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Jim Kinsey and Dee Kantner were fired last summer, primarily because they got extremely low ratings from coaches and general managers. I thought that both of them were doing a great job. No, I didn't see all of their games. But I did catch quite a few of them on Tivo, and transferred most of the games to VHS. After they were fired I went back and watched the tapes again, trying to find where they were screwing up. The only time I really couldn't tell whether they were right or not was when the action wasn't caught on camera. Otherwise their calls/no calls were dead on. I lost count of how many times I went to the rulebook on the internet just to make sure about the rules. Sure, they pissed off a lot of players and coaches! (Do you suppose that the officials in the current playoffs would be blowing the whistle as often as they are doing now if they weren't under such close scrutiny all of a sudden, now that everyone is up in arms about the NBA officiating???)
In all honesty now...I have to admit that I have a poor attitude about the NBA, but not because of the coaches or players. It's the fans. Too many of them act like thugs. A couple of years ago I was caught in the crossfire between 2 groups of fans who had been taunting each other throughout the game. After the game was over, they moved toward each other and started throwing punches, etc. I was hit in the head with a pair of binoculars and darn near lost my right eye. So no more NBA for me, at least not in the arenas!
Maybe there was justification for firing Kinsey and Kantner, but try as I will I just don't see it. I don't know what Jim Kinsey is doing now, but Dee Kantner is back in the women's game and is doing great. At least she is appreciated.
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