See no evil, call no evil, ref no more
Somewhere at a blackjack table in the AC, Tim Donaghy is hoping that people will forget his name. And he may well get his wish, because college officials to give the critics of officiating new ammunition almost daily.
The latest exhibit - the Big Sky conference suspended three officials late Monday for “misapplication of rules” in a game between Montana and Idaho State on Sunday. Their particular bone-headed move - not calling a technical foul on the Grizzlies when they attempted to call a timeout they didn’t have in a tie game. The correct call would have given Idaho State a few shots to take a lead with 1.2 seconds left. The actual call let Montana win in overtime.
Officiating a sport at a top level - bear with me that Big Sky is “top level” basketball - is hard work, and I do not come to bury these men. I mean, it’s not as if there is some really famous example of how that rule is supposed to be applied or anything …
… but seriously, folks. This isn’t a matter of getting a split-second call wrong, or abuse of discretion. They FORGOT something - either the rule itself, or that they could check the replay. So, suspend away, Mr. Big Sky Commissioner … and Mr. Donaghy, next round is on the house.
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Interesting, but I’m not sure if there’s a larger conclusion to be drawn here beyond “at the mid-and-low-major level, it is the private, often religiously-affiliated colleges tend to have more money to throw at their basketball budgets than their smaller-state-school conference mates.”
(Example: until their move to the Horizon League this year, Valpo and Oral Roberts dominated the Mid-Continent Conference for the past decade, despite being the only two private schools in the league for the majority of that span. Neither school is Catholic.)
Comment by Papa Lou BSU — February 27, 2008 @ 1:30 pm
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And, apparently I’m a complete idiot and posted the above in the wrong thread. Sorry.
Comment by Papa Lou BSU — February 27, 2008 @ 5:30 pm