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Originally posted by Back In The Saddle
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Originally posted by Snaqwells
See the "hartzell not working" thread. His decision not to officiate in this tournament had nothing to do with any phantom "conflict of interest." He did it because he'd been asked to do games the same day UNI plays. It was a conflict of schedule, not of interest.
ESPN's reporting is horridly sloppy here. Interesting how they try to give themselves credit for taking a ref out of the tournament.
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We'll never know exactly why Hartzell bowed out. I'd be willing to be that the conflict of interest BS played a part in the decision. Both sides will say what benefits them in the media, but I'm willing to bet that both the NCAA and UNI wanted the story to go away. Even if there were no pressure on Hartzell from either of them, I'd bet that he considered the potential negative impact on his school when making the decision. 
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We can only go by what he said. I heard him on the radio this morning say specifically that it was solely about being able to be present in support of his teams. He's got wrestlers today and the basketball team tomorrow.
He stated explicitly that it had nothing to do with any of the crap going around. I think he's received enough support from the people that really matter (assignors, other officials, etc.) When asked about the folks on the national scale that might claim they got to him, he said they'd be wrong.