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That Valentine might want to consider wearing a thong off the court too? Not worth a technical.

None of it worth a technical in a game to decide who goes to the Elite Eight. A calm, savvy referee understands he's not bigger than the game he's calling.

"I was not displeased with any particular call," Barnes said after the game. "I had wanted to talk with them the whole game and was just surprised they would finally talk to me. What happened at the end of the game did not need to happen."

No it didn't.

Valentine didn't have much to say about the controversy after the game other than, "The rules speak for themselves." The rules are one thing, common sense is another. A referee shouldn't have this kind of impact in this big a game.

The Dallas Morning News reported that when Texas' Brandon Mouton asked for an explanation on his fifth foul with about two minutes left Friday, Valentine said, "Shut the [expletive] up, you're not in the NBA."

People were a little skittish talking about what happened Friday night, lest they someday feel the wrath of Ted. Even on the broader subject of the role of officials late in big games, there was hardly a peep.

"I have to be careful about that one," Xavier coach Thad Matta said Saturday. "The only thing I can say is, I didn't see what happened. At that point, I really didn't care what happened. I just told Romain, 'You have like 19 tries, man. You just have to make one."'

Valentine has a reputation for a being a tough guy, not such a bad thing for a referee. But he also has a reputation for having skin as thin as tracing paper.

Tough and sensitive is a terrible combination for an official in college basketball, which is filled with coaches who believe it's part of their jobs to argue every call.

Valentine made a name for himself in 1998 by ejecting then-Indiana coach Bob Knight during a game against Illinois. It was seen as Knight getting his comeuppance for bad behavior and Valentine enjoying the come-upping.

The punishment for Valentine should be no NCAA tournament assignments for a long time. A referee has to recuse himself from the possibility of overshadowing the game in the final seconds. On Friday, Valentine asked where the spotlight was.
Copyright © 2004, The Chicago Tribune