Dear Mother

A referee doesn't often get a chance to get even with someone in the crowd who is quite loud and does everything under the sun to get a rise out of you. As a good official knows the the last thing you need is to have "rabbit ears". That is when a referee hears everything that is said to him by the crowd and lets it affect his calls. This was not the case with me. I did not let the noise of the crowd bother me except one time. I was working a Division I college game in northern Penna. the visitors were from New York and they were having their way with the home team. During the course of the game there was a gentleman who had a very large drum and was using it to get his message accross that he was not happy with the way the game was going and it was my fault.Everytime I made a call against the local team he would "sound off" on the drum with a chant that was directed to me - "Get the Ref a Toupe" - "Get the Ref a Toupe" and so on. Over and over he would pound the drum and shout at the top of his lungs. I now believe that there is justice in the world because during the second half of the ball game with his team behind thirty-five points he decided that he needed to go to the concession stand. I could only image that his throat had been dry with all that chanting. I really hadn't paid any attention to him leaving but I really noticed him on his way back to the stands. I was working the sideline when all of a sudden there was an intercepted pass that caused me to make a quick turn around and shift gears so I could get ahead of the play. As I turned I saw " The Little Drummer Boy" walking up the sideline with an extra large bag of popcorn and a tall cup of iced filled coke.He was talking to the crowd and never saw me coming.............