a vacuum is not a lot of fun.”
John Clougherty, a longtime referee in the Southeastern Conference and later supervisor of officials in the Atlantic Coast Conference, said referees are trained to work in charged atmospheres. The more electrified the better, he said.
“I just loved competitive games with fans being involved and everything is wired up,” he said. “That was part of the fun of it.”
Clougherty singled out the Kentucky-Arkansas games in the early 1990s as assignments he wanted. Arkansas came into the SEC with something to prove. Kentucky was the lord of the league manor appalled by the newcomer’s impertinence. Five of the first seven games featured both teams ranked in the top 10. Rupp Arena was, well, Rupp Arena, the fans’ total investment intensified by fouls not called on Arkansas’ signature “40 minutes of hell” style. Arkansas’ cozy Barnhill Arena steamed with irreverence (the pep band played the theme to the Godfather when then-UK coach Rick Pitino first appeared on the court; Pitino was not amused).
“Kentucky-Arkansas were the hardest games,” Clougherty said. “I thought I was born to do this. Those fans are going to be wacky tonight, and this environment is going to be so intense. And I’m going to enjoy this.
“And I think most officials feel that way.”
Clougherty worked four of those first seven UK-Arkansas league games.
Rather than a distraction, rabid fans lead to better officiating, Mano and Clougherty said. Mano likened officiating games featuring sensory overload to an astronaut dealing with an alarm signaling a malfunction. The referee and the astronaut have been trained to deal with nerve-wracking situations.
“You really feel as an official that you’re out there, that you’re immersed in this environment that’s not really happy with you,” he said. “Well, if you can thrive in that kind of environment, you end up being a damn good referee.”
Mano said that he advises referees to welcome the boos.
“You’ve got to love it when they boo,” he said. “And I mean it. I used to feel great when this whole audience was booing me. And in my mind, and under my breath, I’m saying, ‘I got this play right. Screw it.’ There’s something about that that’s attractive. So, you’ve got to be a bit of a contrarian, I think, to survive organized sports as a referee.”
By contrast, fan approval worried Mano. “I’m not out there to get your applause,” he said. “Thank you very much.”
When it’s deemed safe to attend games, Mano said he expects the fans to direct less abuse at referees … at least for a while.
“They’re going to be better behaved,” he said. “That will all go away. I get it. But I think for a while there’s going to be a honeymoon.”
How long will the honeymoon last?
“Probably two and a half weeks,” Mano said.
Will perpetually on-edge Kentucky fans be lovey-dovey for that long?
“At Kentucky, it’s going to be two and a half days,” Mano said. “In the normal world, probably two and a half weeks.”
Congratulations
To Nazr Mohammed. Kentucky announced Wednesday that he was graduating this spring with a degree in liberal arts.
Mohammed, who played on UK’s national championship teams in 1996 and 1998, became one of six former UK players to graduate this spring with the help of the Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Program. The program, which pays for tuition and books, has helped more than 160 former UK players return and get degrees, the school said. Those former athletes include Jodie Meeks and Randall Cobb.
Mohammed’s motivation to get a degree included a desire to combat a stereotype of athletes.
“The perception of athletes, especially guys who leave early, of not really caring about education isn’t indicative of the kind of person I am or how I feel about education,” he said in a news release.
Mohammed also said his degree would set a good example for his three children.
Mohammed left UK after his junior year 18 credit hours shy of a degree. He had an 18-year NBA career. Upon retiring in 2016, he began working in the front office of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Of his return to the classroom, he said, “Once I got into the swing of things, it was like riding a bike.”
In something he wrote for The Players’ Tribune, Mohammed said he already had an advanced degree. “A Ph.D in professional hoops,” he said.
“But that’s not enough. I have friends and ex-teammates who coach college basketball.
“Did you know that without a college degree, I couldn’t even get a job with an NCAA team? Can you believe that?
“Something needs to be done about that. Seriously.”
Traumatic experience
Last Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the shooting of students at Kent State. During a student protest of the expansion of the war in Vietnam into Cambodia, soldiers in the Ohio Army National Guard opened fire. There were 67 shots fired. Four students were killed. Nine others were injured.
At the time, Alabama Coach Nick Saban was a Kent State student and defensive back on the football team. He did not participate in the student protest. But he had a class with one of the students killed, Allison Krause.
In the lead-up to Alabama playing Kent State in 2016, Saban recalled what became known as the Kent State massacre.
“To that point in my life, one of the most traumatic experiences, I think, that I’d ever had to deal with,” Saban said. “Didn’t see it happen, but saw the aftermath right after it happened.
“It made me have a lot of appreciation for a lot of things. It actually made me appreciate the fact that law and order is very important. But it also made me appreciate the fact of what those students were trying to express in terms of the Vietnam War.”
Saban and Kent State crossed paths again in 1987. By then, he was defensive coordinator at Michigan State. His alma mater was looking to hire a new coach. Saban applied, but Kent State hired someone else.
“It was the first time I was ever excited about thinking that I would have a chance to be a head coach some day …,” Saban told the Record-Courier, the newspaper in Kent, Ohio. “‘You’re probably never going to be a head coach.’ That’s exactly what I thought.”
Going like 90
Paul Bimschleger, a past president of the Bluegrass Kiwanis Club, turns 90 on May 17.
When John Calipari became UK coach in 2009, Bimschleger invited him to speak to the club. To mark one of the new UK coach’s first public speaking appearances, Bimschleger arranged for Calipari to be named a Kentucky Colonel.
Happy birthday
To J.P. Blevins. He turned 41 on Friday. … To Heshimu Evans. He turned 45 on Friday. … To Jarrod Polson. He turned 29 on Friday. … To Jon Hood. He turned 29 on Saturday. … To former UConn coach Jim Calhoun. He turns 78 on Sunday (today). … To Keith Bogans. He turns 40 on Tuesday. … To Quade Green. He turns 22 on Tuesday. … To Kevin Grevey. He turns 67 on Tuesday. … To Nate Sestina. He turns 23 on Tuesday. … To former Missouri coach Kim Anderson. He turns 65 on Tuesday. … To Merion Haskins. He turns 65 on Wednesday.
