Mention of BasketCases in St. Paul Pioneer Press on Thursday
You gotta love Google Alerts. They tip you off to what is happening before you even see it. Because of said alert, I know that Charley Walters makes a mention of me in his column tomorrow (Thursday) morning in the St. Paul Pioneer Press because I received an e-mail about it tonight. Shooter (Charley Walters) is a great guy and good friends with Kenny Mauer who wrote the foreword for BasketCases. Speaking of Kenny, I believe Dan Barriero on KFAN laughed the loudest yesterday when I mentioned that you could send Kenny Mauer, Dick Bavetta and Joey Crawford (three of the top NBA referees) to a Burnsville youth tournament and there still would be parents saying the officials are terrible.
Here is a link to Shooter’s column on Thursday that mentions BasketCases:
http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_14422393?nclick_check=1
I have received numerous calls and e-mails about my radio appearances on Tuesday. Thanks to everyone who reached out to me. I wanted to share a kind e-mail from a fellow basketball official, Andy Louis from Faribault, MN, who I began talking with earlier this summer as he picked up a copy of BasketCases. Andy wrote:
“The interview on KFAN was excellent. I was able to listen to the whole thing (before my game). Two minutes into the varsity game one coach doesn’t agree with an out-of-bounds call. Instead of saying her piece and moving on, she disagreed for two minutes until my partner finally Td her up. Perfect example of what you said on KFAN. If you are a coach and disagree with a call, say your piece and move on. Most BasketCases cannot. Keep up the great work, Derek. You are a great ambassador to all officials dealing with BasketCases.”
Andy, a heartfelt thanks to very kind e-mail. Enjoy the rest of the season, my friend.
One other thing I want to mention. KFAN’s Dan Barriero asked me how I deal with people who question my calls. I said on the radio that my preferred method is to out think them, which usually leaves them tongue-tied. I had a great men’s league basketball game tonight. I think the scored was 90-88 in overtime (those games are usually in the 50s or 60s). But there was one question that came up late in the game. A player wanted a minor bump called as a foul. I had just called the same player for a hand check on the other end because with two hands he was preventing a player from proceeding on a direct route to the basket. When he questioned my call, I said “I agree with you that it was a minor bump, but there was no advantage and you weren’t going anywhere. On the other end, the guy had a clear path to Main Street. You were driving down Country Road G with nowhere to go.”
The player didn’t say anything after that. Have a good night, all.