The North Shore lost another legendary sports figure this week, as Salem officiating legend Larry McIntire died at the age of 85 Monday morning. An iconic local figure who dedicated more than 40 years to local high school basketball officiating, McIntire — a lifelong Salem resident — leaves behind a legacy of telling it like it is, caring for local sports and always championing his officials.
“The real legacy of Larry McIntire is the vast number of officials who he gave their first opportunity,” said Paul Halloran, who started working with McIntire back in 1993 when he got his first officiating job. “He had as much of an influence on officiating and the game of basketball as anyone else. He loved his officials, and he was always in their corner.”
“Larry was an unbelievable guy, a tremendous official and a great mentor to many,” said Bob Mullins, who has known McIntire for over 30 years and has worked with him as both an official and an assignor. “He was the type of guy who would always have your back. He was a great family guy, he was respected by all and he will be missed by many.”
McIntire has a resume a mile long, including being a member of the original officiating staff of the Big East back in 1979. After working some of the biggest games in college basketball history, McIntire eventually left the Big East to return closer to home and watch his kids grow and play youth sports.
The move back home led McIntire, who worked for 31 years as the Director of Parks and Recreation in Salem, to start working in high school basketball circles. He became an assignor of officials for the Northeastern Conference in the 1980s, then picked up the Cape Ann League a decade later. He eventually went on to be an assignor for the Catholic Central League as well, meaning there was rarely a basketball game in the North Shore that McIntire didn’t assign.
Not only did he assign games for three different conferences, but he also worked as an assignor for the MIAA North basketball tournament for 23 years.
“Between all his work as an assignor and his work as the Parks and Rec director, there was rarely a game in the North Shore — especially in Salem — that happened without Larry knowing about it,” said Halloran.
McIntire was a fixture at state tournament games and loved nothing better than to spend the day at the Tsongas Center watching all the North finals and visiting with officials in the locker room before and after each game. In fact, he caught five of the six North finals games back in 2019.
“We didn’t even know he was going to come last year, then all of a sudden he called up and asked when we were coming to pick him up,” said Halloran. “He spent almost the whole night there and had such a great time.”
Another legacy that McIntire leaves behind is the annual Larry McIntire IAABO Board 130 Basketball Tournament, which for the past few years has taken place at Beverly High School.
Board 130, which was granted its charter from the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials on Nov. 15, 1951, consists of more than 400 members who officiate basketball games from the grammar school level to the college level.
Named for McIntire in 2016, the Board 130 Basketball Tournament was a chance for McIntire to hold court and see some high-level basketball. He even got to watch one of his granddaughters play in the tournament back in 2018. McIntire presented the awards and scholarships — one each for a boy and girl — at the end of every tournament.
“That’s something that really meant the world to Larry, and I’m really happy we were able to do that for him while he was alive” said Halloran. “He always loved being there and talking to people and handing out the awards at the end.”
“The timing of it was just perfect because we already wanted to do something to honor Larry,” said Mullins, who is on the Board 130 tournament committee. “And for him to be able to see one of his grandchildren play in the tournament with his name, I know that was really special to him.”
