Shawn Wetzel is the unofficial “Mayor of Montana.”

He is not the most famous member of his family. That would be his late grandfather, Walter “Blackie” Wetzel.

Blackie Wetzel was a distinguished Blackfeet Tribal leader, activist and designer from Montana. He was famous for his part in creating the logo for the Washington Redskins. He rubbed elbows with Mike Mansfield and John F. Kennedy.

If you say the last name “Wetzel” in any corner of Montana, however, it is a pretty safe bet that people are going to think you are talking about Shawn. If you just say “Wetz,” they know you are.

It is almost impossible to dislike Wetz. He reminds many of us of Crush, the easygoing sea turtle in the animated movie “Finding Nemo.” Crush and his surfer dude attitude helped Marlin and Dory make it through the East Australian Current so they could find Nemo.

Crush might be the most likable character in the history of movies. Even though Marlin and Dory found themselves in a hopeless situation, Crush made it seem like everything was going to be just fine.

He called Marlin “Jellyman” and Dory “Little Blue” as he offered encouragement like, “Focus, dude” and “find your exit buddy.”

Wetzel has served as a volunteer boys’ basketball coach for Butte High the last handful of seasons. The 6-foot-8 former college basketball player added so much to the program. He added expertise, wisdom and levity, and he helped many players find their way through some rough current.

Just like Crush.

More than anything, Wetz added a genuine care and admiration for the players that was impossible to not see. There was not a dry eye in the Knights of Columbus Hall last spring when Wetz presented Hudson Luedtke with a genuine Blackfeet blanket in honor of him becoming Butte High’s all-time leading scorer.

Wetz came from a place of love and support.

I met Wetz shortly after he moved to town several years ago. I really got to know him on one December Saturday in 2022. That was the day that he and I refereed 12 girls’ basketball games together in a travel tournament in Dillon.

Kevin Engellant asked me if I could come down and work the games. I was not too keen on the idea because those tournaments can be a nightmare for officials. And that is a lot of games. But I jumped at the chance to work with Wetz.

Every game we refereed was made up of girls in the fifth and sixth grade. Wetz had all of them laughing and smiling the whole day. He had their parents laughing. He had their coaches laughing.

Even those coaches who treat a sixth-grade travel tournament game like it is the high school state championship game had their day brightened by Wetz. When they were mad at one of our calls, Wetz would quickly defuse the situation with a quick line and his super-chill attitude.

Refereeing at the younger age levels can often include almost as much coaching as it does foul calling. It isn’t coaching the X’s and O’s. It is coaching how the game is played. It is teaching players how to line up for free throws and how to inbound the ball.

It also sometimes includes offering encouragement to nervous players, and Wetz is the master of that. He’s Crush.

That is why I was so surprised to hear that Wetz was the victim of an assault by a parent at a basketball tournament last month in Anaconda. It was shocking to hear that it happened during a game in the girls’ middle school division of the tournament called the “Santa Slammer.”

I would think someone would take a swing at Saint Nicholas long before anyone would want to punch Wetz.

Yet, late in one game involving a team form the Kalispell area, a woman, who is the wife of the team’s coach and mother of one of the players, got really mad at Wetz. She took off her ear rings, ran down to the railing at Memorial Gym and took a swipe at Wetz.

When she did not connect, she jumped the railing, spit a loogie on his chest and then repeatedly swung and kicked at Wetz.

While Wetz had every right to push or punch back at the woman to defend himself, he did not. He simply used his reach advantage, putting his arm out to give her the Heisman.

All this happened while other moms and dads from the team screamed insults at Wetz, who was the object of the parent’s ire much of the game.

Parents in youth basketball often do not want fair officiating. Instead, they want their team to get every call. So, each whistle — or non-whistle — that doesn’t go their way is reason for them to lash out at the officials.

The parents of this team were also upset that Wetz would not let the players enter and leave the game like it was hockey. He made sure they checked in at the table and entered the game when called on at the next dead ball.

Again, it goes back to coaching how the game is played.

Many witnesses were on hand. Other than the few involved in assaulting the sports official, those observers back up Wetz.

A couple of highly-respected coaches, who were watching the game, wrote letters of support for Wetz because they heard the woman who assaulted him was trying to hurt him even more after the fact.

She apparently first contacted the Montana Officials Association to complain about Wetz. When she learned he is not a member of the MOA, she went to Butte School District No. 1 to levy a complaint.

Shortly after that, district officials told Butte High head coach Matt Luedtke that Wetz would not be approved to be a volunteer assistant this season. Since Wetz volunteered his time, the district does not have to give him an explanation for the denial, and it did not.

Was this woman’s complaint the reason? We don’t know. But it sure does feel like the victim is being punished.

He is also having his good named slandered. The aggressors claim that Wetz yelled some very disgusting words at them, and I know that is just not possible.

Nobody who ever really met him would think for one second that Wetz would start a fight with people in the crowd. It is just not how Wetz operates. He’s not a fighter. He’s Crush.

Hopefully, tournament directors and police are working to prosecute the woman who attacked Wetz. Her name and mug shot should be plastered on every newspaper and social media sight as an example of how not to behave.

She should be banned from the kind of sporting events people like her make so hostile.

Every referee who ever worked a travel tournament has a horror story. Angry, irrational parents and fans end the careers of so many officials before they ever really begin.

The yelling is one thing that most of us can take. It usually makes me laugh. Other times, I think the yeller might have a point. Maybe I did miss that call. Maybe I do need to pull my head out of a dark place.

What happened to Wetz, though, is beyond comprehension. It is so far over the line that you cannot see back.

That incident also clinches my decision to retire from refereeing travel tournament games. I already turned down as many games as I can. Now I will turn them all down. I am done.

The next time a fan at a travel tournament crosses the line, it will not be at my expense.

If they will do that to the Mayor of Montana, they will do it to anyone.

— Bill Foley, who is notably not the mayor, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 or Bluesky at @foles74.bsky.social. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.