Ben Bidewell has died

Ben Bidewell, 1922-2009

Just got word that Ben Bidewell died Sunday. He was 87.

You can find the funeral arrangements here. Click on the 'Obituaries' and click on 'Carl Ben Bidewell.'

Bidewell was a long-time football and basketball official here and was a Big Eight ref. He also played on Southeast Missouri State's 1942-43 national championship basketball team and helped start what is now Three Rivers Community College.

Here's a story by Alex Abate which ran during our summer Catching Up With series in 2008:

Ben Bidewell likes to catch sporting events whenever possible but he used to be more than just a spectator.

Bidewell, who was a stock broker in Poplar Bluff until he retired in 2006, is a former Big 6 basketball referee, a conference that now has 12 teams and includes such national powers as Kansas and Missouri. Bidewell started as a referee in 1953 when it was the Big 6 and continued to call games from 1957-67 when the conference expanded to the Big 8.

Back when he first started, there were certain requirements that refs had to meet to be eligible to call games in the Big 6. When Bidewell called games, the refs had to have played basketball, called games in high school and be financially independent. Bidewell often had long drives to attend games but enjoyed what he did.

"I look back now and many times I have left my house at sun-up and driven all the way to Oklahoma State," Bidewell said. "I just love the game and I like the officiating."

As a referee, Bidewell was able to meet some interesting and historic people. He met UCLA coach John Wooden on one occasion and called games for Wilt Chamberlain while Chamberlain played two seasons at Kansas.

"He was so tall that he would never foul," Bidewell said. "He never criticized (the officials.)"

Some officials today are quick to call technical fouls on coaches when they question the ref's judgment. In Bidewell's eyes, that was not the answer.

"In all the years I called, I only had five technical fouls," Bidewell said. "A technical foul from the referees is not the answer. I coached myself and I knew how excited you could get. (Before) you call a technical foul, you can warn them."

Bidewell was a very easy referee to work with. He was willing to talk to coaches if they had questions about anything during the game.

"It didn't bother me, if they wanted to talk to me, I would talk to them," Bidewell said. "But as I said, I had the advantage, I knew them to start with."

Bidewell worked with many coaches over the course of his days calling games but his favorite coach to work with was Hank Iba of Oklahoma State. Iba coached at Oklahoma State (formerly Oklahoma A&M) for 36 seasons and won 655 games with a winning percentage of .675.

"At that time, he was by far the number one coach in the United States," Bidewell said. "I liked the way his ballclub played."

Iba always had a tactful way of questioning the officials during games.

"He never did say this or that," Bidewell said. "It was just the way he let you know that there were some things he wondered what was going on."

Although he has met some great people from his time as an official, Bidewell said calling games was not an easy task.

"Charging and blocking is the hardest thing to call," Bidewell said. "It is the hardest to get right. A lot of times, it can be either way."

Bidewell's knowledge of the game is what made him a solid official, former official Bill Trout said.

"He was a good one, top-notch," Trout said. "He understood basketball as well as anyone I ever refereed with, the way it should be played and the positions on the floor."

Trout called games from 1959-74 and recalled being taken under Bidewell's wing when he first started.

"I just regarded him as a big brother really," Trout said. "He was easy to sit down and talk to."

Bidewell was often gone to different places calling games and his wife Martha was at home with the children during those times.

"She did all the raising," Bidewell said.

Bidewell went to high school at Lutesville and went on to play basketball at Southeast Missouri State where his team won an NAIA title in 1943.

After some years in the service and playing at Missouri, Bidewell coached at Poplar Bluff from 1948-50 before he opened a sporting good store and became an official. He led the Mules to a 27-19 mark over two seasons and led the team to its first state playoff appearance in 1950 after a drought of 13 seasons.

Bidewell, who will be celebrating his 86th birthday on July 20, and his wife Martha, have three children, boys Jim and Bob and daughter Lee. Bidewell never pushed sports on his children but Jim also has a love for the game of basketball. Jim has been the coach at Portageville for 26 seasons and won four state titles in a row, 1991-94. He is also the athletic director.

"(Sports) was just something that we were always around," Jim said. "It was something that just kind of was there and I took a liking to it."

All of the Bidewell children have gone on to find their niche.

"We are so proud of them that it is just unbelievable," Bidewell said. "They have never asked for anything. We have given them a lot of things but they have never asked for anything."

Along with being a referee and owning his own business, Bidewell has been involved with Three Rivers Community College for some time now. Bidewell served on the first college Board of Trustees while wife Martha is a charter member of the TRCC Foundation Board of Directors.

Bidewell is retired but his office in downtown Poplar Bluff shows his love for sports. The walls are lined with newspaper clippings, old and new, that remind him of the sports highlights in his life.