Sports community rallies around beloved Tri-Cities referee, business owner with cancer

If anyone attends a boys or girls high school basketball game in the Tri-Cities, Hermiston and Walla Walla this weekend, they may notice the light purple bracelet people will be wearing.

That purple bracelet is a sign of support for long-time sports official Tony Wise.

The 48-year-old Wise is battling stage 4 cancer as you read this.

A truism in sports officiating is that if the official does his or her job right, no one should notice them.

Tony Wise has been one of those officials — except that everyone still knows who he is.

That’s because Wise has been a basketball official for 26 years now. You don’t last that long unless you’re pretty good, and he’s good enough that he’s officiated in state high school basketball tournaments.

Personally, I know of him because he always seemed to be reffing the old Media Classic All-Star Games. The games were for charity, and he always donated his check back to the cause.

People also know him because, as an owner and general manager of Tri-City Glass, Wise sponsored — as his best friend RB McCord put it — “over 100 youth sports teams over the years.”

Wise has been battling cancer for some time now.

Esophageal cancer hit him hard. And that cancer has spread to his brain stem.

Wise hasn’t been able to officiate basketball this year, instead trying to convalesce at his family home and supported by his wife Jamie and 9 year-old daughter Livia, as well as his father and sister.

And while that basketball official-basketball coach relationship can be adversarial during a game, a number of coaches want Wise to understand what he means to them.

It was McCord, fellow referee Con Higley and other officials, as well as Kamiakin coach Brian Meneely, who felt they needed to show Wise what he means to the local community.

Soon after, Columbia-Burbank boys head coach Todd Schumacher was brought in to help.

So this coming Friday and Saturday — at many high school basketball games and with the blessing of the Washington Officials Association — athletic directors, players, referees, coaching staffs, game workers and many others will be wearing a light purple bracelet to honor Wise.

Over 30 teams will be donning the bracelets.

“I was hoping Tony could get to one of the games this coming weekend, but it doesn’t look like it will happen,” said McCord.

Meneely has kept tabs on Wise through other officials, and he wanted to do something.

“Tony helped me when I was in Little League,” said Meneely about when he first met Wise. “My biggest thing is Tony is such a great guy. Nobody is getting rich reffing basketball. Tony has just wanted to be around kids, and give the kids a good experience by refereeing basketball.”

Meneely said Wise has influenced a lot people in the community, “and we thought it would be great to let him know that we all are supporting him in his fight.”

Meneely said every Thanksgiving weekend his basketball team has a scrimmage. Wise would bring his buddy Con Higley, and the two would always show up to officiate for him.

Higley says this has been tough on his own family to watch Wise go through this battle.

“I walked into the Kamiakin locker room after a game recently and told Brian Meneely, ‘Do you know how tough it is to not have him out here with me?’”

“We pretty much started (officiating) at the same time,” Higley continued. “Of all the people in this world why does it have to happen to him?”

Higley’s wife, Bette, added that Wise is the planner. The guy who gets things planned for all of his family and friends.

Con Higley agrees.

“Tony is just a great person. He would always be there for anybody at any time. That’s just how he is,” said Higley.

McCord is a 1994 River View High School grad, while Wise graduated from Kennewick in 1993.

“We played American Legion ball together,” said McCord, who runs a Facebook account called Team TWise that allows his ever-growing community of friends to follow his battle. “He’s my best friend.”

Wise played baseball for the Lions in high school, then had college stops at Columbia Basin College, Central Washington University, and finally at Paine College in Georgia.

But after college and baseball, Wise came back to the Tri-Cities to take over the family business and let his parents retire.

And then he dived into the community.

Schumacher said he used to live next door to Wise for 10 years.

“He’s given back (to the community) financially,” said Schumacher. “There is a sign of Tri-City Glass on the outfield wall of the CBC baseball field. He was even the scorekeeper for the Tri-Cities Posse back in the 1990s when they needed him.”

There are the numerous youth sports teams he has helped, as previously mentioned.

Then there is the officiating. Schumacher said Wise has always been a leader among basketball referees.

“He’s helped Mano (assigning secretary Chris Manolopoulos) when there is a weird scheduling conflict.”

Higley said Wise has gone above and beyond that.

“He’ll go to games to watch, and then give feedback to other, newer officials,” added Higley.

Meneely said the basketball community is in on this battle with Wise.

“The last thing we want to do is let him be in the background,” said Meneely. “We want him in the forefront of our minds.”

Meneely is correct. People sometimes fight these health battles by themselves or with small circle of family members and close friends. This allows the basketball community to let Tony Wise know that it is praying for him and thinking of him.

So please grab a purple bracelet this weekend. Let’s all show Tony Wise our support.