Bakker Lawyer Wears Stripes--as a Referee

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. —  The attorney for jailed television evangelist Jim Bakker will be wearing stripes of his own Saturday.

Harold Bender, a Southern Conference referee, will lead the officiating crew at the Virginia Military-Marshall game.

“I do not like the notoriety on the football field,” Bender said. “I’d rather no one know me. If I can work a football game and people leave the game talking about the game and not even knowing the officials were there, that’s the best thing that could happen.”

The game will be Bender’s first since Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison earlier this week.

“It’s going to be a real treat trying to get back to normal,” Bender said.

For six weeks beginning Aug. 21, Bender argued the evangelist’s case in federal court in Charlotte, N.C.

On Saturdays, Bender relaxed with a game of football and occasionally argued with coaches who didn’t like his calls.

“It (refereeing) is total relaxation, but not to the point that you’re not mentally alert,” Bender said. “You concentrate on what’s going on at the time and you block out Monday through Friday.”