[Back In The Saddle]

If you follow BYU, you know that they take their timeouts in the "bench area" between the sideline and nearer lane line. At home they even have five stools they bring out for the players to sit on. So it's the ususal thing for them to be out on the floor during a time out. Yesterday (BYU v. UNLV) I watched Coach Cleveland walk out nearly to the free-throw lane line (and I was honestly wondering what the heck he was doing...and expecting to see a T), before the official finished up what he was doing and acknowledged the TO request. What's my point? At this level, there are obviously allowances made for the normal course of the game. That includes players and coaches coming out onto the floor in a time-out situation. For the official to unexpectedly penalize this normally accepted behavior to attempt to cover his own backside is absolutely reprehensible! Bigelow had every reason to celebrate, and every reason to be out on the floor. A TO was requested (right in front of him, it sounds like). An official blew his whistle to acknowledge the TO request. That's a dead ball, folks. That's a time-out. Were it not for the poor judgement of one official, the game would not have amounted to anything more serious than another agravating road loss for BYU.