INDIANAPOLIS — The 4th Annual Manual Extravaganza was held over at Manual High School on the south side on Saturday and it was a great success. There was some great high school basketball with teams from as far west as East St. Louis and as far south as Chattanooga, Tennessee. The media, fans and college coaches saw some straight up hoopers in the process. Did I mention that the joint was packed? Well it was.
Everything was going smoothly until the referees working the East St. Louis vs. Warren Central game failed to do their jobs. They almost put EVERYBODY in the building in danger!!! At the 7:02 mark of the fourth quarter East St. Louis head coach, Mark Chambers, said something slick to Warren Central head coach, Criss Beyers as both were in front of the scores table.
The East St. Louis team thought that they were at the crib or something and the entire team jumped up. Well…I guess they didn’t understand that they were playing a team from the FAR EAST SIDE. When they saw East St. Louis boot up they booted up. For y’all that don’t understand that terminology, they all got up to make sure their coach wasn’t going down alone.
And guess what playa, when the kids got up everybody affiliated with those kids got up on both side got up. So now it’s about to be an all out riot in the gymnasium. Luckily cooler heads prevailed with the help of Indianapolis’ Finest.
But let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! That ENTIRE near miss was the referee’s fault because they failed to handle the situation before it popped off. I’ve always said that being from the hood is the best place in the world to be from because if you can survive there you can survive ANYWHERE. Situations don’t just pop off bruh! They brew first then they explode.
As I’m covering the game, taking notes, pictures and literally watching the game. The entire situation is getting out of hand. Mark Chambers (ESTL) was talking sideways to the refs the whole game. I kept saying that at some point he’s going to get a technical foul because he’s giving it to the refs. He’s outside of the coaching box and he’s getting his team fired up too. I told the other media cats that I’m just waiting on him to literally reach into his back pocket and pull his darn underwear off and throw them across the floor he was so out of control. The refs did absolutely nothing to chill him out.
Keep in mind that I grew up in G.I. and I know what the brew looks like and it’s brewing. Unfortunately, the refs working the game don’t know what it looks or smells like. Now the kids from East St. Louis are fired up because their coach is fired up they start shoving Warren kids while in the act of shooting and rebounding. The refs do absolutely nothing!!! Now both teams are on edge and it brewing not only on the sideline but on the floor and in the stands.
Again, I say to my guys in the media, this joint is about to pop if the refs don’t get control of it. They never tech Chambers, they never tell him to sit down. He’s on full blast by the time we get to the 7:02 mark. Then it explodes. Sure, it worked out that nobody threw a punch and the game continued but that situation could have gone from 0 to 120mph with some serious injuries up to and including the very worse. Why? Because the refs failed to do their jobs.
Part of being a referee is understanding the environment that you’re in. You’ve got two schools with hood roots and everybody affiliated with them like mommas, daddies, uncles, aunts, friends etc. Fortunately and unfortunately, everybody’s all in for what belongs to them. So in the heat of the game tempers flair and nobody’s thinking about the consequences of their foolish actions until it’s too late. That’s why the refs have to understand who and what they’re dealing with.
Tech the East St. Louis coach in the first quarter and if he keeps talking slick eject him. Now you’ve got complete control of the rest of the coaches, players and fans. But when you let a dun keep talking crazy, it’s brewing and you have no idea that it’s about to explode. You don’t need to be a referee in this type of environment if you can’t understand what’s going on around you. Those three officials shouldn’t work another game until they’ve been properly trained because that situation could have ended badly for EVERYBODY in the gym on Saturday. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) G.I.: noun – Gary, Indiana
3) Boot Up: verb – to prepare to fight or defend yourself