And it's not even March yet.

Mark and others, please keep one thing in mind when reading that blog: Alex and his buddies are UW Husky fans. There were probably too many big words in your response for them to handle. :p Otherwise, good job!

And "UW Kuwaiti" needs a hug. :D

I've enjoyed your banter with this knuckle head blogger. It's too funny to read. Here's an interesting article about Dave Libbey that is pretty straight forward and not slanted in either direction; and to top it off, the writer is from Arizona. :)

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/wildcats/277094

- nice story, I would have loved to seen this. Karl Malone wouldn't have liked Libbey:) "In a 2001 game at Pauley Pavilion, Arizona forward Michael Wright patiently set up to shoot a free throw. The Wildcats led 62-60 in a game of Top 25 teams. As Wright was set to launch his shot, Libbey stopped play.
He ruled Wright had taken too long. Ball to UCLA. The Bruins won in overtime, 79-77.
"I've never seen that call in 40-some years of coaching," UA coach Lute Olson roared."

Good Lord, how long did he stand there, then? My count on free throws is so slow it's almost a joke.

The reason that the complaints about Libbey have some traction is in fact incidents like this.

Michael Wright was known for taking a long time to shoot free-throws. I think some other P10 coaches actually complained about it. He always was really slow.

The issue that people have with Libbey, and how he chose to deal with this, was that it seemed like it was done in the manner designed to make it as big a deal as possible, rather than just resolving the situation, if in fact it needed resolution at all.

Wright *always* took forever, so why wait until he is shooting free throws at the end of a close game to address the problem? Wright, at the time, was one of the best power forwards in the conference, and went to the free throw line a lot. Why not handle this at some other point? A warning early in the game, a quick comment to Olson - "Hey coach, Wright is taking too long and we are getting complaints, tell him to speed it up" and then bang him early if you must?

Same with the illegal screen call on Hill. Was it illegal by rule? Maybe...but it sure didn't look like anything that typically gets called at any point in the game, much less in THAT situation. At least in this case, Libbey seems to have realized it, and said afterward he punted the call.

Where is the line between having the balls to make the late call, and LOOKING for a late call to make? Libbey certainly is not afraid to call what he sees, no matter what point of the game it is in - and he should be (and is) commended for that.

But sometimes I wonder if maybe he is doing a bit more - beyond being unafraid to make the Big Call, he sometimes looks like he WANTS there to be a Big Call to be made.

Final score of the Washington State Univ. at Arizona State game: WSU: 65, and ASU: 55. And the best part, is that Dave Libbey was the R, :D.

MTD, Sr.

Dave Libbey has been "Gutless" ever since he refused to T up Univ. of Portland coach Jack Avina in the 1983 Far West Classic. I mean, Hey-zoos! The Pilots were gettin' jobbed against Wazzou on their home floor!!
DL did get the assistant for going to the table to check on a possible scoring error during a live ball later.

How's THAT for a reference M.P.?

As the saying goes in D1 officiating, supplied by Richie Ballasteros, Pac-10 official God and owner of great hair, "You want the coaches to see you walk on the floor and say, 'Did you see the size of the wheelbarrow he was pushing?'"

DL's got a big one.

Who in the world is M.P. and can anyone spell T R O L L? :D

MTD, Sr.

MP usually means Mike Pereira, one of the most fan-friendly directors of officiating in pro sports.

Yes, I can spell troll. It is O D J. :)

Ummm
 

This hero worship for an official makes me wanna 'fro up. Some guy doesn't like Libbey's style and writes about it and people start ripping him personally for it.

Uh, I think some guy is ripping David Libby personally and then gets his feelings hurt when people rip him. It's called being a hypocrite.

Also, why is ok to rip David Libby but not ok to defend him?

Thirdly, I haven't seen anyone worshipping David Libby. Mostly folks point out that he has been to multiple Final Fours and regularly gets assigned the big games in the PAC-10. That's not worship, that's pointing out facts.

Get a grip.

What does 'fro up mean?

Something to do with his hair, I think.