UNBELIEVABLE!

Ref chief: Towel T 'horrible call'

3-17-04

By TODD GRAFF, Staff Writer
The News & Record

GREENSBORO -- The supervisor of ACC basketball officials said Tuesday that the technical foul charged to N.C. State's bench in Saturday's ACC Tournament semifinal loss to Maryland was a "horrible call" and that the incident was one of the reasons Larry Rose didn't work the tournament final.

Rose, the lead official for the game, called a technical foul on N.C. State with 14:56 remaining because a manager was on the floor wiping up moisture during the course of play.

"It was a horrible call," said ACC associate commissioner Fred Barakat, who coordinates the league's officials. "That's why he went home.

"Technically speaking, the call was correct. But, as I told him, on the stage we're on, with ESPN and so on, you have to use some common sense. There's no reason to punish a team because a team manager is on the court wiping up a puddle. If (Maryland coach) Gary (Williams) didn't like it, I'd say we should do the same thing for him."

Barakat said he would need to speak further with Rose before making a decision on any additional penalty.

"I think he got a pretty big punishment" by not working the final, Barakat said.

Karl Hess worked the final for the fourth time, while Reggie Cofer and Jamie Luckie each worked their first ACC final.

Rose, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, is one of the league's most respected officials. He has worked nine ACC Tournament title games -- tied for second behind Lenny Wirtz' 13 on the all-time list. He has worked four Final Fours (1993, '98, '99 and 2003). He was named the Naismith Men's Official of the Year in 2002. He also is pictured in the ACC media guide with the list of ACC title game officials.

"According to the rule, the guy's right," Barakat said. "He did not make a mistake on the rule. So now I take it further than the rule. I told him, 'With 20 years experience, I could expect that out of (a less experienced official), but not you.' "

Rose's call came with State's 19-point halftime lead down to 53-43 and the teams coming out of a television timeout. Because N.C. State brings chairs onto the floor to conduct its timeouts, a team manager was wiping up the moisture left behind.

Rose had warned State coach Herb Sendek about similar delays "several times," according to Barakat, and called N.C. State for a violation of NCAA Rule 10-11, which comes under the heading of Bench Restrictions.

"They were warned during the course of the game that their chairs were out there too long and that they were wiping up the floor too long," Barakat said. "Larry had warned them a couple times, and I think Larry got a short trigger."

Maryland turned it into a four-point possession with Chris McCray hitting two free throws and John Gilchrist scoring on a layup. The possession led to a 10-0 run and certainly played a part in Maryland's 85-82 victory.

"They were on the rocks; it didn't help," Barakat said. "It took the wind out of their sails. They were making a run back. After they had thrown the ball all over the place, they had just started to regain their composure and whack, that came."

Asked whether he thought, given the situation and nature of the violation, it was one of the strangest calls he's seen, Barakat said, "Yeah. It was totally out of context."

Barakat said he spoke with Sendek about the call, although that didn't constitute an official apology from the conference. Sendek declined to comment on the incident Tuesday.

"He appreciated the call," Barakat said. "It was very positive. But there was nothing he could do about it."

Wow . . . . . just wow.

So here's another situation where a ref applies a rule correctly and is punished.

Why on earth would they pay $1000 for a ref if they're just going to intentionally set aside the rules that they are there to enforce.

Common sense would say not to bring the chairs on the court, or to make sure your done wiping the floor before the second horn.

If they don't want it called, take it out of the rulebook.

my two cents.

[Edited by ref18 on Mar 21st, 2004 at 09:54 PM]

Well that was some kind of display of professionalism, eh?

Makes me think twice about EVER working in the ACC!!

Spineless.

Z

I could go either way on this. It does say that he warned them several times so I guess he was in the right, but (and I didn't see the game) was the act of wipping the floor delaying the game? Just seems a little unnecesary.

This isn't about the call.

This is about the head of one of the most prestigious officials conferences in all of the NCAA Division I PUBLICLY trashing one of his members.

I don't care what the call was, or what game it came in. Absolutely inexcusable behavior.

I have been brought up in the reffing world so to speak with assignors that would rip me a new one when I messed up for the purpose of helping me get better. Maybe not rip a new one, but nonetheless it stayed right there and not all over the world. Right or wrong call to make in the sitch. Who cares??? But let's at least stand up for one of my favorite ethical principles of reffing...Don't critize another referee openly and in public. Now maybe this idea doesn't apply to administrators in the ACC, but then again maybe that's why I don't really care for the ACC. (Not really why I don't like them, but it doesn't help their cause with me.)

The other refs should have turned their shirts inside out :D

Seriously, that should not be put in the public by the supervisor. By rule he did nothing wrong. Opinions about the call may vary but the lack of professionalism by the supervisor is just wrong.

I am in shock and awe.

You see this in football season all the time, where they say that on further review, the refs missed one. This case is a bit different, but at the same time, if this isn't the way they want the game called, then Barakat should be free to explain it. I was in the car at the time this occurred and I can say that the MD announcers were extremely confused about what had transpired. so it is not unheard of for the head of officials in a major conference to explain his view of a call in a major game, especially if the call was controversial or out of the ordinary.

If you ref in one of the most televised conferences and collect that paycheck, you have to expect to get second guessed. And there are multiple responsibilities here. This isn't HS basketball, this is major college, major money. The rules are a little different with respect to assigners and officials. Not quite the NBA, but not rec ball either.

Coach, what would you do if your boss told the nation you did a terrible job?
The NBA does not do this. College conferences (most of them) do not do this. High school (that I know of) does not do this.
It is different when someeone is suspended for something like not admitting an inadvertant whistle (it happened). That assigner did not come out and say it was a terrible call. They took care of it and moved on.

Coach, read the article. He didn't second guess him. He didn't explain his view of the call. He blasted the guy, completely blew him away! There is no excuse for that. If he blew the call, then you make a public apology and move on. But you don't blow him away in the media.

OK, the horrible call quote is over the top I guess. I should have read it less quickly. You can say someone made an error without the extreme language. But I don't expect that the league will be silent in these cases either.

As for the NBA, their reffing seems to be the least accountable of any major pro sport except possibly hockey, which seems to have a little officials club. The NFL does it best, which is odd, because they are the only non-full-time officials.