Semi-Pro Hockey Game Delayed After A Ref Forgot To Bring His Pants To The Rink
BBC - It was not quite that bad for ice hockey referee Richard Belfitt, but he left his officiating trousers at home, leading to Sunday's National League game between Peterborough Phantoms and Telford Tigers being delayed.
Face-off eventually took place 15 minutes late after he dashed off to get some appropriate bottoms, but not before some gentle mickey-taking from the crowd and on social media.
Every once in a while you see these stories and you quickly realize that not only is Semi-Pro starring Will Ferrell and incredibly underrated movie, but it is incredibly accurate as well. The world of semi-professional sports is essentially just a lawless wasteland. You've got owners who are players, you've got refs that are the local priest, and you've got players getting traded for washing machines.
Which is why I'm actually pretty surprised this ref even decided to go back home to get his pants to ref the game. I feel like if you're reffing a semi-pro hockey game, you only get in the car twice. You get in to drive to the rink and then you get in to drive home. The moment he got back in the car to drive home, I'd set the chances of him actually going back to the rink at 10% max. If I'm the ref at that point, I just say fuck it and ref the game in your jeans. What's the worst that's going to happen? Just stay behind the play and you won't have to worry about catching a clapper off the shins.
And you know that had to have been a big time "mother fucker" drive back home for the ref. He was probably cursing his wife the whole way back to his home even though she's constantly asking him if he's remembering everything before he leaves. So at that point, not only is he pissed that he forgot his pants but he also knows he can't let her find out because then he'll never hear the end of it. Life is just miserable for this poor zebra and nobody would blame him if he decided to crack open a beer, hop on the couch and tell the other 3 refs to just figure it out on their own. So credit to this ref for being a hero and showing back up to the rink. It's hard enough trying to imagine the life of a semi-pro athlete, I can't even begin to imagine what the life of a semi-pro ref is like.