High school science teacher Greg Dallinger grew up going to basketball games with his father, a chemistry professor at Wabash University who kept track of the basketball team’s stats for over 30 years. Sitting on the bench next to his father, Dallinger acquired his love of basketball.
Dallinger has followed in his father’s shoes by running the scoreboard for all of GDS’ home games for the past seven years he has worked at the school. “I like the game just being run well,” he said.
Dallinger started running scoreboards at Wabash University, where he taught chemistry alongside his father. At Wabash, Dallinger occasionally helped with recording stats, such as the number of assists of each player, radio broadcasting and keeping track of score.
When scorekeeping at Wabash University basketball games, Dallinger noted that there were different people who kept track of the game stats. “At most basketball games, you have a shot clock operator, game clock operator and scoreboard operator,” in addition to the team managers, he said. At Wabash, he had the opportunity to work in all three roles during different games.
At GDS, Dallinger runs all three jobs at once, which he said can be difficult. “There can be a lot that happens,” he said. As Dallinger keeps track of time and score, team managers from GDS log other stats and records next to Dallinger. “Sometimes I don’t see if a ball hit the basket,” he said. “The scorebooks on either side of me can say yes or no.”
“He takes his job so seriously, but you can tell how much fun he’s having in the process,” said senior Lila Boyle, team manager of and statistician for the women’s varsity basketball team.
Dallinger said that the most important part of his job is ensuring the games run efficiently and professionally. “It means a lot to me when other coaches and referees come in and say, ‘We’re at GDS. This game is going to be run well,’” he said. Dallinger added that he refrains from celebrating during games. “You cannot root for teams from the bench because you are an official administrator running the game,” he said. “I love when we do well, but I cannot celebrate.”
Dallinger started keeping the score at GDS when former athletic director Kathy Hudson asked him to in 2016. Dallinger had to contemplate whether he could take the job, because it would be a “pretty big time commitment.”
Dallinger also decided that if he was going to operate the scoreboard, he would do it for all teams—women’s and men’s junior varsity and varsity. Dallinger said he believes that “everyone deserves a well-run basketball game,” and he thinks that women’s sports specifically often “get the short end of the stick.”
In addition to loving basketball, Dallinger also loved to dance as a child. When he joined his high school dance team, Dallinger said he was the first male member of a dance collective in the state of Indiana, and he performed with the Indianapolis Ballet in three productions. Dallinger continued dancing in college. While his team did not compete in any tournaments, Dallinger danced at halftime during the College of Wooster’s basketball games.
As the spring sports season begins, Dallinger said he will enjoy a break from the time commitment of keeping the scoreboard for all of GDS’ basketball games but will also miss the role. “I just love basketball,” he said.