[CYO Butch]

Of course I don't think hanging an employee out to dry is the right way to treat people, just ask William Tennet. If the collective community of this board has never experienced it in their work, it is very lucky. Crap does roll down hill, and the more visible the crap is to the public, the more likely it is to roll. I have never done it to my staff, and I have chewed out mid level managers under me who have done it to their staff. However, I have had a target painted on my back when it served my management to do so. I didn't like it, I felt betrayed, I developed some personal animosity toward the ones who did it, but I fully understand why they did it. My context was not basketball, and it wasn't the general public, but it was the same thing. I was sacrificed to get a client to believe we were taking action to help solve a problem they had. Of course, I was required to stay with that client, and ultimately got an award from them, but in the meantime, our upper management was demonstrating that they were responsive to the "client issues".
This was what the ACC was doing. They were redirecting the heat from their organization, and ACC officiating in general, onto one guy who made an unpopular call. It was not fair to him in any way, but that's life. The guy is near the top of his field, and is in a position that makes him an easy target for EVERBODY. That's the price he pays for being where he is.