I think I posted under the wrong thread ("Final Four Officials"), but here's my thoughts on the Duke game:
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This kind of stuff really makes me wonder.
The "cardinal rule" included on every NCAA officiating bulletin is "style of play will not dictate officiating". I assume this also extends to a conference's alleged style of play. The Duke-UConn game had A LOT, repeat, A LOT of physical play. Given the teams' recent history and tournament rivalry, the game was a train that could have easily jumped the tracks.
I saw very few, pretty close to NO foul calls that were not legitimate fouls. The only one I wondered about was Duke's 2nd last possession, where the guy drove, got stripped, and fell to the floor. They replayed it, but the camera was blocking out the area of contact. So I guess we'll just have to trust the lead official and his measly 20-30 years of NCAA experience, and God knows how many tournament and final four games.
For crying out loud, if the officials pass on calls, we're blind, dumb, and incompetent. Then a crew comes out, officiates a game CONSISTENTLY, and we hear the typical coach/fan dumb comment "HEY REF, LET 'EM PLAY".
This is why we officials are so quick to shake our heads some of the time - it's because you people can't make up your (Dexter)ing minds!
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BTW, nice how the CBS cameras caught coach K screaming "BULLSH*T" over and over at the refs after that no-call at the end...
[Edited by canuckrefguy on Apr 4th, 2004 at 08:18 PM]