Hey, Happy New Year to all who have wondered where I've been the past few weeks.
I was sort of retired as I had use or lose vacation days to burn. It was a nice time off and to be quite honest, well-needed.
While it's been nearly a month since I typed out this column, my working year ended and restarted in an oddly familiar way. And it's bothersome.
Right before I started my vacation, I took in a girls basketball game at Havre de Grace. I believe it was the season opener against Fallston. All I remember is this: somehow, the scoreboard didn't add up to what it should have.
Plenty of fans, in addition to me, were quickly aware of this, but the error, which occurred before halftime, was never corrected.
As I recall, Havre de Grace won the game 37-32, but Fallston, which was scrambling for the nearly impossible five-point play, really needed just three.
So, Monday night I slid over to Bel Air to see the Bobcats take on the Perry Hall Gators. It was like deja vu.
Bel Air carried a 17-11 lead into the half, but Perry Hall came out in quarter number three with two quick baskets by Catrina Cooper. I said two, right.
Those baskets cut the Bobcats' lead to 17-15 as shown on the numerous Bel Air gym scoreboards. Bel Air answered with a basket to go up 19-15 and that's when things got screwy.
Jazmine Hall nailed a three-point shot that clearly pulled the Gators to within a point, 19-18, but hold on. A look at the scoreboard revealed Bel Air 19, Perry Hall 16.
Numerous Perry Hall fans complained verbally, enough so to get their coach's and more importantly the referee's attention. A quick meeting at the scorebooks incredibly showed Cooper with just one basket in the quarter.
With both books agreeing, there was nothing anyone could do. Sadly, wrong was just wrong.
As a reporter and fan of sports in general, you hope that a problem like this doesn't affect the final outcome.
Perry Hall won the game by three, 40-37, so it didn't, but it's bigger than that.
Lots of games are played every week and I am at the games that I can get to. How ironic though, that this could happen in almost back-to-back games for me?
Here's another thought. Like I said, Cooper made two baskets in that quarter. I don't know her, nor do I know what grade she's in or anything else for that matter.
Here's my point: Let's hope, for her sake, that points aren't taken from her again in what's left of her high school career. Cooper actually scored six points in the game, but is credited with just four.
Won't it be a shame if some day in the future, Cooper's play ends and she's sitting on 998 career points?
I did that scorebook job as a senior in high school, way long ago. It's a serious job and in my day, there were a lot less distractions. Not exactly sure how and why this has occurred, but I certainly hope it doesn't happen again this season.