The older I get, the better I used to be.
Memories from times past...

David tweaks Goliath.

High School boys varsity basketball, Edna H.S. (Tex.) vs. the visiting Gonzales. The ball is passed into Edna's big center in the low post. He turns, shoots, and scores. As the official in the lead position, I blow the whistle, wipe off the basket, and signal traveling. The Edna head coach goes ballistic. The identical situation occurs two, three, and four times during the game. The Edna coach is beside himself.

After the game, the coach enters the official's dressing room to complain about those specific calls. He learned to use that specific move for his low post players during a off season coach's clinic– a clinic taught by Guy Lewis.

Guy Lewis... “After serving in the Army Air Corps in World War II, Lewis played basketball at the University of Houston, graduating in 1947. He became an assistant coach at the school in 1953 and took over as head coach in 1956.

A colorful dresser who flourished a red and white towel on the sideline, Lewis remained at Houston through the 1985-86 season. The school had 27 straight winning seasons and 14 seasons with 20 or more wins during his tenure.

Lewis guided 14 teams into the NCAA tournament and 5 of them reached the final four. However, Houston lost both times it reached the championship game, to North Carolina State in 1983 and to Georgetown in 1984.

In his 30 seasons, Lewis had a 592-279 record for a .680 winning percentage. He is 20th on the all-time NCAA Division I victory list.”

Guy Lewis coached Elvin Hayes when they upset Lew Alcindor (Kareem) and John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins. Lewis also coached the infamous Phi Slama Jama teams with Clyde ‘The Glide’ Drexler and (H)Akeem Olajuwon.

The Edna coach and I parted with no resolution. That was the end of that... I thought.

A couple of weeks later the president of our Official’s Chapter brought the incident back to my attention. It seems the Edna coach sought proof of my error from the higher powers. The issue went all the way up to the head of the Southwest Official’s Association, Datson Lewis. (No relation to Guy.) I was told that my calls were correct and that Datson was going to get on Guy Lewis’ case for teaching an illegal move to the coaches attending his clinic.

Phew!

And to all those fans over the years that screamed about my blindness, ignorance, and my momma... Bite me!