Locker room supervisor at tourney gets cable

BANGOR – Brewer resident Jerry Goss’ tournament basketball duties put him very close to the boys and girls playing the games. But as the locker room supervisor at the Bangor Auditorium, he’s also unable to watch big stretches of the action on the floor.

Goss, who is in his fourth year working at the tournament, views the games on a small television set in the hallway near the locker rooms. But the reception wasn’t that good and the picture was often scratchy.

The Auditorium staff was able to run a wire from the referees’ room to the hallway TV, but the state fire marshal wasn’t too keen on the wire running across the ceiling, Goss said. Last year, he mentioned it to someone at the Auditorium.

When Goss arrived for his first tourney game this year, he found that Bangor Auditorium staff had wired the TV for cable, which makes for a much clearer picture.

Goss watches some of the games from one end of the court, but as the teams involved in the next session go to the locker rooms to dress, he retires to the hallway. The players often congregate around the TV to see what’s going on out on the court.

“They like it. They dress early, come out and watch five to six minutes of the game and then they know exactly how much time they’ve got,” said Goss, a former Brewer High principal. “They usually go out with two minutes left in the game, but two minutes can take forever. It’s nice to sit and talk with them about basketball.”

Goss is responsible for opening the locker rooms for the first team in the morning and closing them after the last team at night, which makes for a 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. day sometimes.

He also makes sure the players get their souvenir programs, and keeps in mind how well the teams care for the locker rooms. That’s an element that plays into the sportsmanship awards, Goss said.