New Stuff

So someone (a fuzzy someone who shall remain un-named) decided that she wanted a little snack (you'd think it would be the fat one), but this snack was of a plastic nature.  Anyway, the culprit sneaked into my ref bag and chewed up my finger whistle!  Right before my college game.  I found out this season that we refs have a system.  Things need to be just so or else we get all screwed up and can't call a decent game.  I buy almost all of my reffing stuff online, so I was in a pickle.  Where would I get a finger whistle in Columbus in two days?!?!

Well, there just happened to be a store in Columbus on the other side of town which has the BEST hours (note dripping sarcasm there).  They are open on weekdays from 10 am to 4:30 pm.  Four-fricking-thirty?!?!  Better than banker's hours.  So I leave work a little early to head over there before my game and pick up two whistles for $17.00!  I've learned my lesson: have a back up.

Since I left work earlier than anticipated to get there before the store closed, I had about 30 minutes to kill.  So what do I do?  I go to Dick's.  I always need sporting goods stuff.  Anyway, I had a Sports Authority coupon that was expiring soon and I know that some of their locations take competitor's coupons and the shirt I wanted is not carried by Sports authority, so I decided to give it a try.  I get to Dick's, grab my shirt, wander around a bit, and head to the register.  I ask about the coupon and they took it.  I got my shirt for $10.  By the way, it's a black Nike shirt for wearing under my stripes.  I definitely needed another one because I've been reffing almost every day and I don't have time to do laundry every few days and the shirt I had been wearing and re-wearing was getting too smelly.  I know I'm gross.

So new whistles and a new shirt for me!

First Week of Lacrosse... Done!

I had my first NCAA lacrosse game last week.  It was ridiculously cold, and it did not start off too well.  I finally bought a reversible striped jacket (My one purchase for the season - I got it on super sale for $25 compared to $60).  I used it for the first time on Wednesday and I hated it.  It's too big and I can't find my flag.  The cold weather did not help at all.  I couldn't feel my fingers or my toes.  I ended up having to wear gloves and all these changes results in a terrible first half.  I ended up not wearing the jacket for the second half and things went a lot better.  I made better calls, didn't fumble for my flag, and got my head into the game.

This past Saturday I had a college club play day, and that also went much better than Wednesday.  It rained constantly from the moment I got there until I left.  I had 4 games and was cold and wet by the end of the day.  The back of my right knee started bothering me at the beginning of my last game and hurt like a bitch on Sunday.  I'm definitely going to have to see my doctor again for this.  I know it's going to be an issue when I run my half marathon.  I think I did really well on Saturday.  I was making big calls, stepping up, and taking the lead when paired with lesser experienced officials.  I'm glad I'm getting this practice in before the high school season starts.  I've got some scrimmages over the next two weeks, but I'm ready for them.

All in all, not bad for the first week of the season.  I earned a pretty nice paycheck for the two days, so I can't really complain.  Now to reconcile that I definitely won't have time to get to the gym for the next two months.