Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

That is precisely why I don't ref middle school basketball anymore. Ever since I got married I'm far more discerning about which games I take.

The referee shortage is real, but what hasn't come up is that the biggest shortage of refs in the Twin Cities are the ones who can grind out 4:00 9th grade doubleheaders. Or ones who are willing to do 8-10 games on a weekend day for $24/game (this number hasn't gone up more than $2 since I was in college). Also, basketball referee politics make the Legislature look like chicken scribble. It took moving to an area where there actually is a ref shortage, as well as some retirements, to start doing full varsity schedules.

I rather enjoy fastpitch softball. It helps that there is a 16 foot cyclone fence between you and them.
RAGBRAI is something I'd like to do someday. I thought about it this year, but the timing is going to coincide with a U of M program abroad my wife is leading, and I'm going to be going along for part of.

Frist sport I quit officiating was Girls' fast pitch softball. Select Fastpitch is particularly bad as far as sportmanship. Didn't help that I moved to Arizona where it is super competitive and very hot wearing the gear. 

The second sport I quit was Pee-Wee Football.  I have had to throw out parents and coaches at the 5-6yo level. Pee Wee football is by far the worst sport to officiate (of the sports I have officiated) because of the fans and coaches. Most places you don't have any buffer between you and the fans.  Wasn't worth Doing anymore.

The only reason I quit officiating wrestling is it just took up too much time. I got remarried 6 years ago and giving up every Friday and Saturday for wrestling tornaments all winter long wasn't worth it any more. I still love the sports.

I still do HS Football, but as of the coming year I am giving up freshman and sub-varsity game.  I still enjoy doing it, but I don't do it for the money so Friday night lights is going to be it for me going forward. I am an umpire on my crew, I just love being in the middle of the action, though I have been run over a number of times. 

In the early days it was a way to make extra money, Spring, summer (baseball, Softball), Fall (football), Winter (Wrestling), but I have no need for the money anymore so now I will only do it as long as I enjoy it and it doesn't interfere with the rest of my Life.  BTW if you want to officiate and make good money, Wrestling is the way to go.  If you want to make easy money go officiate Volleyball. 

Golf has got to be the hardest sport I ever tried.  Everything else that interested me I became reasonably good at fairly quickly.  Even tennis, which I didn't play until I was in my early 20's and was god-awful at, I started to see improvements pretty fast and seemed to be on a trajectory to be about as proficient at that as I was at sports I played a lot more, though I didn't keep it up. 

Golf....I don't even know what to say.  In college I started playing with some guys who were pretty good and they taught me the stance and swing mechanics...basically, beating the instinct out of me to swing the club like a baseball bat.  I adapted and did all the things they said, but I had a wicked right slice that just wouldn't go away.  They'd tell me the adjustments to make, things to try, I'd do them, same result, and they'd eventually shrug their shoulders and tell me they didn't know what to do. 

After a few months I lost interest.  Wasn't getting any better, saw no hope of breaking 100 even on the easy courses we played, and would leave more frustrated than when I started. 

It was a fun thing to take a swing at, so to speak.  I enjoyed being out on a course on a nice day.  I just sucked balls at it. 

I do boating/skiing/wakesurfing/laking.  That uses up whatever discretionary budget I might have otherwise allotted to golf.

Which is just as well because the times I've tried to play golf, I was pretty terrible at it.

Not to be a prick,  but I would feel crushed if I ever shot a round as high as 100.   I can't take myself to a place where the ball striking would be so erratic that i couldn't do better than a double bogey around the course.    Don't give up i say.

Golf is hard.    I don't play that much anymore but I realize all my sub 80 rounds are in that rearview mirror.   You gotta play a lot and you have to make putts if you want to beat 80.

Do you own the boat? 45-50 years ago water skiing on the Mississippi River and its backwaters, was some of the greatest time of my life!

Yup.

Actually right now, I own two boats.  But I'm only using one, our 25' wakeboard boat, similar to this:

last year I took a different job and only played 60 rounds of golf or so

the previous 6-7 seasons I played between 100-120 rounds  (From april 1st to october 31st)

People hear this and suggest that I must be really good.
I tell them that Shaq attempted more free throws than anyone and still sucked

Taking some lessons might help, but since I've never had a lesson and I'm now 60 years old, there's not much to gain.

I already enjoy myself

For someone who has retired I never seem to have time to do much of anything just for fun.  I spend my days taking my sister to various doctor appointments and to the gym for her aqua arthritis class (which I also participate in) or to the library.  I do a lot of reading while waiting for her at the doctor's office or after dropping her off at the local Goodwill.  My one hobby (passion) is continuing with what my dad and I started with our genealogy research.  Have most of the paternal side of the family traced back to Germany in the late 1500's.  Still working on the maternal side, but have them back to the early 1700's.  In the last few years, I have tried to add my husband's family and while his paternal side is fairly easy with a slightly uncommon name, his maternal side is a nightmare with his mom's maiden name of Smith, lol.  At this point, I am mostly working on downloading and organizing photos into family groupings.  I have two footlockers full of photos to scan so I figure that will keep my busy for a few years.  

Other than that, I take time once in a while to rewatch old Husker games or binge watch my favorite shows like Longmire, Bones, Buffy / Angel, Game of Thrones, Deadwood, Justified, any STAR TREK series, and lately the Mandolorian (sp?).  Not a fan of outdoorsy stuff as I got my fill of camping over the years and have never like fishing or hunting and I hate winter sports (unless I am watching on TV). Of course, I have too much pain to walk for long distances, so that might have something to do with it, lol.