Published on Thursday, December 6, 2007

Hoke Boys Basketball shows improved defense

Misunderstanding gets reporter booted out of game

Camcorder captures game action - but may have angered referee

by Tom McKinney

Midway through the second quarter it was shaping up to be the best Hoke basketball game yet this season. The score was close and Hoke's defensive play was much improved. But I did not get to see the rest of the game.

One of the game referees had me booted out of the basketball gym.

It was probably a simple misunderstanding. The referee did not explain his actions, but may have mistakenly thought I was an irate Terry Sanford parent.

The game had been delayed for several minutes earlier in the second quarter as the referees and scorekeeper seemed to become confused about the correct score. The confusion occurred after Terry Sanford had completed free throws following a Hoke technical foul. The scoreboard briefly indicated Terry Sanford leading 21-19. But half a minute later, the scoreboard was changed to 20-19, taking away one of Terry Sanford's points.

Except for one girl keeping scoring records for Terry Sanford, it was a group of Hoke kids that were working the scorers table and controlling the scoreboard. Not surprisingly, the Terry Sanford coach cried foul and tried to get an explanation for the change in score.

Was it some ruling related to the free throws? Or was it just confusion on the part of the referee or scorekeeper?

It was puzzling that the referee did not seem to want to explain the situation to the Terry Sanford coach. Maybe the referee was confused?

Later in the second quarter during a timeout, I went down to the scorers table, as I have done many other times, and asked why the point was removed. But I never got a chance to hear the answer. The referee yelled at me to get off the court. I immediately complied with his request and showed him my reporter's identification. My camcorder stayed in my right hand, aimed toward the referee, as I stood in the stands.

Perhaps the camcorder made him angry. Or maybe he was embarrassed about the confusion over the score. I'm not sure.

The referee suddenly called over to the Hoke coach and asked that I be removed. The coach quickly summoned law enforcement officers to escort me out of the gym.

On a positive note, the officers were very courteous and professional. In addition, Assistant Principal Baldwin, who spoke with me after the incident, was very understanding and professional.

Also, my wife, Sally, was very pleased to see me back home at an earlier hour.