Referee Ted Valentine and Santa Claus get tangled up at college basketball game

Contributor
Ryan Fagan
Referee Ted Valentine and Santa Claus get tangled up at college basketball game image

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ted Valentine just might be the most famous referee in all of college hoops. 

He's known as TV Teddy to fans everywhere because of his habit of making demonstrative game-changing calls on the biggest of stages in front of the television camera.

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I'm pretty sure the television cameras weren't on Valentine a couple minutes before he worked the College of Charleston-Charlotte game Tuesday night at Halton Arena, but luckily enough, I happened to be watching as the 49ers' mascot — dressed up in his Santa Claus suit — wandered over toward where Valentine was doing pregame stretches. 

Because Valentine was crouching down, I could tell the mascot — Norm the Niner — had no idea he was there, and was about to stumble into the referee. I grabbed my phone and opened the camera app. 

I was not disappointed with what happened next. I'll just let you see ... 

The whole thing was very amusing, and a bit surreal. I admit, heading into tonight, I did not expect to write about the sport's most famous/infamous referee getting tied up with a mascot dressed as Santa Claus.  

But some days, you just get lucky.