Moments in Santa Fe Basketball History - He just kept coming (2005)

[Mike DaRoza]

As soon as the final buzzer signaled the end to the emotionally charged district championship basketball game between Santa Fe and Union County, players, coaches, parents and fans rushed the floor.
Heck, even I was on the floor, right in the middle of it all – just like I’ve done many times before.
I’ve seen kids get into pushing matches, parents yelling at the referees and have even watched a thug being led outside in handcuffs because he was, like an idiot, brandishing a cap gun that looked like the real thing.
But, last Saturday night, though, was a little different to say the least.
Seconds after the crowd stormed the floor in celebration I got a strange feeling about a “conversation” going on between two individuals just a few feet away.
That’s when I realized that one of these individuals was a fellow sports writer from a competing newspaper, and the other was wearing his school colors and a crazed look in his eyes.
I couldn’t help sensing trouble by the way this person was advancing, pointing their finger and raising his voice with each passing syllable.
He just kept coming.
The sports writer, with a look of confusion in his eyes, kept trying to tell this person he was only trying to keep the peace.
It didn’t matter to this guy, who easily stood well over 6-feet tall, and strutted the chest of a weightlifter.
Suddenly, I remembered that this particular sports writer had undergone open-heart surgery in the last few years, so I stepped in between the two, hoping to bring a little “timeout” to what was becoming a heated confrontation – even if it was only burning from one side.
I told the guy, “Hey, this guy’s alright, he’s just doing his job.”
Unfortunately, this guy acted like I wasn’t even there.
The sports writer was persistent in trying to let this guy know with every reply that he was on his side.
It didn’t matter; the guy just kept coming.
“Look Bubba, if you don’t calm down, I’ll throw your butt out of here,” he growled.
The scene was eerily reminiscent of one of those old Sesame Street skits where you try to pick the one picture that doesn’t belong with the rest.
This guy seemed to be getting more and more angry, the more and more calm the sports writer tried to convey.
“I am calm,” the sports writer said as he turned and tried to disburse the mob again.
“Look son, you just better calm down,” he said over and over with tightly clinched lips and a glare in his eyes.
I actually couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing, it just didn’t fit.
Still standing between them, I somehow convinced this guy to finally walk away – at least I think so; I’m still uncertain about whether the guy even knew I was there, he was so intent on telling this sports writer to calm down.
Out of the 200 or so jubilant fans, parents, coaches and players, here was this guy, obsessively – and very forcefully – trying to calm down, of all people, one of the calmest people in the joint.
As scary as it was, it was really comical.
Then, the guy came back one more time, but not toward the other sports writer, but this time in my direction.
I figured this guy was now going to start in on me; after all, I was never really sure he even knew I was there in the first place, and let’s face it, I would have made a great target simply because I was, well…calm, too.
Except, what happened next easily removed anything that had seemed remotely funny out of the equation and turned it into one of the most preposterous situations I’ve encountered in a long, long time.
This guy didn’t come back to yell more, he came back to introduce himself.
But, not as a fan, parent or coach that simply wanted to apologize for momentarily letting the moment go to his head.
No, instead, he introduced himself as the Union County Superintendent of Schools.
Yikes...