Hugh Ralph "Sonny" Gamber (October 22, 1916 – February 26, 2006) was an American referee and basketball player. He starred at Davenport High School where he was selected to two Iowa All-State high school basketball teams. After graduating from high school, he played for the Davenport Central Turners. He then played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

University of Dubuque The University of Dubuque (UD) is a private Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian university in Dubuque, Iowa. About 2,200 students attend the university. History The University of Dubuque has had a long history in Dubuque since its foundi ...

before going on to play professionally for the Davenport Central Turner Rockets. He played for the team during the

1941 World Professional Basketball Tournament The 1941 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the 3rd edition of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held in Chicago, Illinois, during the days of 15–19 March 1941 and featured 15 teams. It was won by the Detroit Eagles ...

, where he led the team in scoring in its first round loss against the

Chicago Bruins The Chicago Bruins were an American basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Chicago Bears football team owner George Halas, the Bruins were a member of the American Basketball League, a league that also featured other National Football ...

. Following his stint in the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Gamber continued to play for the Rockets in the late 1940's. Following is playing career, he became a basketball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

referee. He started with high school basketball games, before moving on to the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

and the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

. In 1960, he became an official in newly formed

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

. In 1968, he was part of the officiating crew of the infamous "

Heidi game The ''Heidi'' Game or ''Heidi'' Bowl is the name given to a 1968 American Football League (AFL) game between the Oakland Raiders and the visiting New York Jets. The contest, held on November 17, 1968, was notable for its exciting finish, in ...

" between he

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

and the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, where the game's television broadcaster

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

broke away from its coverage on the East Coast to broadcast the television film Heidi which caused many viewers to miss the Raiders' comeback where they scored two touchdowns in the final minute to win the game 43–32. He went on to officiate ten conference championship games and was part of the officiating crew in

Super Bowl V Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to determine the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

. He retired from officiating in 1976. Gamber died in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

in 2006.

References

External links

Profile
on Pro Basketball Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamber, Sonny 1916 births 2006 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball people from Iowa National Basketball Association referees National Football League officials