Cat Tales: “Hey, you played a good game”

(This is excerpt #8 from the book currently being written by Greg Eckerle called “Cat Tales: Jasper Sports Stories.” Eckerle can be reached at gregeckerle@twc.com.)

What made Jasper’s Cyril Birge such a highly-respected basketball official? His son Jerry told me it was his ability to let players play, that he let the contact go just far enough, and then he had it under control. “He was truly good at ‘no harm, no foul,’” said Jerry. “He would establish the game very early. When I was broadcasting University of Evansville games, when players found out dad was refereeing, they loved it because they knew they could play.”

Loogootee coach Jack Butcher, at one time Indiana’s wins leader, said, “Birge was a true gentleman. Teams always knew you were going to get a fair shake when he worked the whistle. He was an Indiana legend.”

In Butcher’s autobiography, “Butcher Ball,” he wrote, “The last game Cyril refereed (in 1971) was between Joe Todrank’s Barr-Reeve Vikings and Jack Butcher’s Loogootee Lions. Joe and I decided before the game that we would both go out on the floor at the same time and start talking to Cyril as if we were two angry bantam roosters. The ebb and flow of the game never provided an opportunity for such shenanigans, but as they say, it was the thought that counts. After Cyril retired, Joe, Cyril, and I and our good friend Howard Webber, became a fearsome foursome on the golf course for many years. On one of our golfing outings, Cyril bragged he won a bet that he could open a case of beer with his teeth. He even demonstrated by opening a couple of beers for us. This proves basketball officials are men of many talents.”

Todrank and Cyril, a couple of the biggest kidders ever, loved to tell the story of what happened after Cyril’s final game. “Cy and I met at a little watering hole in Washington,” said Todrank. “Cy’s first comment was, ‘Whew! Boy, I’m glad that’s over (his officiating career). I thought if I’d go much longer, I’d miss one (a call).’” When Cy told the story, he’d wait a second, give you that little smile and chuckle, and along with those delightful mischievous eyes, you couldn’t help but laugh, no matter how many times you heard the story. “I love that man,” said Todrank. “He was always a perfect gentleman. To me he was probably the finest official to ever set foot on Indiana soil.”   

Del Harris, an NBA and Indiana high school coach who is in the National Basketball Hall of Fame, told me, “I coached more than 3,000 games but remember who refereed only about four or five of them. I was actually honored to have Cyril referee our games (at Dale High School in 1962-64). I knew that the best was working my game, just from his reputation, and he had that air about him. I remember how proud we were to see him on a Big 10 television game. It was unusual for a referee to be a star of a game in college or high school ball. He was a hero when he came to our ‘Legends of Southern Indiana’ meetings in Huntingburg each year (from 2005 to 2008).”

Dave Lowenstein from Holland, a 33-year official, said, “Cyril had great judgement as a referee. They say there’s only one Babe Ruth. In my opinion there was only one Cyril Birge. He was that good. Cyril did more for Jasper than he ever realized.”

Bill Skaggs, a star player for the Dubois Jeeps in the mid-1950s, loved to play in games officiated by Cyril. “He always seemed to make the right call,” said Skaggs. “I don’t ever remember anybody booing Cyril Birge, and that’s something for Dubois.”

Cyril also loved helping the Jasper Wildcats. Mickey Sermersheim, a 1947 Indiana All Star, wrote in a letter supporting Cyril to be inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, “On numerous occasions during my four years of high school basketball, Cyril was the referee at our practice and he always had constructive feedback and encouragement for us young players. I know that he played a very positive role in my receiving a basketball scholarship to Georgia Tech.” Such help continued for years. Gary Corbin, a 1970 graduate, recalled, “Cyril refereed quite a few of our scrimmages to get in shape for his Big 10 season. He would like to make a bad call on purpose, so he could help Coach Ed Schultheis read a person’s ability to handle unfairness.”

But as good as Cyril was, he wasn’t able to help Coach Cabby O’Neill find a competitive edge during Jasper’s run to the 1949 state championship. Cyril had refereed the sectional that included Monroe City, which was Jasper’s regional opponent. “Ol’ Cabby wanted to know what I knew about Monroe City,” Cyril said with a laugh in his interview with Jack Schneider. “I said, ‘Cabby! You don’t have time to scout like that.’ Then my regional assignment was Bloomington, who Jasper was to play in the semi-state. And Cabby asks me again, he wanted to know what they got.”

Cyril’s heavy schedule of high school and college games kept him from hardly ever seeing his son, Jerry, play for the Jasper Wildcats. But he made a memorable surprise visit when Jasper battled Terre Haute Gerstmeyer for the semi-state championship in Evansville in 1957.

While Jerry was playing a first-round game in Evansville, Cyril was officiating at the Indianapolis semi-state. He hadn’t seen Jasper play all year. After his game was over, he listened on the radio as Jasper beat Evansville Lincoln in a double-overtime thriller. Although he normally would have stayed in Indianapolis as a substitute for the night game, Cyril drove to Evansville to watch his son. “When I got to Evansville, my wife was there, and all of a sudden, there was a seat there, they took me down and I sat right aside of her. Commissioner Phillips saw me, but he didn’t say a word,” said Cyril with a laugh. 

Jerry did not know his dad was in the stands for the semi-state title match that night. He had to battle two taller players, Charley Hall, who later played for IU, and Howard Dardeen, who played at the University of Kentucky. “I had without a doubt the best game I ever played,” Jerry said. “I played way over my head. I was shooting around the perimeter a little bit, because they left me open. I wasn’t a great shooter.” In a tough 75-66 loss, Jerry scored 15 points and had an impressive 16 rebounds.

“I’m in the dressing room afterward, crying, really down and out, and somebody poked me in the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, you played a good game.’ And I thought, damn, I wish dad could have seen me. I remember thinking that.” Of course, when he turned to see who was there, it was his dad. When Jerry was telling me this in 2019, tears welled up in his eyes. “Dad knew all of the school people, they took care of the ticket, and dad surprised mother when he came walking up to her. He got there just right before tip-off. I was down on the floor, and didn’t know that at all.”

(In the next “Cat Tales” excerpt, we will share some final favorite memories about Cy Birge.)