Article pointing finger at Racist Referees

[Juulie Downs]

Of course, we all know that there are individual refs out there that are racist, and that some of those choose which calls to make based on the color of the player. The writer simply makes no case for that being the sitch in this game, or in any particular game. He presents no evidence at all that what he says is true. or that it's applicable to the game he discusses.

And why isn't ne concerned about the 90% black team having a black (or mixed?) coach? Surely if race is an issue in reffing, it's an issue in coaching.

What's most disturbing about this is that he seems to think that a few racist refs can ruin the lives of a lot of kids. I suppose that's possible, although I don't think we really have all that much power. But whether the issue is race, gender, socio-economic status or a bad nose job, I still believe that as long as a kid keeps blaming the referee, the kid is then not getting better at basketball. And when the kid isn't getting better, then the kid isn't going to move up.

When my daughter was playing, there was a game where the refs clearly were planning for my daughter's (mostly black) team not to win. This decision was probably based on race, although it may not have been. But after the game, my daughter's coach (black) gave those girls (and the parents!) a lecture. He said, "Any of you that were going to get a scholarship have already gotten it. So you didn't lose anything. If you wanted to advance in the tournament, you should have shot better, should have blocked cleaner, should have gotten more rebounds. You are good enough players that you could have won this game even if the refs had been messing with the clock. They didn't take the game away from you, you gave it to them."

I think this coach could probably say the same thing, judging from the outcome of the game.