Of All Things Possible...

As many times as I heard people ask me last weekend, “Has this ever happened before to Bronco football,” I’m not the official historian of all things Bronco football so my answer was, “Not the I am aware of.” Although some folks think I have been around forever and would have access to archived incidental information things like this just aren’t supposed to happen and rarely do.

Maybe you don’t have a clue as to what I am talking about. Well last Friday night, LRS was scheduled to play the Colfax Bulldogs. This was also Senior Night recognizing an extraordinary class of talented young men. The seniors were introduced along with their parents but the game, which would decide first place in the NE 2B League would not be played. For some odd reason referees were not scheduled for this particular game. So no one showed up and after several phone calls the answer was there were no officials available to ref the game that night.

Interestingly enough, Northwest Christian (NWC) and Springdale two teams that were winless had referees for their game, but the battle of the two undefeated teams was minus the striped shirts. Don’t misunderstand me on this, the NWC and Springdale game was extremely important to them and it would have been just as bad if they failed to show up in Springdale.

I am deeply disappointed for a number of people. There were family members that drove a lot of miles to recognize the seniors. This may have been the first game they’ve attended and they didn’t get to see those kids play.

I feel bad for the Colfax fans that had a long drive to follow and support their team. Over the past few years, I’ve had a chance to visit with a lot of these fans and I’ve found them to be very nice people who are very supportive of their team, as well as respectful of the players from the opposing team. Fans like that are welcome anywhere and especially here.

The Colfax coach is also very classy as he could very well have insisted that the game be played the next day when five Bronco starters were in Louisville, Ky, but like all great sportsmen he wanted to play the opponent when they are at full strength. Some coaches might have jumped at this opportunity for their benefit and for that the Colfax coach should be commended.

With all of the fans attending for one reason or another, this was going to be the biggest game of the season and it was all for naught. This also meant that concession sales were a little light as well.

Getting back to the question that I was asked about referees not showing up for a game, yes I saw it happen at a Lind Bulldog game in the late 90s. I wasn’t coaching at the time but I did help occasionally with the chain gang.

This particular afternoon Lind was going to play Wellpinit. It was a warm, sunny afternoon with no wind ideal for a high school football game. Except for one item, the referees were nowhere in sight. This was another scheduling snafu this time with Tri-Cities officials.

I’ll never forget what happened about 15 minutes after everyone heard that the referees were not going to be showing up. One of the Lind teachers that did not know me came running over to the chain gang and he asked, “Is Dale Anderson here?”

To which I answered, “No way am I going to referee this game. It would not be fair to the kids and for one of these teams it has playoff implications.”

I know the game of football, but one or two unsanctioned officials trying to ref a football game would not be right.

The game needed to be played because Wellpinit had traveled so far. The Lind AD called Ritzville and it just so happened that RHS was on the road that night and they told Lind that they could come up and play under the lights. They were even able to get referees for the game from the Spokane Association.

Wellpinit and Lind played that night in Ritzville and I believe that Lind was victorious on a very beautiful night for football. In the end it all worked out even though it was a bit embarrassing in the beginning.

I have heard some strange things over the years such as both teams traveling to the opponent’s place. I would also think that a referee problem might rear its ugly head in that instance. I would hope that with social media and texting problems like this would never occur again but who knows.

Of all things that might go wrong we always assume that the referees will arrive at the location of the game and it can be played.

Maybe now we’ll appreciate the referees more when they do show up.