ime flies on wings of lightening, it is said. Part I was dashed off in the wee hours of the morning while basking in the afterglow of a great tournament. But with the dawn came the demanding, impatient cry of all those tasks, large and small, that were put off during the season.

As I recall, I was waxing eloquent about the (mis)adventure that is church basketball. I boldly asserted that there was something in that experience that rivaled the joy of March Madness. If I have done my job properly, by now you’re convinced that I’m suffering from more than just March madness. But hopefully I also piqued your curiosity about what I could possibly be alluding to. Fear not, faithful reader: I shall quench your curiosity and maybe give you pause in the process.

The setup

For the past few years I have been helping out with my local church basketball league. I began by officiating some of their games. I was just an unskilled upstart having a bit of fun on a Thursday night, but that soon turned into an obsession with refereeing that will probably never end. When I finally got some training, I was asked to take the reins as supervisor of officials for the league. I still remember the interview with the league director:

Continued...