THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: TALES FROM THE ROAD — Irate fans, stumbling players, fire alarms and more

Bill Bopp of Sandpoint reffed basketball for 37 years before retiring in 2021. 

He recalled working a state boys basketball tournament game many years ago. It was a 1A game — either Division I or Division II, at the time. 

"It started off with a foul about five seconds into the game,” Bopp recalled. “We ended up with about 80 fouls, so it was the longest game I think I’ve ever been in in my life. (The other official) was on the baseline and said, ‘We’d like to eat dinner tonight.’ 

“You know how the 1As are?” Bopp continued. “The whole town comes; it’s like ‘Hoosiers.’ These two teams are playing and I made this call, and the crowd’s going nuts.  

“And we’re shooting free throws, and this little guard comes up to me, I’m the trail official then, watching the free-throw shooter, and this kid goes, ‘That was the right call, ref.’ And I said, ‘Well, tell your crowd that. They’ve been on me the whole game.’  

“He turned and said, ‘Hey, that was the right call. Give him a break.’ They all stopped yelling, and they just sat down. And it was probably 60 or 70 people. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” 

IF A ref is good at defusing a situation, the better for them. 

“Billy has the best knack in the world for that," longtime football and basketball official Paul Manzardo said, years ago. “He is awesome at defusing situations. He would be an unbelievable mediator, if he wanted to get out of delivering beer. He would be a great consultant for a business firm if they wanted him.” 

For a time, Bopp represented the North Idaho Officials Association during negotiations with schools and the Idaho High School Activities Association. 

“Bill, he’s just a good people person,” Manzardo said. “And I think all of us learn some stuff from Bill, like not sweat the small stuff.” 

ONE YEAR Manzardo was working a state girls basketball semifinal game, at Mountain View High in Meridian, in mid-February. 

"I had the 6 o’clock game, and Jeff Ward (a longtime ref from Sandpoint) had the game right after me,” Manzardo recalled. 

“We get ready to do our game, and all of a sudden the smoke detectors go off. They had a fire in the concession stand area. 

“So we’re outside this whole time, a huge delay. I don’t think that 6 o’clock game got done until 9:30, 10 o’clock at night. We had to give ‘em time to warm up (after the delay). Jeff’s game started really late, 9:30 or 10.” 

At least the game was in southern Idaho. 

“The people were good about it,” Manzardo said. “I was glad it was in Boise, because it was a little warmer than it would have been in Coeur d’Alene (in mid-February).” 

DAN MALCOLM recalled working with Dave Corbeill and Jim Kravik, officiating a football game between Plummer and Clark Fork many years ago. 

How many years ago? 

Not sure, but there hasn’t been a Plummer High football team in more than three decades, since Plummer and Worley high schools combined to form Lakeside High in the early 1990s. 

Anyway ... 

"They were supposed to be really good teams, and it was going to be a really tough ballgame,” Malcolm said. “So they wanted to play the game at Sandpoint’s football field (Memorial Field) so they could play it at night.  

"We had the coin toss, and they each ran to their side of the field, and then here comes the guys from Clark Fork, they make this big circle in front of the Plummer bench, and they’re pointing at them, ‘We’re No. 1. We’re No. 1’.” 

Then the Wampus Cat players turned to run back toward the center of the field. 

"Here come the first two guys, and then the next two guys trip on top of them … they all ended up in a pile,” Malcolm said. “I think there was only two out of the whole bunch that didn’t hit the pile, because they were looking at those mean guys from Plummer — ‘We’re No. 1. We’re No. 1,’ and then they circled back to their side of the field. And the first couple guys got their feet tangled, and the rest landed on top of them.” 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.