When Mike Muldowney arrives on the basketball court it’s all business for the referee that’s been calling local sporting events on all levels for over 50 years.
Muldowney started refereeing at the age of 19, and basketball quickly became his favorite sport to call.
“Basketball is the greatest game in the world,” he said.
“When we were kids, you had the ball out dribbling in the driveway. It’s a great game. It’s a fun game. And to be an integral part of that is wonderful.”
Mike and his wife, Jennifer, moved to the peninsula in 1978 and got married the following year. Eventually, Muldowney, 70, was hired at Suttons Bay Public School and taught second and third grade for 32 years. Jennifer and Mike raised three girls on the peninsula.
“Leelanau County is a great spot for raising a family and luckily I’ve been able to be involved with the basketball part of it ... It’s a great thing to be involved with,” Muldowney said.
Muldowney remembers when the Cherryland Conference was operational back in the day when there were only a handful of teams. Muldowney was a ref that was always call on to help settle a score between local teams. He remembers the incredible Northport state championship run, and even when Leelanau School was a powerhouse in the county.
“I’m starting to see grandparents in the stands that I officiated a long time ago. “Luckily I’m still able to move around and do what needs to be done, but I’m not as fast as I used to be,” Muldowney said. “I used to beat everybody up and down the court. Now the kids beat me down the court. But after 50 years of doing this I feel good to be able to move up and down the court.”
Muldowney credits staying active with Jennifer by walking four or five miles a handful of times a week to keep his legs in working order.
At the beginning of 2023, Muldowney was questioning if his legs would hold up going into year 51 of officiating. That was quickly answered over the summer when he did 50 high school games that provided him with confidence. Along with high school games, Muldowney still refs at YMCA men’s basketball leagues along with doing other sports including youth football, softball, and anything else in between over the years.
Muldowney knows that whenever he shows up to ref a game at one of the local schools he will see plenty of familiar faces over the years.
“It makes you feel good that you have that connection with a handful of people,” he said.
As a ref he still hears it from coaches from time-to-time during competitive games, but the hostility has become a lot less.
“It doesn’t seem to be as harsh as it was 30 years ago and maybe it was just the time, the eighties were a rougher era of basketball,” he said.
The profession of officiating has seen less and less participation over the years, but an influx of 30 area officials have helped cover the hundreds of games for this season. As most of the established officials start to age the focus of the officiating profession will be to get more 20-year olds joining to take the load off of the older folks.
Five years ago, Mike and Jennifer traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to see the original twopage document of the sport that was written by James Naismith well over 100 years ago.
“It was in a little spot on the Kansas basketball court. Sitting there and looking at that you felt like this is a great part of sports in America,” Muldowney said.
Those two pages were written over 100-years ago and the game has remained relatively unchanged since then.
Muldowney is still happy to continue officiating, and he will do so as long as his legs are capable.
“I’ve blown my whistle many times and you may not agree with the call or you may agree with the call, but that’s the way it goes. We are here to keep the game going and to keep impartiality,” Muldowney said. “You do the best you can, and let the ball roll where it may.”
Muldowney is thankful to area athletic directors Jim Munoz, Bruce Garland, Geral Sprenthall and Ed Merica who originally assigned him to middle school basketball games.
“It’s been interesting to share the love of the game with multigenerations of b-ball families: the Hazeltons, Fosmores, Sutherlands of Glen Lake, the Schaubs, Buneks, Linguars, and Hanenbergs of LLSM, the Stowes, Scotts and Hucks of Northport, the Kohlers, McSawbys, Hermans and Sams of Suttons Bay and of course, the 4 generations of TwoCrow b-ballers,” he said.
