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Actually, in Illini country that isn't a testament to your geekdom... it would mean you have memorized required facts for all fans who root for the orange and blue.

He turned in those "supposed" violations on the basis of an illegal wiretap.

Illinois was never penalized for those "supposed" violations, but the NCAA apparently found other reasons to penalize Illinois. So, Mr. Pearl is still villified in these parts.

Does that make me a member of the "geekdome club"?

I remember the fans at Carver were dangling car keys when Thomas came to play. :)

Give the man a break.
 

First -- did anyone stop to consider that maybe he was standing under the basket because the stands might have been full by the time he got there? I mean, the man is the head coach of a fairly successful Division I basketball team. It's about a 2-hour drive from Knoxville to Chattanooga (where the game was played), and I know they had practice that afternoon.

Second -- everyone is giving Pearl a bad rap because he got asked to leave two ballgames. I know the guy that had him removed from his son's game last year and have officiated both football and softball with him, and his primary reason for ejecting Pearl was so he could go around and say, "I'm the guy that tossed Bruce Pearl." The crew chief from that game last year was on my varsity football crew this year, and he told me that there was absolutely no way he should have ever been ejected from that game, particularly since it wasn't even Pearl that was being loud, it was the guy next to him (which just happened to be former Univ. of Tennessee/NY Jets QB Pat Ryan, whose son also played on the team; Ryan admitted as much to the Knoxville newspaper).

Third -- if I ever eject someone for saying "Come on, let them play," please take my whistle and string me up by it. If an official can't be any more thick-skinned than that, he doesn't need to be working varsity high school basketball.

Is the geekdome near the RCA Dome?

First, the "crew chief?"

Second, would you like to bet that the official, who rightfully has not spoken about the issue, would have a different description of the incident than Coach Pearl?

Third, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...