I love this story about USC basketball student manager Stan Holt, who got a technical foul in a game at Oregon on Saturday and was subsequently fired.

Actually, love is the wrong word.  More like ‘“feel like bad memories have been dredged from a quarter century ago.”  But, for these purposes, love will do.

Well, I don’t love that the kid lost his job, but I can empathize — well, almost — with how he must have felt when the referee issued the team bench the ‘T’ on his behalf.

You see, this almost happened to me.  In high school.

I was the scorekeeper, manager, sometime public address announcer and other assorted duty-guy for the North Rockland (N.Y.) H.S. hoops team in the mid-80’s.  Let’s just say that I had a little more passion and a little less self-control in those days, and was not above making my displeasure with officials known, with not-so-subtle eye rolls, somewhat dramatic gestures and even verbal questioning being my preferred methods.

I remember once disagreeing with a non-call on what I was sure was a goaltend by the opposing team, I think it was at Mount Vernon, a traditional New York power, a team we normally bowed to by 30 points but somehow were staying close with.  Details are hazy on the exact situation, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach is quite clear when the referee came storming over to the scorers table, pounded his fist on my scorebook and said, “You, score the game!”

I was pretty sure that he was going to ‘T’ me up, which would have made for a nice story 25 years later but would not have gone over so well with the coach, I’m confident.  There were a couple of smaller incidents but nothing as nearly horrifying as that one.

I’m sure Stan Holt had that same feeling, just as the official was heading to the table, that I had back then.

Thanks for the memories, Stan…