Referee Favoritism?????

[DAce2112]

Saw this article in the local newspaper recently and would like to hear your opinions on the "Drive the lane. I'll take care of you." comment by a referee!

Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: TUE 03/14/00
Section: SPORTS
Page: 4
Edition: 3 STAR

Pastners flying high and often asproud parents

By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Staff

IF it's Tuesday, it must be Columbus, Ohio. Thursday means Salt Lake City. And then there's Lubbock.

Oh, goodness. Marla Pastner doesn't even want to think about the upcoming weekend, when she and husband Hal will be crossing paths, crossing the country and
eating up frequent-flier miles like candy.

Call it March Madness redefined: The parents go mad with pride.

If only there really was such a thing as Cinderella, then maybe this Kingwood couple could magically be in two places at one time, which is to say the women's
NCAA Tournament opener at Lubbock and the men's second round at Salt Lake City.

"Do you know how hard it is to get from Lubbock to Salt Lake?" Marla Pastner said. "We're going crazy."

But it is a delicious dose of madness, as theirs is among the most unique in NCAA Tournament stories. Eldest son Josh is a backup guard for Arizona's No.
1-seeded Wildcats in the NCAA West Regional. Daughter Courtney is a backup guard for Texas Tech's No. 3 -seeded Lady Raiders in the women's NCAA
Mideast Regional.

After the NCAA Tournament brackets were announced Sunday, the Pastners frantically spent the night making travel plans for every conceivable possibility.

"Hectic," Marla Pastner called it. "Very hectic."

But what fun.

Josh, a senior, is by his mother's definition, "the best-known scrub in the country."

But that's not to say Josh is not a key contributor. Anything but among the most talented players for the Wildcats, Josh's contribution has been well-chronicled over
the past four years. When the Wildcats won the 1997 national championship, star guards Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson both pointed to Pastner 's coaching
as a big help during the title run.

When Pastner walked on with the Wildcats, he realized he likely never would see significant playing time. He simply wanted to develop his coaching acumen under
Arizona coach Lute Olson.

He has done just that, earning a full scholarship as a freshman when coaches realized his worth in helping develop players, scouting reports and game plans. Josh
went on to earn a bachelor's degree in less than three years, a master's in 3 1/2 years and by this spring was taking Ph.D. courses, impressing with his work ethic all
the way.

He already has received calls from numerous schools interested in making him an assistant coach and has been mentioned among the candidates Stephen F. Austin
is considering for its vacant head coaching job - at age 22.

This past Saturday when the Wildcats defeated California to win a share of the Pac-10 title, it was Senior Day. In the final minute, Olson inserted Josh into the game
as more than 15,000 fans chanted, "Josh, Josh" amid the giddy celebration.

A roar went up, and one referee reportedly told Josh, "Drive the lane. I'll take care of you."

Pastner did just that and hit the free throws to get into the scorebook in his final game as a player.

Afterward, Olson treated Pastner 's farewell as if he was a player on the level of a Sean Elliott. Olson had Pastner 's No. 12 jersey framed and presented it to him
at midcourt. Then, Olson took his clipboard and gave it to Josh, saying, "You're going to need this."

Pastner 's teammates presented their captain with the net clipped for winning the Pac-10 championship.

"Marla and I just cried," Hal Pastner said. "I thought about how he was the last player on the ninth-grade B-team as a freshman at Kingwood. Now, the work has
paid off. There's no way we'd miss his last Tournament game."

But there's no way they would want to miss Courtney's first Tournament game, either. The former Chronicle Player of the Year has seen increasing minutes in her
freshman season for the Lady Raiders and has her own Final Four dream.

As the itinerary stands, Hal Pastner will be in Columbus, Ohio, today on a work-related trip and then fly across the country to watch the Wildcats on Thursday. He
then might catch Courtney's first-round game Saturday in Lubbock or stay in Salt Lake City if the Wildcats advance. Marla Pastner will travel to Lubbock.

Next week, the regional final stops could be Albuquerque, N.M., for Arizona and Memphis, Tenn., for the Lady Raiders. The Pastners have made open-ended
airline ticket reservations.

And what if both make their respective Final Fours?

"We'll find a way," Hal Pastner said. "We'll fly back and forth every day from Philly to Indianapolis. Wouldn't that be incredible?"

For these self-made basketball success stories - and their parents - it already is incredible. You might even call it madness.

[John]

Unless I missed it, the article left out the final score. If the game was out of reach, I think it's great. It's a moment this kid will remember for the rest of his life. The only bas thing is that it made the papers. When administering the free throw the offical should have quietly told him it was between the 2 of them. Heck, give the kid a break. Most of us would do anything to get a chance to score after sitting the bench for 4 years. In 5 years no one will care but the kid who has a copy of the scorebook framed and on his wall.

[jackgil]

Times have gotten better...at least the ref had good intentions. let me tell you a little story....I went to Providence College and graduated in 1967 (I was only 20). My last 3 years I roomed with probably the best guard ever to come out of Providence --- Jimmy Walker. We used to talk about the games togehter and he told me about the biased officiating PC got against New Orleans Univ. Now you must remember this was the late 60s and there was some serious prejudice in the South at the time. Walker almost fouled out of the game and he told me he overheard one of the refs say "Who is #24, we've got to get him out of the game, he's killing our home team...one more and he's gone". Now thats what I CALL FAVORITISM!!!! Walker was also called a few choice words by the guard on New Orleans to rile him...mainly the N word...all within hearing of the refs...no T.

We've come a long way.....

[Brian Watson]

Just for argument sake, did anyone watch the game? Was he "helped" or did he really get fouled? If he drove the lane and took a good thump, how did he get helped by the ref?

Anyway, while it may not be the most ethical thing to do, if the game was out-of-reach why not do this for the kid? Eventhough the officials really had no say, compared to the junk UConn pulled a few years back, this was tame. Let the kid have his 25 seconds of glory, let's call it the Rudy principle.

But, I'm sure that official will be a little more quiet next time.