thebigabd
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By Neill Woelk Camera Sports Writer
Posted: 01/16/2010 11:51:12 PM MST
Gotta get this off my chest:
Are you kidding me? Sixty-eight personal fouls (and one technical)? Ninety-four free throws?
It's not often that I take the time to criticize officials publicly. In fact, in 30-plus years of covering sports, I've done it maybe a handful of times.
Today, make it a handful plus one. That wasn't a basketball game Saturday afternoon at the Coors Events Center, it was an embarrassment to the Big 12. The conference that considers itself one of the best in the nation should be ashamed of the crew it sent to Boulder for Saturday's Colorado-Kansas State game.
Not that anyone got cheated, at least not on purpose. This crew wasn't competent enough to slyly tilt their calls toward one team or the other. They were simply bad. Equal-opportunity terrible, on both ends of the floor, all day long.
Believe me, if both coaches could talk freely, they'd tell you the same. As it is, the tongues of both CU's Jeff Bzdelik and Kansas State's Frank Martin are still bleeding today after they spent the afternoon biting them.
Saturday's crew of Duke Edsall, Brent Meaux and Rick Randall gave a clinic on how to lose control of a game early, then ruin what should have been a terrific contest. They were inconsistent, incompetent and in a fog. At one point, when it became apparent that they were at a loss on how to officiate the game in front of them, theycalled the two teams together and pleaded with them to "clean it up."
But the only thing that needed cleaning up was the mess this bunch left on the floor. They should have hosed down the place before allowing the CU and Iowa State women to take the court later in the day.
Again -- nobody got cheated. The better team won. Kansas State dominated the boards and shot a better percentage from the free throw line than Colorado. Had the Buffs made some of their free throws in the second half, the outcome might have been different. And that`s where the game was played, at the free throw line.
On second thought, maybe a few folks did get cheated -- namely, the 10,852 fans who packed the arena expecting to see a quality game between two good basketball teams. Instead, they were treated to a never-ending parade to the free throw stripe, an endless afternoon of whistles and bad calls. A game that should have lasted about two hours instead took at least 30 minutes longer to finish, thanks to the work of the Three Stooges.
True story: the Big 12 representative on hand whose job it is to track fouls and grade the officials on the floor ran out of paper.
In the first half.
As one astute fan pointed out after the game, it was clear the officials were at a loss when the very first call was a double-foul. That`s a sign that the official knew something had happened, but wasn`t quite sure what -- and he didn`t have the courage to make the correct call. Instead, he compounded the problem and made two bad ones.
It was downhill from there.
There was the play in which a KSU player jumped sideways into a Colorado player -- and was awarded three free throws for his effort. Or, the time when a CU player clearly went over a K-State player`s back for a rebound -- and nothing was called (a play that ended up with KSU`s Martin drawing a technical foul).
But most of all, it was an afternoon of inconsistent calls, with absolutely no continuity in the way they were calling the game.
The sad part is that it would have been great fun to see how the game would have been played had the officials not spoiled it.
Even with the officials` anchor around their necks, both teams still did their best to at least make it entertaining. Kansas State maintained its edge for most of the afternoon by dominating on the boards, holding a 44-27 edge in rebounds. The Buffs, meanwhile, shot 53.2 percent from the field to keep it close, their third straight game shooting at least 50 percent -- all against ranked opponents. The Buffs actually made three more field goals than the visitors, but the Wildcats shot 54 free throws to a "mere" 40 for the Buffs.
And, despite the officials` efforts to kill a terrific atmosphere, it was still a great afternoon for basketball. A sold-out crowd, a close game and two good teams.
The atmosphere didn`t go unnoticed by Bzdelik.
"I sincerely hope they will continue to support this basketball team because if we can create the environment that we had tonight every night, we`re going to have some fun in this building," Bzdelik said. " They have created a wonderful environment and I hope they will continue to support this young team and grow with them. We can turn this thing; I believe that."
These young Buffs are indeed a team worth watching. They`ll continue to grow and improve, and it would be nice to see that crowd make an appearance again at CU`s next home game.
Well, make it that crowd minus the three officials.
http://www.buffzone.com/ci_14210188
Posted: 01/16/2010 11:51:12 PM MST
Gotta get this off my chest:
Are you kidding me? Sixty-eight personal fouls (and one technical)? Ninety-four free throws?
It's not often that I take the time to criticize officials publicly. In fact, in 30-plus years of covering sports, I've done it maybe a handful of times.
Today, make it a handful plus one. That wasn't a basketball game Saturday afternoon at the Coors Events Center, it was an embarrassment to the Big 12. The conference that considers itself one of the best in the nation should be ashamed of the crew it sent to Boulder for Saturday's Colorado-Kansas State game.
Not that anyone got cheated, at least not on purpose. This crew wasn't competent enough to slyly tilt their calls toward one team or the other. They were simply bad. Equal-opportunity terrible, on both ends of the floor, all day long.
Believe me, if both coaches could talk freely, they'd tell you the same. As it is, the tongues of both CU's Jeff Bzdelik and Kansas State's Frank Martin are still bleeding today after they spent the afternoon biting them.
Saturday's crew of Duke Edsall, Brent Meaux and Rick Randall gave a clinic on how to lose control of a game early, then ruin what should have been a terrific contest. They were inconsistent, incompetent and in a fog. At one point, when it became apparent that they were at a loss on how to officiate the game in front of them, theycalled the two teams together and pleaded with them to "clean it up."
But the only thing that needed cleaning up was the mess this bunch left on the floor. They should have hosed down the place before allowing the CU and Iowa State women to take the court later in the day.
Again -- nobody got cheated. The better team won. Kansas State dominated the boards and shot a better percentage from the free throw line than Colorado. Had the Buffs made some of their free throws in the second half, the outcome might have been different. And that`s where the game was played, at the free throw line.
On second thought, maybe a few folks did get cheated -- namely, the 10,852 fans who packed the arena expecting to see a quality game between two good basketball teams. Instead, they were treated to a never-ending parade to the free throw stripe, an endless afternoon of whistles and bad calls. A game that should have lasted about two hours instead took at least 30 minutes longer to finish, thanks to the work of the Three Stooges.
True story: the Big 12 representative on hand whose job it is to track fouls and grade the officials on the floor ran out of paper.
In the first half.
As one astute fan pointed out after the game, it was clear the officials were at a loss when the very first call was a double-foul. That`s a sign that the official knew something had happened, but wasn`t quite sure what -- and he didn`t have the courage to make the correct call. Instead, he compounded the problem and made two bad ones.
It was downhill from there.
There was the play in which a KSU player jumped sideways into a Colorado player -- and was awarded three free throws for his effort. Or, the time when a CU player clearly went over a K-State player`s back for a rebound -- and nothing was called (a play that ended up with KSU`s Martin drawing a technical foul).
But most of all, it was an afternoon of inconsistent calls, with absolutely no continuity in the way they were calling the game.
The sad part is that it would have been great fun to see how the game would have been played had the officials not spoiled it.
Even with the officials` anchor around their necks, both teams still did their best to at least make it entertaining. Kansas State maintained its edge for most of the afternoon by dominating on the boards, holding a 44-27 edge in rebounds. The Buffs, meanwhile, shot 53.2 percent from the field to keep it close, their third straight game shooting at least 50 percent -- all against ranked opponents. The Buffs actually made three more field goals than the visitors, but the Wildcats shot 54 free throws to a "mere" 40 for the Buffs.
And, despite the officials` efforts to kill a terrific atmosphere, it was still a great afternoon for basketball. A sold-out crowd, a close game and two good teams.
The atmosphere didn`t go unnoticed by Bzdelik.
"I sincerely hope they will continue to support this basketball team because if we can create the environment that we had tonight every night, we`re going to have some fun in this building," Bzdelik said. " They have created a wonderful environment and I hope they will continue to support this young team and grow with them. We can turn this thing; I believe that."
These young Buffs are indeed a team worth watching. They`ll continue to grow and improve, and it would be nice to see that crowd make an appearance again at CU`s next home game.
Well, make it that crowd minus the three officials.
http://www.buffzone.com/ci_14210188
