Whether it’s hitting the winning three-pointer at the buzzer or scoring three touchdowns to erase a 20-point deficit, it takes a special talent to perform in clutch situations. But it takes another level of composure not to laugh when, after such plays, the newly crowned intramural champions act like they just won the Super Bowl.

But so is the ice-veined nature of intramural sports’ student supervisors. These are the men and women that help with scheduling, supervising and refereeing intramural games. Or, as many people know them, the smug SOB’s that think they’re hot stuff cause they have clipboards and whistles.

Senior Teddy Risk has been a supervisor for two years and knows how heated intramurals can be.

“Floor hockey and flag football are the most physical and intense,” he said. “A lot of times people can get caught in the moment.”

Helping out with how to deal with these “moments” is Scott Flickinger, the new intramural program coordinator, who came to Ithaca just this month from Ohio State University. Going from 55,000 possible intramural athletes to 6,000 must seem like a cakewalk. But Flickinger said he has noticed something different here.

“The student supervisors are a little more excited about intramural sports here,” he said.

Being passionate is all well and good, but Flickinger is hoping to establish a more professional atmosphere within the multi-hundred-dollar department that is Ithaca RecSports. This involves improving the training and professionalism of intramural referees.

“We want to get better with training referees so that when students play, they are getting high-quality officiating,” he said. “That makes it feel more like a real game.”

Sounds like a man that knows the people he’s catering to. Hopefully better refs will prevent any basketball games from turning into NBA-like slugfests.

This is not to slight anyone who’s served as a referee in the past, as many conflicts usually stem from players. Senior Jeff Mills was a student supervisor for the first time this past fall. He said it’s amazing how people can get so into games and yet be so ignorant about what they’re doing.

“In softball, I had a couple of kids who got really involved but didn’t read the rules,” he said. “They’d just yell at me about rules that didn’t exist.”

But while some students tend to get out of hand, they are also the lifeblood of intramurals. Flickinger said he is always looking to students for suggestions on how to improve intramurals. Here’s one: beer pong league.

“Hydration sports are probably not going to work,” he said.