Well, this could be interesting

I am a member of the Dillon officials group. When I started officiating here, there were some things I had to get used to. For starters, we only serviced four schools, as opposed to the 30 or so we covered back in Spokane. And there were other things: 8-man football on an 8-man field; minimal games during the week; eight guys in the pool instead of 70; and a familiarity that was a little too familiar for me.

Over the last three years some things have changed. I've adapted to the 8-man field. I've come to terms with not working every day of football season. The pool has moved away from what I perceived as being too chummy with the local coaches and developed a more professional attitude. I no longer feel totally out of place working a local game. And we've gotten to know each other better, so I'm no longer the new guy.

This season, one of our officials went out with a knee injury and is probably done for good. Another one of our guys works small college basketball, and has a preseason game this coming Friday. Hold that thought .....

Last Friday, while I was at convention, Sheridan played Twin. This is always a big rivalry game, but this year . . . well . . . let's just say that things got a little out of hand. By all reports, this was the worst they've ever been. Sheridan had two players go out with injuries. One fan was ejected. And a local paper supposedly wrote, "A Man of God called the Twin players 'a bunch of thugs,' and it got worse from there."

So, do you still have that thought I told you to hold onto? Good.

One man down. Two men unavailable. Seven men in the pool. One rookie. I've been assigned to the next Sheridan game. And we've adjusted the positions so that the rookie is in the middle and the guy who had Sheridan's sideline last week won't have them again this week. What all this means is that I'm the white hat for Friday's game.

This could be interesting.