Advantage Disadvantage (21 page)

The new United Center opened in 1994 to accommodate
the trend and necessity of selling skybox suites. The old Chicago
Stadium had three levels with obstructed views. The crowd noise was
deafening. The singer who used to belt out the national anthem held
on to the last phrase to wildly enthusiastic crowds at Bulls and
Blackhawk games. Many think the old Chicago Stadium was the most
intimidating place to be for visiting basketball or hockey players.
The new United Center was bowled- out with no obstructed view and
better acoustics (for concerts). However, it was very quiet
compared to the “old barn”. The suites were awesome; it was
cleaner, and well laid-out. However, old timers missed the original
Chicago Stadium, once located across the street from the United
Center, now serving as a parking lot.

It was exciting to play at the UC for the teams that
qualified to play in the Super-Sectional games. Game management
assigned teams to use either the hockey locker rooms, blood stained
carpets and all, or the Bulls’ actual facility. Most high school
gym floors were laid on top of cement or asphalt foundations.
Because the Blackhawks shared the facility with the Bulls, the
basketball floor consisted of snap-together pallets, which took
about forty-five minutes to assemble on top of the ice. If a player
alighted from the inside of a pallet, he felt like he was jumping
on a trampoline. The edges of each pallet were dead spots. Despite
this peculiarity, high school teams, which made it here, were
playing in one of the best arenas in the country.

During the early part of the sectionals, selections
came out for the State Finals. Billy drew a blank. He checked, and
checked again, but IIAA did not list him to go downstate. Billy
struggled with whether he should call the state office to find out
why they were not using him for the final games. Yet, he did not
want to ruin next year’s chances. He earned his appointment to
state clinician and game observer, which normally lead to the
finals, but this year, no dice for him. Finally, his ego got the
best of him and he called the state’s director of basketball
officials. The secretary always liked Billy, and when he asked to
talk to the director, she asked, “Are you trying to understand why
you are not going downstate this year?”

“Shirley, you know me too well,” responded
Billy.

“Suddenly, toward the end of the season, the
director received a couple of calls complaining about your
officiating – just before the assignments were made. Billy, who’d
you piss off?” she asked.

“These calls were from coaches?”

“Yep, I’m afraid so. Maybe next year will be your
year” she consoled.

Billy was disappointed but not distraught. He had to
get over his disappointment but he remained confused. He reasoned
that maybe his wisecrack to the coach about warming up his
assistant was costly. However, he would never find out that Bobby
G. had him pulled from the assignment because Billy showed him no
respect when the bookie tried to recruit him for the Advantage /
Disadvantage Plan.

The regionals and sectionals went by quickly without
incident for Billy’s assignments. He taught the new-to-the-playoffs
officials a few subtle things that others had passed on to him. His
pregame referee meetings were by the book, covering as the state
prescribed, positioning, last second shots, block/charge, technical
foul administration if necessary, and periphery details such as
when all officials should remove their jackets during player
introductions. He was good for the game, and should have gone to
state.

Billy parked his car at the United Center’s employee
and press lot. He felt a sense of history as he pulled in prior to
the venue of the Super-Sectional game. Famous folk heroes such as
the players on the Bull’s six championship teams used this very
space and Frank was walking in their footprints. At the end of the
lot, there was the famous, bronze statue of the Michael Jordan
flying through the air. Early arrivals of high school basketball
enthusiasts were snapping pictures in front of MJ’s statute. Billy
noticed that Frank Worrell was interviewing some of the kids near
the monument. He waved to Frank, and proceeded inside.

They treated the referees like rock stars. Two
escorts took him to the IIAA game suite. Billy greeted the state
executive team; he knew most of them from the clinics he attended
to become a state interpreter and clinician. Billy was careful to
avoid the well-stocked skybox goodies that others were enjoying –
he had work to do. When Billy’s two partners arrived, they asked
the state escort to take them to the referee’s locker room. Each
one of these officials had reached a high watermark place in their
avocation. It was hard to get to a Super Sectional, and these guys
were no slouches. IIAA assigned Billy as the R (referee) for the
game. He took out a cheat sheet to guide him through important
considerations to discuss in his pregame referee meeting. The three
officials talked as they casually dressed into their stripped
uniforms. As always, they would take the floor with 20 minutes
before tipoff. Billy, as referee, would check the scorebook around
12 minutes and summon captains at ten.

Chapter Thirty-three. Super (Sectional) Betting
Action

Bobby G.’s phone rang off the hook before East End’s
Supersectional game; all calls asking for Jack Benny. Homers,
especially those from East End’s conference schools were strongly
convinced that East End would advance past the Super Sectional at
the United Center. Gangbangers were impatient with Bobby G.
concerning East End betting opportunities during the season. Why
couldn’t they bet on East End on the way up the ladder during the
season? The bookmaker explained that he completely missed the boat
on the quality of East End’s basketball team. The lackluster summer
record and the Windy City Daily’s early rankings fooled him, he
told them. Now he was onboard and set the line on the Super
Sectional UC contest as follows: Carl Markon High School +6 & ½
points. Essentially, to the betting public, if they placed a bet on
East End they had to win the game by seven or more points.

Markon High was located about forty miles to the
Northwest and played most games away from Chicago. The team had
similar demographics to East End’s. Part of the school had
upper-middle class kids and the other students were children of
working class parents. Bobby G. saw the Carl Markon High School
basketball team play at the Big Dipper Christmas Tourney. They had
an unusually quick team for their height. Their big fellows ran the
floor without hesitating lest they risk their hard driving coach
yanking them out of the game. Their full-court press smothered
opponents and they beat teams by an astonishing average of eighteen
points during the season. Bobby G. picked this game to make his big
play. The Chicago Area bravado always discounted the quality of
unfamiliar teams, especially those away from Illinois’ big cities.
Bobby G. confirmed the betting line: East End giving 6 & ½
points. Homers and gangbangers were happy to finally wager on East
End and they were all too anxious to book their bets with Bobby the
Greek.

Bobby G. put a new restriction on accepting bets
from gangbangers for the East End – Carl Markon game. Anyone who
wanted action on this game had to pay upfront plus the ten percent
juice – no bets on the house. Gangbangers objected, but they made
so much money during the year, they caved in and paid all bets in
advance. Homers could not bet on credit anyway. Money poured in, up
until the Bobby G.-imposed midnight freeze for accepting bets the
night before the game. Bobby G. would be at the game, but did not
want to have any money or betting cards on him. He knew that
“Chicago’s Finest”, the police were crawling all over the UC. They
always searched everyone entering the United Center, even when the
Ice Follies were in town. Bobby G. went through the search just
like any of the other of the five thousand spectators, except that
no one else stood to make more than a million dollars during the
game. This did not seem like gambling for the bookmaker. He knew
that Carl Markon was a better team than East End.

Bobby G. walked around the lower section of the UC
having somehow obtained a floor pass. He was saying hello to old
friends and acquaintances – it looked like he was running for mayor
of Chi-Town! He also saw many of his betting clients in the crowd.
All the NAU and familiar high school coaches paid reluctant homage
to Bobby G. for his street agent work – he was a celebrity.
Detective T.J. Battle was there to watch his once-young prodigy,
Jamal Imari, play ball. Bobby G. came up and shook Frank Worrell’s
hand. The sportswriter’s hand was clammy from sweating. Bobby G.
tried to put Frank at ease.

“Do me a favor?” Bobby G. said in code, “Tell Red
that Benny’s got a million and a half ideas about tonight’s
game.”

“A million and a half dollars of action booked on
this game,” marveled Frank. “Should I believe him? He did tell me
that my third cut would be about a half million. I can only hope
that he’s not lying.”

Frank walked over to his courtside desk. His heart
was pounding. Negative thoughts were flying through his head while
the perspiration pressed through his skin.

“What if Bobby G. was wrong about Carl Markon’s
team? What if the game is poorly officiated in East End’s favor –
after all they were the ‘home team’. What if Coach Venturi had a
special plan to attack Markon’s fast paced ballclub? If Markon’s
team does cover the point spread, will Bobby G. make arrangements
to give him his cut?”

Frank’s heart was racing. He could feel the tension
in his chest along with the moisture in his armpits. He had not
been this nervous in a long time. Game administration reserved a
seat next to the state observer at the scores table for Frank
because he was the premier high school basketball writer. The state
observer had known Frank for many years. IIAA reached out to
sportswriters around the state to encourage coverage and
publicity.

“Frank, what will I read in your column
tomorrow?”

“Depends who wins. But the crowd and the success of
the state tournament is one angle that I will cover. I hope to be
able to say positive things about the game’s officials, and most of
all, I hope the best team wins.”

“Did you predict a winner on this game, Frank? The
state observer asked.

“Sure, I picked East End to go all the way and win
the state championship … a big change of heart for me. They were
unranked in my preseason ranking.”

“Markon might surprise you tonight,” the observer
said.

“I can only hope so – it would make tonight very
interesting,” Frank wryly replied.

Chapter Thirty-four. Pregame at the United Center

Coach Venturi and Marcus burned the midnight oil
trying to prepare the team for Markon. The teams had exchanged game
film and the more East End’s coaches learned about their opponent,
the more worried they became. Carl Markon High School’s team was
quick enough to pressure teams much faster than East End and they
were big inside the paint too. The first three substitutes were
excellent free throw shooters and they hardly committed turnovers.
Because Scott was so uncomfortable that he could not devise a
reasonable game plan, he called an unusual and special practice on
the Sunday before the game. He worked his team hard, but for the
first time this year they did not have a tailored plan of
attack.

Jamal enjoyed the time between the Sectional
Championship and the upcoming tilt at the UC. Coach Venturi held a
massive pep rally before the game at school and Jamal felt like
royalty. East End classmates treated him like a visiting dignitary.
Teachers excused or deferred classroom assignments for Jamal and
his teammates. Jamal received two telegrams from EPSU wishing him
luck. Kerbe Shoes sent a winner’s t-shirt to Jamal hoping he might
wear it while being interviewed. The principal sang the school’s
fight song on the PA system during homeroom to satisfy a challenge
with Scott. Jamal was excited, but not crazy.

Normally, Coach Venturi would reveal a game plan to
his team a couple days before a contest. This time was different.
Marcus and Scott, two great basketball minds, could not put a
special scheme in place to exploit a Markon High team weakness.
Deep down, they knew the team would have its hands full.

The East End Team used the Bulls’ locker room. The
coach scheduled the team to arrive three hours before the game. He
wanted to control the players outside influences – relatives,
friends, and girlfriends. The team needed time to arrive loose, but
at game time focus. When they first arrived, Coach Venturi and
Marcus spoofed a scene from
Hoosiers
to try to loosen up the
players. In the movie, Gene Hackman had his assistant coach measure
the state championship floor twice. Gene queried him about the
length of the floor, proving to his team that the game was nothing
special – the court size was the same length as all the other high
school gyms that they had played in all year long.

“Coach Imari,” Scott asked, “Would you use your tape
measure and tell our team that this court is 84 X 50 feet. I want
them to know that this is just another basketball court.”

Marcus pulled out a tape measure and mumbled
something to himself.

“Tell the boys that this court is the same as all
the rest, go ahead, Mr. Imari.”

“Coach, I’m not getting 84 feet for the length.”

“Measure it again,” Scott suggested as he pretended
to be perturbed.

“Yep, Coach Venturi. It is 94 feet long. Measured it
twice.”

Scott pretended to become flustered. He stumbled
through some illegible words and feigned embarrassment.

“Damn. It worked so well in the movie,” Venturi
said. The team roared with laughter, knowing the scene from
Hoosiers
very well. The professional court was ten feet
longer than the high school standard.