Court jester Barry Sherman has seen it all during his (many) days as a ref
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Tony Zonca — MikeDragoSports.com senior contributor
Barry Sherman has had the same part-time job for the last 47 years. It sometimes didn’t pay that well, but the benefits were mostly worthwhile.
As a high school and college basketball official, Sherman has been performing in front of crowds almost as long as Willie Nelson and Mick Jaggar. Fitting in that Sherman is capable of doing late-night stand-up on Kimmel or Colbert. Anybody who has heard him speak publicly has walked away impressed with his ability to crack up audiences.
His means of communicating isn’t with a mic; it’s with a whistle. Which he has blown God knows how many times. Over all those years Sherman has seen them come and go — players, coaches, athletics directors, fellow refs. It is safe to say he has had an impact on many lives since he got his PIAA license in 1978.
Sherman is funny and self-deprecating when he talks about his career as a young basketball player.
“In 1976 I was the last man on the worst team Mount Penn ever had, going 1-21,” Sherman revealed.
From junior high through high school he always had the best seat in the house — the bench.
He began officiating in high school for $2 a game for Johnny Stopper, who ran the Antietam Rec Center. Two years later he became certified.
For three years he was Gary Choyka’s JV coach for the Mounts. He also reffed junior high, rec league games and CYO.
When he was passed over for Mike Zuber for the varsity job he became a full-time official, moving up to the varsity level in 1985-86.
Included on his resume are 32 years of working at the Division III college level, ending in 2019.
He also did two stints as the local chapter’s president, the most recent in 2021. He also has worked eight Berks and District 3 finals and a Class A state final in 2021.
He remembers his first varsity game, in Hamburg with the veteran Bob Heebner as his partner.
“In the first quarter Heebner was in the stands looking to fight some bleeping fan,” Sherman said.
Back then Tom Kranis and George Zeppos were the preeminent officiating team. Tom was flamboyant, an entertainer. George was serious and solid. Apart they were steady and competent. Together they were made for each other like peanut butter and jelly, lox and bagels, bacon and eggs — digestible and fulfilling.
They always seemed to show up for the big game. None of the principles complained. They were certain they would get a solid effort and a fair shake.
Sherman, however, thought Tom had lost a step at the end. And he rejected some of Tom’s hijinks on the court.
“I had a girls varsity game with Tom during one of his last years,” Sherman said. “During a foul shot a girl asked him permission to change lanes. He asked her if she had a token. She said no, so he wouldn’t allow her to change spaces. He thought it was funny; her coach didn’t.”
I happened to be there during a game when Tom did not write the comedy routine. It came in the mid-1970s, a PSAC game at Kutztown U. The Golden Bears, under the likeable and classy Bob Spang, were awful. But I loved covering those games at Keystone Hall.
You could count the number of fans who showed up, and a handful of them were, shall I say, eccentric. Included was a small, ragtag student band that liked to crank up a siren each time an opponent went to the foul line.
This one night the opposing coach objected to the practice. Kranis was the lead official. He agreed with the coach and ordered the P.A. announcer, Harry Lasky, to tell the band to remain quiet during free throws.
Lasky, a bit of a character himself, refused. The two went back and forth like an Abbott and Costello (Yes, I’m dating myself) comedy sketch.
“I’m not telling them, you tell them,” Lasky said finally.
Tom thought he had the last word. Or did he.
“And you know what you can do with that whistle,” Lasky yelled as Tom walked away. It was not a fun night for Tom the rest of the game.
Back then it seemed as though the officials and coaches were more fun to be around. There were the three Bobs — Harbach, Heebner and Steinmetz. There was the unforgettable Cy Young. Later came Mike Schorn and Tim Braun, as good as there ever was. A trio of impressive younger officials followed — Joe Palacz, Jeff Benedict, and Greg Tetlak, who had an NBA tryout.
There also were coaches who filled up your notebook — Jim Gano of Reading High, John Silan of Wilson, Dick Sherry of Wyomissing, Joe Habakus of Gov. Mifflin, Bob Wheeler of Mount Penn, Reggie Weiss of Central Catholic and Lloyd Wolf of Holy Name along with the aforementioned Zuber.
The scourge of officials then (and now?) was Snip Esterly. Snip would scream at the whistle tooters in a range heard only by them and nearby dogs.
“We have an understanding,” Sherman said about Esterly, who just achieved his 800th victory. “I told him the only one who screams at me and gets away with it is my wife, not him. He behaves when I ref his games.”
Sherman was sad to relate that Steinmetz had recently passed on.
“All the young refs, including me, were afraid to work with him,” Sherman said. “He was very intimidating. My first game with him was Holy Name at Mifflin. After the game he asked me to go out for a few beers. Which meant he accepted me. I’ll never forget that.”
Sherman is the longest tenured ref among today’s local group. Stalwarts such as Jack Slusser and John Carl have walked away from the job.
“It’s been a long run for me,” Sherman said. “I’m not done yet. I just go year to year. Thank God we have three-man crews, or else I would be home watching Jeopardy on TV.”
Or starring in it.