Still calling it fair
Longtime basketball official Jim McKenna recently reffed his 30,000th game and has no plans of stopping
When I caught up with Jim McKenna on Dec. 13, he was a 74-year-old man in motion.
He was happy to talk. But when we were done, he had to head over to the Ag School in Mount Greenwood to officiate a girls basketball game.
“They’re playing Lemont,” McKenna said. “Tuesday I have to go to St. Christopher in Midlothian for a fifth grade tournament. The day after I’m at Brookwood in Glenwood.”
A busy guy, to be sure. You could pile up a lot of games that way. That, folks, is exactly what McKenna has done over the past 50 years.
On Nov. 26, McKenna, a Chicago native and Palos Heights resident, worked the opening game of the St. Cajetan fourth grade boys tournament. He also helped organize it. It was — hang on to your hats — his 30,000th game as a basketball official at the elementary and high school levels.
Yes, 30,000. He has it in writing. His own writing. McKenna has kept records, noting every game he has officiated.
“Just a couple of years ago I added it up,” McKenna said. “I thought, ‘Holy smokes. You’ve got to be kidding me. I might hit 30,000.’ Never in my wildest dreams did I think when I started that I’d be working 30,000 games.”
Big conference games. The Big Dipper tournament at Rich South. The Hillcrest Holiday Classic. Regionals. Sectionals. Supersectionals. State finals.
I’ve probably seen and said “hello” to McKenna more times over the years than any other referee. His longtime partner Dan Real is a close second.
When those two were on a game together, you knew the kids were in good hands.
“When you’re refereeing, 90% of the time you work with somebody you respect,” Real said. “But working with Jimmy, it’s just natural for me. I know he’ll show up early. I know I’ll have a good pregame. He respects the game. That’s why it’s nice working with him.
“And it didn’t matter if he was working a fourth grade game at St. John Fisher, or working a De La Salle-Loyola game. He always puts in the effort.”
McKenna celebrated his 50th anniversary as an Illinois High School Association official on Dec. 10, when Brother Rice hosted St. Francis de Sales.
Shortly after he worked his 30,000th game, a former girls player from Christ the King sent him a congratulatory letter. McKenna shared it with me. Here’s an excerpt:
“I saw countless referees, and you were hands down the very best. Your mastery of the rules enable you to officiate with accuracy and fairness that both teams could always respect. Further, you always took time to teach players like me to improve their skills.”
What can you say?
“It made me feel great,” McKenna said. “It brought tears to my eyes just to think that I touched somebody’s life like that.”
He’s been doing it longer than I’ve been writing. That alone makes him a rare bird.
McKenna coached elementary school basketball at his alma mater, St. Felicitas, for four years.