Advantage Disadvantage (20 page)

While working a game at Cornell High School, the
visitor’s coach was riding Billy up and down the court. His team
was so undermanned compared to the home team he was transferring
his frustration with the inferiority of his players onto the
referees: a classic, but cowardly ploy by frayed coaches. As the
coach continued his on-going dialog in Billy’s ear, he stopped the
game while standing in front of the visitor’s bench.

“Do you have a coach who helps you with this team?”
Billy asked calmly.

“Yeah, the sophomore coach is my assistant for the
varsity team. What does that have to do with anything?” the
visiting coach asked.

“Well coach”, Billy chuckled, “You better warm him
up. You aren’t going to last too long the way you’re going.”

After the crowd stopped laughing, Billy regretted
what he said although it did shut down the loud mouth coach. Billy
thought back to the solid advice he received long before about
talking to the crowd – do not. He could lose his chance to go
downstate over something as dumb as his last interchange. It was
funny, yes, but do not trade a career for a moment.

On another night, Billy was working with a young,
inexperienced crew. The assigner often decided who would be in
charge of the crew (the referee or “R”) and who would be the
umpires (U1 & U2) for a given game. The referee conducted the
pre-game meetings, tossed the jump ball to start the game, and put
the ball in play to start each quarter. Despite many coach’s
misconception, the referee was not to override or pull rank on U1
or U2. In this particular game, a young up and coming referee was
the “R”. By mistake, the other umpire put the wrong free throw
shooter at the line for a one-and-one bonus. The player made the
first free throw, and then missed the second. A teammate of the
free throw shooter put the rebound back for two points. The
opposing coach called timeout. A player put the ball back in play.
After the throw in, a player travelled. The other team put the ball
back in play and a commotion occurred at the scorer’s table. Game
administration realized that they had erred in putting the wrong
free throw shooter at the line a couple plays back. The young
referee struggled to figure out what to do because using the wrong
player on a free throw was, by rule, a correctible error under
certain conditions. Billy waited and waited. When the young referee
reviewed how he was going to handle it by reversing the points and
getting the correct player to shoot the free throws, Billy spoke
up. “It’s true that this is a correctible error, but only if the
error is discovered before the second time the clock starts with a
live ball. We are well beyond that time restriction, therefore the
play stands and we resume from the point of interruption.”

Experience matters in officiating. Before Billy
spoke up, both coaches were arguing with the young referee. The
argument ended as soon as Rechter clearly stated the rule – game
on. Billy continued to display his vast knowledge of the rulebook
and gained notoriety among coaches and officials.

Under IIAA Bylaws, if a referee tossed a player or
coach out of game on technical fouls, the referee had to fill out
an incident report online. Most assignment chairpersons wanted to
see a copy of the report as well because they usually got a call
from an unhappy coach or AD. On the other hand, the state had a
sportsmanship award that any coach, AD or referee could submit when
something positive and notable happened.

During this season, Billy worked a game at Merrill
High School. The Varsity basketball coach there was a known raving
lunatic. Coach Peter Zach never rattled Billy. In their pregame
referee conference in the locker room, Billy warned his partners to
stay calm when Coach Zach hurled aggressive objections to their
calls.

It was a particularly close game and
uncharacteristically, Coach Zach left the referees alone and
focused on his team. He hardly raised his voice at anyone. He
ultimately lost a well-contested game by two excruciating points.
After Billy showered, he walked past Coach Zach on the way out. The
coach held out his fist and without either of them saying a word,
Billy gave the coach “fist” back. The coach’s quiet game time
demeanor was unusual for him, and high fiving the referee after a
loss seemed out of character for him to say the least. Billy went
online when he got home and wrote Coach Peter Zach up for a good
sportsmanship award and emailed it to the IIAA officials. On the
way to work the next day, Billy swung into the nearby Merrill High
School parking lot. He wanted to drop-off a copy of the good
sportsmanship nomination directly to the AD’s office.

“Rechter, what are you doing here?” the AD asked.
“Did you throw someone out of last night’s game?”

“No sir. I wrote someone up for IIAA’s Good
Sportsmanship Award,” replied Billy.

“From our school? You’re kidding me,” said the AD as
he shared a laugh with his secretary.

“It’s from the game last night. A close game, well
coached, hard fought by both teams. It is for Coach Peter Zach. He
left us alone, focused on his team and was classy enough to
acknowledge me in the parking lot even after a tough loss. It is
easy to be a good guy when you win, much tougher when you lose.
Coach Zach let us do our job without interference, while the
opposing coach begged and argued about each call.”

“Well, Billy. I am sure Peter will appreciate the
nomination, but there is a better explanation for his quiet
demeanor last night. Just for the record, this week Peter picked up
laryngitis
!”

The three of them laughed until their sides
hurt.

Chapter Thirty. Big Deception, Higher Ranking

Deep into Chicago’s winter, the team plowed through
the regular season with slushy parking lots and sometimes-harrowing
team bus rides to all points around the city and suburbs. Frank
Worrell’s reluctant successes continued in his daily columns, TV
shows and internet blogs. Advertisers looked forward to the rest of
Windy City Daily’s special sections for the basketball season:
Season End Summary, Conference Playoffs, State Playoffs and
All-Area Team Selection. Companies reserved space in each of these
publications and often sponsored the TV show as well. Revenue was
pouring into the newspaper’s coffers. Not all profits accrued
because of Frank Worrell, but certainly, a huge portion was due to
his prep coverage.

Just as Frank and Bobby G. suspected, East End High
School flew through their easy non-conference schedule. In
conference play, Coach Venturi’s team lost only two games in a
sensational season. East End failed to rank in the top twenty teams
until they won their first nine games. All of these provided wide
winning margins consistent with Bobby G.’s plans. Frank slowly
lifted East End into the Top Twenty. Bobby G. made a large profit
betting on East End. Gang treasurers who placed bets on other games
could not understand why Bobby G. never offered them action on East
End games. However, the bookie smartly kept them happy by tilting
other moneymaking games. When the team finally established
themselves in the rankings, but lost two conference games, Frank
punished them with a severe drop. Two steps up, one-step back.
Meanwhile, Bobby G. was building his war chest to move in for the
big kill.

Detective T.J. Battle was visible during many high
school games. Was he investigating something or just checking out
the progress of some of his grown up NAU players? Everyone knew
Frank Worrell from his prep TV coverage. The detective approached
Frank and told him he had heard many rumors about a gangland war
breaking out over sports betting. He was wondering if Frank had
heard anything.

“A half a million dollars for my expected cut is no
chump change,” Frank thought to himself. Therefore, he was nervous
to hear that the cops were investigating Bobby G. before the
Advantage / Disadvantage plan completed. Frank’s partner had to be
around to execute his end of the deal, at least long enough to pay
the sportswriter off.

“Nope, don’t know any bookies who take bets.”

“You know a guy named Bobby G., right? He is a
street agent, maybe involved in sports betting too.”

“I know him because he hangs around the summer
leagues sometimes,” Frank offered.

“He’s not a bad guy, but he’s not so good either.
Really, he seems unaffiliated with any gang. We are looking at
several other guys.”

“Yeah. I know he’s a little shady,” replied
Frank.

“Well, here’s my card and phone number. I know you
have your ear to the ground. If you come up with something I should
know, call me.”

“Yes, Detective Battle. I sure will.”

Frank was relieved that Bobby G. was not currently
involved in the gang wars that rearranged the balance of power and
money, and that he was not the focus of the Chicago Police
Department investigation. He needed Bobby G. to stay in business
and stay out of trouble for the rest of the high school season.

Toward the end of the season East End finally
received their due, more than their due, actually. They had a 21 -
2 win/loss record, but Frank knew that their pre-conference
schedule was chocked full of easy, non-competitive teams and their
conference was soft this year. The public was ready to believe in
the quality of East End’s basketball team. Frank ranked them second
in the final season’s poll, well ahead of much better teams. The
trap was set. Frank and Bobby G. had to pick the game to close in
on the kill.

Frank was finished with his contribution to the
Advantage/Disadvantage plan when the final season ranking issue
appeared on newsstands. He was exhausted from the long season but
he was on the brink of acquiring big money. He felt excited. He
called Nancy.

“Ronnie Edelman,” she said on the phone, “the
planetarium is open tonight. Get over here pronto.”

“I’m not in the mood tonight,” and he hung up the
phone. Now, he felt excited and liberated from the grips of
Nancy.

Chapter Thirty-one. The Regional System

The state administrator grouped high schools by size
and geography for each of the four classes in IIAA State Basketball
Playoffs, the original March Madness. Scott Venturi attended a
“seeding” meeting with the other sixteen coaches assigned to their
section. The higher the ranking, the easier games that team would
have played in the first few rounds. Some coaches legitimately
voted based on their perception of strength, but others lobbied
with their friends to inflate their rankings.

The highest ranked team played number sixteen,
second played fifteen, and so on. East End was clearly the best
team in this section and the coaches easily voted them into the
one-slot. However, the fix was in for Luella High School. With a
record of 8 wins and 17 losses, they somehow ended up seeded
fourth; high above three teams with winning records. The coaches
involved argued that Luella’s schedule was much tougher than the
three teams, but Scott understood what happened – the fix was in
big time. The friends of the Luella’s coach colluded to dishonestly
rank his team. Luella unfairly was able to win their regional title
because of this advantage. Eventually a better team beat them, but
the coach orchestrated two wins by politicking, not coaching and
talent. The Luella power play disgusted Scott. Was this the spirit
of amateur athletics?

East End would host the opening round for three
teams and themselves because they were the top seed in their own
regional. The athletic director appreciated this assignment because
for each game, the school would bring in over one thousand dollars
in net revenue after paying the referees, security personnel, and
scorers. Moreover, the home team usually dominated the crowd in the
playoffs and that could only help their team.

Bobby G. thought correctly that East End would
breeze through the early rounds. He was getting ready to pounce.
Frank had done an outstanding effort executing his responsibilities
of the Advantage / Disadvantage scheme. He purposely underestimated
East End early in the season, and inflated the team ranking to
number two in his season ending poll. Homers and gangbangers alike
were anxious to bet on East End, equally falling for the unearned
status. In the early rounds Bobby G. did not accept any bets on
East End although many homers tried to make back season losses. He
was patient. After East End captured the Regional Crown, Frank
published his State Playoff prediction column. Of course, he picked
East End to win the State Championship. This reinforced the setup
that he and Bobby G. worked so hard to cultivate.

“Frank, I told you we deserved a ranking at the
beginning of the season,” Coach Venturi said as the sportswriter
interviewed him after the Regional Championship.

“Coach, you were right. I am a little late getting
onboard, but I am with you now. Gotcha winning it all in tomorrow’s
column.”

“Finally, East End is getting our due props” Scott
said naively as he smiled.

“Perfect,” thought Frank, “let them be
overconfident. Bobby G. just has to pick the right game.”

Chapter Thirty-two. William Rechter’s Playoff
Assignments

During the last week of the regular season, the IIAA
posted online the assignments for each playoff game. Referees
pounded the website during that week as the IIAA slowly dripped out
the officials’ schedules for the Regional Games in each class.
Billy was not too concerned about the early round location
assignments. He was confident that he had a shot to go downstate
for one of the class’championships. Regionals were just warm-ups
for veterans like him.

At the end of the first week, Billy received his
sectional assignments. These games were more competitive and less
predictable. Conversely, the regionals weeded out the very weak
teams, but the sectionals were better games. When Billy came home
after working his sectional championship game he went online and
found that he was assigned to the Super Sectional at the United
Center (UC) in Chicago, “the house Michael Jordan built”.