The season has begun!!

I worked my first football game of the season last night, and boy was it fun. Both teams played well and the game went right down to the wire. The final score was 19-22 with the home team losing. I'm always glad to finish a game in which we as officials didn't have a say in the outcome of the game. I do have to say that I did not come away unscathed.

Late in the 1st quarter I was leveled by a linebacker. I was knocked down and for a minute I was worried I might be hurt, but I was able to get up and walk it off. Then midway through the 2nd quarter I side-stepped the running back and he went running by me, as he went a defensive player tried to grab at his feet, while attempting the tackle he swept my feet out from under me and I landed on him. I think he would have been happier if had tackled the runner and not me. Once again I wasn't too hurt, except for my pride.

This morning when I woke up I definitely felt like I had been knocked down. I'm usually a bit sore after working a game, but today I have aches in places that don't normally hurt, my back and my chest. That is the joy of officiating football, and just in case you wanted to know, Advil works better on those aches and pains than Tylenol. Hopefully I'm not too sore when I go work the Dixie College scrimmage in a little bit, if I get hit by those guys, I'll need more than Advil to feel better.

Our officiating association showed this video at one of our recent meetings and I thought it was pretty funny, so I figured why not share. This is why I don't like working on the sidelines, coaches yelling at me does bothers me because I don't get this kind of training at home.

Football Referee's patience @ Yahoo! Video