One of the really great things about being a beginning high school referee is that the norm is the unusual. You learn lessons that — when you pass them along — cause the next crop of new guys to stare at you with that "I-gotta-hear-the-story-behind-that" expression.

Here's my new- guy lesson of the week: It's so apt, I've made it a heading. It concerns a game I worked several years ago when I was just starting out. If I'd had to do very many such games, I would have stopped "starting out."

Middle schools are trouble

When the home coach gives you a place to change, be skeptical. When it's the girls' coach, be very skeptical. If she offers to let you use the girls' locker room, that feeling you have is panic. Even if they then move you to the boys' locker room, don't let your guard down.

Continued...