Dee Kantner Encounter

[VA Huskie]

Hi all. I'm a relatively new Boneyard member. Long time UConn women's fan. Recently moved to VA to be with kids and (5) grandkids. Five Final Fours under our belts. Looking forward to #6 this year in Tampa Bay. Anyway, as part of our introduction to the ACC, we're attending the Tournament in Greensboro. We're having a ball. We were at the great Louisville vs UNC game tonite. Routing for Jeff and his girls. Very exciting...and they won! Then we headed back to our hotel. Decided to get a bite to eat and a drink at a local establishment. Sitting at the bar my wife says, do you see who's at our right? I look over and see Dee Kantner. What a thrill. We end up chatting with her and another ref who will work the Duke/ND game on Sat. with her. Dee reffed the UNC game tonite. I was surprised to find that Dee was very engaging, insightful about women's BB, willing to talk about relationships with coaches and players...and just a really fun (and professional) lady. One comment she made was that she asked Sarah Hammond if she was 32 - 'cause they worked together for so long! I know some of you don't like her so much, but trust me, she was a very impressive woman. Confident, good sense of humor and very direct. Reminded me of Geno a bit! I did say to her, "hope they pay you well 'cause you have a really tough job". Her response, "I love what I do". Very fun Nite of women's basketball.

 

[JS]

Then we headed back to our hotel. Decided to get a bite to eat and a drink at a local establishment. Sitting at the bar my wife says, do you see who's at our right? I look over and see Dee Kantner. What a thrill. We end up chatting with her and another ref

You sure the refs weren't drinking before the game?

 

[HuskyNan]

Welcome to the Boneyard. We have quite a contingent in Old Dominion now.

 

[johnnyc]

You sure the refs weren't drinking before the game?

Lol. Reminds me of a mailman I once knew. Nice guy, funny.....always a smile. My apartment building was the last stop on his route. Unfortunately the bar up the street was his next to last stop. Let's just say everyone in the building sorted and delivered each others mail frequently.

Va Huskie welcome.....thanks for sharing your experience! I remember a play last season, I think it may have been the championship game, where Stewart saved a ball from going out of bounds and hit the stanchion hard. Play went on but as Stewart collected herself to get back in the game Dee gave her a quick slap on the back acknowledging her hustle.

 

[DGHuskyFan]

That's a great story. I think basketball refs have the toughest job in all sports. So many snap-judgments throughout and we fans will never be 100% happy.
Thank you for sharing!

 

[ThisJustIn]

Great story.... and an opportunity for me to go back into the archives. From 2007.

Currently Supervisor of Officials for the WNBA, Dee Kantner began officiating in 1982 and is acknowledged as one of the top Division I referees. A few years ago Kantner said this about being a women’s basketball official:

“It’s not a vocation or an avocation that a lot of people innately say, ‘That’s what I want to be,’ because there’s so much negativity surrounding it. Everyone’s always focusing on the bad things about it: people yell at you, you wear bad polyester…. But those are far outweighed by the positives.”

 

[boontonbomber]

One of the positives is that they get paid quite well, at least at the DI level.

 

[triaddukefan]

Hi all. I'm a relatively new Boneyard member. Long time UConn women's fan. Recently moved to VA to be with kids and (5) grandkids. Five Final Fours under our belts. Looking forward to #6 this year in Tampa Bay. Anyway, as part of our introduction to the ACC, we're attending the Tournament in Greensboro. We're having a ball. We were at the great Louisville vs UNC game tonite. Routing for Jeff and his girls. Very exciting...and they won! Then we headed back to our hotel. Decided to get a bite to eat and a drink at a local establishment. Sitting at the bar my wife says, do you see who's at our right? I look over and see Dee Kantner. What a thrill. We end up chatting with her and another ref who will work the Duke/ND game on Sat. with her. Dee reffed the UNC game tonite. I was surprised to find that Dee was very engaging, insightful about women's BB, willing to talk about relationships with coaches and players...and just a really fun (and professional) lady. One comment she made was that she asked Sarah Hammond if she was 32 - 'cause they worked together for so long! I know some of you don't like her so much, but trust me, she was a very impressive woman. Confident, good sense of humor and very direct. Reminded me of Geno a bit! I did say to her, "hope they pay you well 'cause you have a really tough job". Her response, "I love what I do". Very fun Nite of women's basketball.

Wished I would have been at that restaurant/bar..... I might have been tempted to slip a few of these to influence their calls today

On a serious note.... glad you are enjoying your time here at the tournament... its alot of fun... even if your team isnt playing.

 

[VA Huskie]

Welcome to the Boneyard. We have quite a contingent in Old Dominion now.

Thanks Nan. I just discovered this site this year and it's been a godsend for me. I read it every day. Go Huskies!

 

[VA Huskie]

Wished I would have been at that restaurant/bar..... I might have been tempted to slip a few of these to influence their calls today

View attachment 8714


On a serious note.... glad you are enjoying your time here at the tournament... its alot of fun... even if your team isnt playing.

Actually I did jokingly offer her $$. We'll be routing for Duke vs ND - in part because our son is a graduate and in part 'cause we hate the Irish. She had way too much integrity to accept my "offer".

 

[VA Huskie]

Wished I would have been at that restaurant/bar..... I might have been tempted to slip a few of these to influence their calls today

View attachment 8714


On a serious note.... glad you are enjoying your time here at the tournament... its alot of fun... even if your team isnt playing.

Actually I did jokingly offer her $$. We'll be routing for Duke vs ND - in part because our son is a graduate and in part 'cause we hate the Irish. She had way too much integrity to accept my "offer".

 

[Goodgood]

Thanks for sharing! I remember her patting Stewie on the butt after she made an outstanding out of bound save during the Championship in Tennessee

Actually I did jokingly offer her $$. We'll be routing for Duke vs ND - in part because our son is a graduate and in part 'cause we hate the Irish. She had way too much integrity to accept my "offer".

I would have taken your $$, unfortunately I am only refereeing the game on a sofa in front of the TV..

 

[Samanthabrown3]

people yell at you, you wear bad polyester….”

It's the bad polyester that keeps lots of people from being refs.

 

[meyers7]

Hi all. I'm a relatively new Boneyard member. Long time UConn women's fan. Recently moved to VA to be with kids and (5) grandkids. Five Final Fours under our belts. Looking forward to #6 this year in Tampa Bay. Anyway, as part of our introduction to the ACC, we're attending the Tournament in Greensboro. We're having a ball. We were at the great Louisville vs UNC game tonite. Routing for Jeff and his girls. Very exciting...and they won! Then we headed back to our hotel. Decided to get a bite to eat and a drink at a local establishment. Sitting at the bar my wife says, do you see who's at our right? I look over and see Dee Kantner. What a thrill. We end up chatting with her and another ref who will work the Duke/ND game on Sat. with her. Dee reffed the UNC game tonite. I was surprised to find that Dee was very engaging, insightful about women's BB, willing to talk about relationships with coaches and players...and just a really fun (and professional) lady. One comment she made was that she asked Sarah Hammond if she was 32 - 'cause they worked together for so long! I know some of you don't like her so much, but trust me, she was a very impressive woman. Confident, good sense of humor and very direct. Reminded me of Geno a bit! I did say to her, "hope they pay you well 'cause you have a really tough job". Her response, "I love what I do". Very fun Nite of women's basketball.

Welcome aboard and very nice story. I ran into a ref after one of the games down in Florida (Gulf Coast Showcase), however it wasn't at a bar, rather a 7-11, she was getting a slurpee. I guess she didn't get paid as much as a conference championship.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Did she immediately call two fouls on Dolson?

 

[watanabe]

I'm watching the Duke/ND game and thinking about seeing Dee in a real place sometime... Ha Ha. My face is seriously laughing.

 

[VA Huskie]

Well, ND certainly didn't look like the #2 team in the country. But Duke just has NO offense!

 

[Sonny44]

Some don't like her, I guess?
But she's probably the best ref in WCBB.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I think she's the best WBB ref, without a doubt. She's been the subject of my "Three Blind Mice" chant at times, but I think she's the best one out there. Many WBB refs are terrible, though.

 

[Geno-ista]

I was grabbing a D&D coffee on the main rt from 84 down to Storrs, really early for one of the big hm games a few years ago. It was a ND game. I turned around and it's Dee! And she was dressed to kill- I do a double take, and said Dee- you really clean up well! Ache wowa! She laughed and we had a chat about the game. She couldn't have been any more pleasant. Same way she was in Nashville last year. She's a pro!

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Yes. When RU was in Portland for the 2000 NCAA regionals, Dee got my wife, myself and 2 other folks tix to the NBA game at the Rose Garden one of the nights we were out there (we paid, she just arranged them, there was a box that appeared to be "guests" of refs and other folks). Decent seats. Much appreciated. This was when she was a NBA ref.