A hostile takeover of my unconscious thoughts.

I have found myself doing unprovoked ten-second counts at random times throughout the day. I also cannot stand by a mirror for more than a few seconds without busting out my "hit" or "hold" mechanic.

This is extremely annoying to Annette.

My first four games of the season are wrapped up. The first two were sophomore girls, the next two sophomore boys. The first game was solid. The second was a lot more sloppy and more difficult to officiate. But, that was no excuse for the brief circus act I did in the form of an inadvertent whistle.

It really wasn't "inadvertent" per se. It's just that by the time I blew it, the foul I was going to call could not be called. A white team player was pushed in the back before the shot, but she quickly made an uncontested layup. Cue Devon, standing there with his hand in the air like an idiot.

I quickly waved play on while trying to explain that the whistle didn't mean anything. I resolved that next time I have a stupid whistle like that (hopefully never) I'll just run out to my partner and pretend like I'm discussing something important, then return to put the ball in play with everyone thinking I was just double checking something valid.

My first boys game started a little sloppy but the second half cleaned up quite a bit. My partner gave a well-deserved technical to the home coach. That meant it was my job to give him a second one if necessary. It looks bad if one referee dishes them both out. He behaved for the rest of the game, though, and I didn't have to.

The second boys game was pretty good. There were a couple of calls that I could have called differently. Not that they weren't fouls but they didn't HAVE to be fouls.

For example, a player pulls down a rebound, gets a hard bump and loses the ball out of bounds. A foul? Yes. But, it's just as easy to blow the whistle and just give him the ball back out of bounds. That's what an evaluator would tell me to do. It saves time, saves a defensive player a cheap foul, and game flow improves.

There was one other call I would like to see a replay of. I gave free throws to a home-team player who I really thought took a good hit from a defender after releasing a three-point attempt. The visiting-team coach was incensed and was sure it was a flop. In retrospect I probably should've held the whistle. But, if that's the worst I did then I can live with it.

My next three games are all JVs - two boys and one girls. One of the boys is a pretty big 5A/4A matchup so it will be a good test of where I'm at early in my second season.