When Refs Attack ... and other thoughts as Champ Week heats up

Jim Burr. Tim Higgins. Earl Walton. Thank you.

Thou hast done something so incomprehensibly dim-witted that you have blessed me with the piss and vitriol necessary to write in this blog again.

You don't leave a game in the referee's hands. It's a cardinal rule on all levels of competition, and a staple in post-game press conference after a zebra makes a controversial call. Referees are human, they make mistakes and its almost ludicrous the way fans react when these things happen. The outpouring of fury when Jim Joyce blew Armando Gallaragga's perfect game last year went from justified to completely over-the-top in .2 seconds.

However, that's when a referee MAKES a controversial call. When three otherwise respected Big East referees decide to simply walk away from the closing seconds of a hotly-contested conference tournament game, all bets are off.

Let the flaying alive begin.



You watched that? Twice? A third time?

This is exactly why instant replay needs to be allowed in all game-deciding situations. In all sports. Now.

The head of NCAA officiating already said the ending of this game was "unacceptable," but then turned around and said guidelines would have prevented the play from being reviewed because there was no actual call made.

Well one might have been made if Burr, Higgins or Walton had even been slightly paying attention on the final possession. Instead, as you can see in the camera frame, only one of the three stooges is even visible throughout the deciding play and he's about 40 feet from the action.

Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong on this play.

Rutgers draws up a terrible final play with a heave to 3/4 court, hoping center Gilvydas Biruta will catch it.
Then Biruta is leveled by two St. John's players. No foul.
But then Justin Brownlee essentially commits three turnovers in 2 seconds. He travels right after the steal. Then he steps out-of-bounds with time on the clock, then he chucks the live ball into the stands, a potential technical foul.

But our three geriatric zebras are nowhere to be found. Don't believe me? Go to the replay. This is exactly why we need it.

This is bad, but I'm actually glad it happened in a game without colossal implications. Rutgers wasn't going to the Big Dance unless they won the Big East tourney(which means they still have to beat Syracuse, then Pitt or UConn, and then likely Notre Dame). St John's isn't playing for much other than seeding, and there's not much difference between being a 3 or a 4.

But you don't have to let your imagination wander too far to see how this could have severely screwed with this year's tournament proceedings.

Let's say it happens in one of the smaller conference title games, where the loser is headed to the NIT, the CBI or nowhere at all.
Let's say it happens in a power conference tournament's first round and KO's a bubble team.
Let's say it happens in the ACC or Big 12 Title game and costs Kansas, Duke, UNC or Texas a 1-seed.

I'm sure if this upset the apple cart in a game that mattered beyond today, someone would be kicking down the door of John Adams, the NCAA's head of officiating.

How many more times do we have to see teams lose games, in any and every sport, because something is "non-reviewable." No, I do not want to replace the zebras/human element in pro sports with cyborgs that get every call right. I just want to make sure both teams are given an equal chance to win. Why can't we update the rules to make that feasible?

Now that that's out of the way ... Rutgers fans. Your team still broke the cardinal rule! You left it up to the Zebras! St. John's tried to give you this game on several occasions, namely turning over the inbound pass up 64-63 and then missing the front end of a 1-and-1 to give you another possession with 5 ticks left! So you can be pissed, but don't act like Moe, Larry and Curly are the only reason you guys didn't move on to the quarters for the right to be pasted by Syracuse.

other stuff did happen/will happen in college basketball today, so here's a random smattering of thoughts:

- Nebraska became the first bubble team of the week to officially burst, losing to Big 12 basement-dweller Oklahoma State 53-52.

- Also in Big 12 action, Colorado nearly popped, but stormed back to edge Indiana State (you know, the team that's been basically irrelevant since Larry Legend was there) 77-75. Most "bracketologists" (hate that word) have Colorado as one of the last teams in, as they're still living off that resume-making win over Texas a few weeks back.

- UConn laid waste to Georgetown. These teams are headed in the exact opposite directions. If the Hoyas can't get Chris Wright back for the tourney expect a 1-and-done appearance. UConn could be dangerous as a 4 or 5 seed depending on how they do in the rest of the conference tourney. Date with Pitt looms HUGE tomorrow.

Tonight's must watch TV:

Big 12 Tournament 1st Round - Baylor vs. Okalahoma: With frosh Phenom Perry Jones ruled ineligible for this game and possibly the rest of the season because of improper loans. Baylor needs to win this game, and then probably needs to stun Texas in the quarters to get an at-large bid.

Big East Tournament 2nd Round: Marquette vs. West Virginia - Marquette's probably in after bouncing woeful Providence yesterday, but a win here would protect them from any bid-thievery in other conference tournaments.

NEC Title Game: Long Island University vs. Robert Morris - the NEC is a fun little conference that reminds me alot of high school ball, and RMU is an upset threat if they make the Big Dance. Could be a nice place for some of you to find a sleeper.

Knicks-Grizzlies: 1. It's the Knicks, did you forget who's blog you were reading? 2. These are two teams who could make upset noise in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs. Go watch!