Somebody Stole the Pea Out of My Whistle The Golden Age of Hoosier Basketball Referees

Connersville Referee Karl Bly's first game with Don McBride was in 1948 at Brownsville. It contained the funniest moment of his career. Bly tells the story: "McBride recently had returned from the Marines and later in his career, few things got to him. That night was different. A fan high in the bleachers was on Don from the opening tip. You could hear his voice above the roar of the crowd and in the third quarter this guy really let McBride have it. Don had all he could take. He blew his whistle to stop action and went bounding into the bleachers. People got out of the way in waves as McBride yelled, 'Who is it up here that doesn't like the way we are calling them? Stand up you coward'. "So help me," said Bly, "when this guy stood up he was the Philistine giant all over again, all muscle. McBride looked at him and you could have heard a pin drop as he yelled, 'All right. I want all the rest of you people up here to shut your mouths but,' he said, pointing at the huge fan, 'mister, you holler all you want to.'" Don McBride shared hundreds of anecdotes from the world of refereeing with author Max Knight. He was one of scores of Indiana basketball coaches, players and officials to contribute to this book. The two are shown celebrating a friendship of many years -- one which centers around the greatest sport of all in Indiana -- basketball. Book jacket.Knight, Max is the author of 'Somebody Stole the Pea Out of My Whistle The Golden Age of Hoosier Basketball Referees' with ISBN 9781878208637 and ISBN 1878208632.