For nearly 40 years, Moe Bilodeau has made thousands of calls as a basketball and football official. Apparently, he's gotten a good number off them right.

Earlier this month, the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association announced that it was inducting Bilodeau into its Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2012.

“I was so overwhelmed when I got the news; it hit me pretty good,” said Bilodeau. “I didn't know whether to scream or cry. This came as a complete surprise to me.”

It shouldn't have. Many coaches, players and fellow officials, past and present, would concur that Bilodeau is deserving of the honor ... even if some of them can't resist a good-natured jab.

Stan Spirou, men's basketball coach at Southern New Hampshire University and formerly head coach at Manchester Central High, gave Bilodeau his first varsity assignment, a 1979 game pitting Nashua and Central in a showdown of 8-0 teams.

“I take full responsibility for every coach Moe Bilodeau has (victimized) over the years,” Spirou said. “I once found a cell phone that to this day I believe belongs to Moe. It has five missed calls on it.”

Spirou was just getting warmed up.

“Unlike today, thirty years ago high school coaches could assign any referee they wanted for their home games,” he continued. “Moe started out as a young man who had a goal in mind to succeed, and I wanted to give him a chance. It turned out to be a big game before a packed house, and he proved me right. He handled the pressure well and didn't screw up because we won the game.

“But seriously,” he concluded, “I couldn't be happier for Moe entering the NHIAA Hall of Fame. He's deserving of the honor, and he's one of the classiest and best officials around. Moe always put kids and the integrity of the game ahead of everything else.”

Manchester Central boys' basketball coach Dave “Doc” Wheeler rates Bilodeau as “one of the all-time great officials in the state.

“As a coach, you want two things from a referee: communication and consistency. Moe gives you both better than anyone,” Wheeler said. “Not only has he called over 100 games during my tenure at Central, he was calling games when I was 13 years old playing for Goffstown Junior High. I've known him forever, and he's still the same. He keeps the game fair and let's the kids decide the outcome of the game. If a kid is doing something wrong on the court, he'll point it out to them during the game. You don't see that very often from officials, but coaches and players respect it coming from him.”

A 1969 graduate of Manchester High West, Bilodeau became interested in officiating basketball as a student at Keene State College after serving two years in the Marines in the early '70s.

“I got my first taste at the YMCA in Keene,” he said. “I stepped on the court and had no idea what I was doing. (Players and coaches) chewed me up and spit me out.”

Bilodeau said Robin Beauregard, a longtime official from the Keene area, urged him to attend an apprentice basketball officiating class organized by the late New Hampshire Senate President Clesson “Junie” Blaisdell of Keene.

“Junie assigned me to my first NHIAA sanctioned game in 1974,” said Bilodeau. “It was a junior varsity game at Marlborough High, and I was determined to do it. Unfortunately, it didn't go smoothly.”

Bilodeau said his partner referee, whom he refused to name, tried to defuse an incident by throwing water at a player.

“It wasn't exactly the type of start I envisioned for myself, and I was lucky to leave there alive ” said Bilodeau. “I got five bucks for working the game, including a Coca-Cola and a hot dog from athletic director Jim Lincoln. My partner ended up getting suspended. The funny thing was, I got a phone call from Blaisdell, who thought I had thrown the water. That's when I met (the late) Gene Seaver, who worked with me during some freshman games. I learned in basketball, you're as good as your partner, and Gene was a very good teacher.”

In the 1970s George “Butch” Joseph, former athletics director for Manchester public schools, was at the top of the class in basketball officiating.

“It was Butch who told me firsthand that respect is earned, not given,” said Bilodeau. “I've never forgotten it.”

Joseph said he stopped officiating basketball after 23 years.

“Late in my career, travelling alone to places like Rochester, Keene, Hampton and Portsmouth took its toll on me. It was a strain,” said Joseph. “Moe has found a way to handle it better than most. When you have a day job followed by a night game to officiate, it really becomes a long day.”

Bilodeau knows exactly what Joseph was saying.

A physical education director for city parochial schools until 1981, he spent the next 30 years in sales for Pepsi before retiring earlier this year. All the while, he continued working as an official.

“I had a great gig doing women's college basketball at Holy Cross, Maine, Northeastern ... but it all changed when my daughter, who was 4 years old at the time, started wondering when I was coming home,” he said. “I gave up women's basketball because of my daughter and decided to stick closer to home with high school sports.”

Bilodeau started officiating football in 1990, but basketball is his favorite sport.

“There's always something going on in officiating, especially in basketball, where you're taking the heat,” he said. “Actually, I enjoy it. I once told someone, 'If you had a bad day,where else could you go to spend two bucks and get your frustration out by yelling at an official without getting in trouble?' Sometimes I call myself a therapist instead of an official.”

Bilodeau says he's lasted nearly four decades because he makes it fun.

“I've only thrown out one kid and one coach in nearly 40 years,” he said. “I don't have an ego. I do have a lot of self-confidence, and I learned at an early age that if you can control a game without blowing a whistle, you're doing a heck of a job. If you have an ego, you're going to be defensive and you're not going to last long as an official.”

The self-confidence Bilodeau talks about has helped him earn more than 25 championship finals in boys' and girls' basketball tournaments.

“I've done around 16 championship games on the Division I level alone,” said Bilodeau. “I'm proud of that, and I enjoy going to the different schools and seeing many of the athletic directors. People like Bill Whitmore at Bedford, Bill Ball at Exeter and Carol Dozibrin at Winnacunnet (of Hampton), just to name a few, have been terrific over the years.”

Al Neri, Dana Pratt, Don Winterton, Rich Zecha, Pat McCarthy and Bob Schiavone are officials Bilodeau said he's worked the most with over the years.

“Schiavone is probably the one I've worked the most games with,” he said. “The biggest upset game I ever officiated was in 1998 when Lebanon beat Bishop Brady (of Concord) for the state title. Brady was ranked third in New England that year.”

Add officiating the annual Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament, the Manchester Thanksgiving Day Football game, the New Hampshire-Vermont Alhambra Basketball Classic and the New Hampshire-Vermont Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, and it's no wonder Bilodeau, now 61-years-young, is heading into the NHIAA Hall of Fame.

He will tell one and all he couldn't have done it without the support of his wife, Kathy, daughters Molly and Kelly, and his two grandchildren.

“I wish every official had someone like my wife and family,” said Bilodeau. “I love them all.”

Staff reporter John Habib's “City Sports” column appears Saturdays in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Email him at jhabib@unionleader.com.