Went last night to a high school boys basketball game at the school where Keri teaches. After the game I ran into Karen, who is a retired math teacher but still keeps the books at some of the games. It reminded me of all the time I spent working at the "table." It started when I was in high school. I was on the junior varsity and the varsity was at a regional tournament so we JV players were assigned to work a tournament of smaller schools because we had a large gym. I volunteered to run the scoreboard and that's where I got my start.
When I went to Casper to teach, the guy who ran the scoreboard at NCHS (Dick Cheney's alma mater) for over 20 years was being transferred. I said I would do it. This was a time when there was only boys basketball. I was the sophomore basketball coach at the time so I was always there for the games anyway. I decided I didn't like coaching BB so I just ran the scoreboard for the next five or six years until I started refereeing high school BB.
When Casper opened the new Events Center, they got a Continental Basketball Association-CBA-franchise. This was minor league professional BB. Ironically the coach at Great Falls was George Karl, who is the current Denver Nuggets coach, and the Albany coach was Phil Jackson, who is the present Lakers coach. The first year I got paid but the second year I got two season tickets, could park in the VIP lot behind the Events Center, and could eat at halftime in the VIP lounge. Not a bad deal. My daughter still remembers the section, row, and seat numbers. It was interesting to watch two elementary kids kick adults out of their seats. I used to take the kids to give Kathy some rest.
Soon after that the Casper Chamber of Commerce, featuring the U of Wyoming Cowboys, started a two-day holiday tournament called the Cowboy Shootout. I ran the scoreboard for its duration. It was the week between Christmas and New Year's. They brought in some great teams such as Ohio State, Penn State, Baylor, Gonzaga, etc. Then the University took it over, moved it to a one-day event the second weekend in December when everyone was worried about shopping, Christmas parties, etc., and no one was that interested in BB. They did switch it so the UW women played the first game and the men the second. I didn't mind that so much but the crowds began to decrease. The last sellout (around 9,000) was when Bobby Knight brought his Texas Tech team, along with the highly ranked Texas Tech women, to Casper. I didn't have any problem getting rid of my seats that year. This year the University dropped the Shootout so I guess it was a good for me to move.
The Events Center also got the state basketball tournaments and will probably have them forever with Casper's central location although the University is trying to bid for them. The first year we held state, I trained all the scoreboard operators. This isn't to say some of them didn't have troubles. I used to get calls at school to come and help out with some problems some were having. I think I spent more time at the Events Center than I did at school during the tournament. Finally we has some experienced crews but I was retired by that time and just went skiing when I wasn't working.
Besides working the professional CBA games I also worked a couple of preseason NBA games. The Nuggets played the Utah Jazz several years ago in Casper. Not too long ago I worked the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) and the Phoenix Suns. I still have my "All Access" pass somewhere but I didn't try to go in either locker room.
Some of my most enjoyable times were when I worked the Harlem Globetrotters games. One year I was able to get enough free tickets that we made that part of my son's birthday party. The boys loved seeing the Globetrotters.
Obviously I had great times running the scoreboard but now I just enjoy sitting in the stands and disagreeing with the refs. Life is good.