Tom Simpson officiated high school basketball games for 50 years. The Rushville native received applause before his final game on Friday.
If not for Bill Gray’s officiating class, who knows how many – if any – high school basketball games Tom Simpson would have refereed over the years.
That 50-year journey as a high school basketball official, which started even longer ago as a high school student, ended for Simpson in the first round of the Shenandoah holiday tournament on Friday. It was on the 73-year-old’s own terms, though two knee replacement surgeries and an impending trip to Sebring, Fla., with wife Anita may have hastened the decision a bit.
It was a full circle moment for Simpson, who was first introduced to officiating by Bill Gray, his high school history teacher at Rushville. The final game as a referee was won by Rushville, 43-41, over Waldron. He worked the game with one of his longtime partners, Brian Humphrey, who alerted Shenandoah athletic director Todd Salkoski before the game it was Simpson’s final time to wear the stripes.
The announcement before the game brought with it some emotions.
“It did because, one, I got to work my last game with Brian,” Simpson said. “And two, I had my home school.”
Simpson started out working elementary games in Rush County as a high school student. It was not until a few years later, in 1975, when Simpson started refereeing high school games. His first assignment was a junior varsity game at Carmel, a 150-mile round trip from his home in Connersville at the time.
“The game went triple overtime,” Simpson said. “And my game check was $10.”
It was hardly a winning proposition financially, even from that first game. But it never was about that for Simpson, who is also a state finals cross country and track and field official – and will continue to work in those sports.
“He’s calm and professional,” said Humphrey, who is in his 39th year as an official and worked with Simpson for about 20 years. “If anybody said anything bad about Tom Simpson, they are either lying or don’t know him. He’s an excellent official. He’s so calm and fluid out there, we rarely ran into any problems.”
Simpson said he wished he could have officiated a game at the Wigwam in Anderson before it closed. But he counts New Castle Fieldhouse and the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown among his favorite places to officiate.
“I always did enjoy Rising Sun, too,” he said. “They have a small lobby that you walk into and then go into the gymnasium. The lobby always has Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip cookies.”
One of Simpson’s favorite officiating stories did not actually involve him, personally. He was working a game with Larry Sintz, a longtime official from Brookville, one night at East Central. The coach forgot to put a name in the book, resulting in an administrative technical at the start of the game. That fact was unknown to the band director, who was familiar with Sintz and asked him if he needed anything.
“Larry said, ‘Please play my favorite song,’” Simpson remembered.
His favorite song: “Rocky Top.” Sintz joked – or at least the band director thought it was a joke – that he would assess a technical foul if they did not play the song, which they did not have the music for.
“After the national anthem and player introductions, Larry assesses the technical foul,” Simpson said. “The band director’s eyes were about as big as a basketball.”
When the officials came back up for the second half, the band director and another guy were playing “Rocky Top.”
Simpson said his two most common partners over the years were Humphrey and Roger Marley. “I always enjoyed going to a game anywhere that might be a chit-chatting about things,” he said. “Things we could have done better or what we did well.”
The one thing he always tried to keep in mind: The job is about the kids. He admits the last eight or 10 years have been more difficult because of some of the things he hears from the people in the bleachers, not necessarily on the court.
“The bottom line is it’s about the boys or girls out there playing,” said Simpson, who worked regional games multiple times. “That’s why we’re out there.”
Simpson said he would encourage younger officials starting out to seek out a mentor and join an association. Also, ask questions and learn as much as possible.
“My first couple years, I was scared to death,” he said. “Then I kind of grew into it. I always tried to be a student of the rules. I didn’t want somebody to tell me something because I didn’t know the rules.”
Not every official gets an ovation before his final game. He can thank Humphrey and Salkoski for acknowledging the moment – and fans from Waldron and Rushville for standing and applauding the achievement of 50 years.
“I met some wonderful people,” Simpson said. “It’s just time to leave. I’ve enjoyed it and had a great time. I wanted to be able to leave on my terms and not have somebody tell me, ‘You should have quit five years ago.’”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: High school basketball official referees final high school game after 50 years
Category: General Sports
