Hitting a Ref Can Really Make Your Weekend

Spent the weekend with the worst migraine I've had in about 5 years. Went to the wrestles anyway. I wasn't going to miss wrestling just because of a headache.

They put me on a scoring table and I spent the time getting to do what every wrestler in America would like to do but can't...Hit a Ref.

I was the "towel runner". For the uninitiated, the officials in wrestling have WAY too much to be watching to keep an eye on the clock. You can't just use a buzzer because at a large tournament there can be as many as eight to twelve mats going at the same time and buzzers would be impossible to differentiate as to which buzzer went with which mat. It's tough enough with just the officials whistle (My career as a wrestler came to an abrupt and tragic end due to mat-whistle confusion...Long story, I'll tell it another day). Since the official can't be looking at the clock all the time, they send a runner onto the mat to count down the final 5 seconds of each two minute round, and then hit the ref with a towel or foam pad in case the crowd yelling drowns out the countdown.

It is a really fun job and hitting the refs is only one of the perks; Mat side seating being another. The only problem is that my eyes really aren't good enough for me to be doing it as I could barely see the large time clock on the wall. I got really nervous when the action took to the far side of the mat because the further they got from the clock, the tougher it was for me to be accurate. I got really good at pacing the seconds down from :15 when I would leave the scorers table and just count it off in case I lost focus on the clock.

No one screamed at me, so I'm assuming that I didn't cost anyone a match. My nephew wrestled pretty well, winning two matches and then losing in the finals. The picture is from his first match on Friday night.

The other picture is from my hey-day, because no one; and I mean NO ONE who did not know me in high school believes that I was a 135 lb senior. Or that I did indeed once have hair. And good eyesight....Crap! I went downhill in a hurry.

If nothing else it will explain to the doubters why someone as awesome as the Boss would continue to put up with me. I was a handsome lad, once. After the Resurrection, I may be again.