[lmeadski]

Racsim still exists today. I married into a family where some of my wife's brothers are truly racist. Be around them for a day and you would understand that. Racism isn't arbitrarily applied, it is a cultural/learned behavior. Surely, these refs, in their 16 years of reffing, would have exhibited racist behavior in the past. Had they exhibited such behavior, I would hope they would have been turned into their local and state associations to keep them from being in a position where their beliefs would impact the outcome of a game. The coach, by bringing up his racism concern in the way he did (playing it immediately and initially through the media), only served to discredit his claim (whether the claim was valid or not). In our local assocation, and in the state of Michigan, I believe the proper way to handle the situation would have been to bring it to the high school association, with a carefully examined copy of the tape of the game, and make the case. It is THERE and through THAT CHANNEL that true impact would be/could be initiated. Unfortunately, the coach sounds more like he is just upset that his kids blew a big lead. I did not see the game. I cannot comment on whether or not the refs called a slanted game or if the coach was looking for a scapegoat for the loss. Regardless, the issue of racism remains a problem we could all be faced with as basketball officials. Events like these tend to polarize us, not bring us together, not make us stronger, not bridge the chasms that exist in our society. The coach spoke his mind and may pay some serious penalities for doing so. The ref's reputations and careers may be jeopardized. It is hard to see who wins in a situation like this...do we all lose?

[Edited by lmeadski on Mar 7th, 2006 at 03:23 PM]