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Guess I'll chime in here. I'll try to stay on topic.
Does racism exist in America? Without a doubt.
Do we have officials who are racist? Of course we do.
Are there there top-flight officials who are racists? Again, I'm sure there are.
Now the tough question. Would a racist official allow his/her bigotry to flow over to the basketball court? In my opinion I don't think his/her career would last very long or go very far if s/he did. I think a "real" ref's instincts take over on the court and s/he calls what s/he sees. It would take a monumental amount of forethought and concentration to make calls base on the race of a person wearing a particular jersey. An official doing that would be exposed anytime s/he worked in the presense of other compentent officials.
The most likely exposure of any type of bigotry would probably manifest itself in how an official interacts with the coaches and players during times of communication. The coach in this particular article made very little reference to his interactions with the officials. His accusations came across as an emotional outburst in my eyes. He really said nothing to back up any of his claims.
I live and officiate in the South. There are officials I have come across about whom I have my suspicions (In one case I have more than suspicion). But those views are based upon my personal interactions with these officials, not based on anything I've ever seen them do on the court. Even the one person who I know in my heart to be a racist has never done anything on the court to show that his/her bigotry has any bearing on what s/he does on the court.
again, just my $0.02, but that's what this forum is for. Right?
[Edited by BadNewsRef on Mar 7th, 2006 at 03:19 PM]
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