Plonk (wine) fancy affair. For example, if a party guest is worried about the social level of the occasion, a host might assuage his or her concerns with the phrase: "Oh, just bring a bottle of plonk." Indeed, probably the most famous literary use of "plonk" comes in Willy Russell's play "Educating Rita". Working-class Rita decides she cannot attend a party to which academic Frank has invited her, since she is ashamed of the wine she has bought and feels out-of-place. When Rita reports her anxieties to Frank the following week, he castigates Rita for being too self-conscious, reassuring her: "It wouldn't
Ted Valentine took a class. He began refereeing at kids games, later moving up to junior high and high school games. In 1981, he attended a refereeing camp in Bristol, Connecticut run by NBA Hall of Fame member Dallas Shirley. While there, he poured out a cooler of ice water from a window onto sunbathers below the window. Shirley threw Valentine out of the camp for the stunt. A few months later, Shirley offered him a job as a referee. Valentine worked his first NCAA Division I basketball game in 1981 at the former Baptist College, now Charleston Southern University. He was