Texas-La Tech game broadcast
 

I have a very low expectation of the broadcast team when it comes to rules knowledge. I have to wonder if the play-by-play guy ever played the game. Early in the first half, La Tech was inbounding the ball from the end line in their offensive end. During the throw in, T calls illegal screen. The play-by-play guy says Tech got called for 3-seconds. The analyst bailed him out and noted the illegal screen.

Late in the half, things got really fun for the guys behind the mic. Texas missed a shot, Tech player grabs rebound and on the way down contacted Texas player in the face with an elbow. L (new T) called intentional foul per new rule. Analyst goes on and on about this being new rule in college ball, how great the call, we gotta protect "the kids", etc.

Refs get together briefly, then explain to the two benches what they got. Kid from Texas goes to the line and makes 'em both. Texas inbounds from the endline and scores.

Tech inbounds the ball, the guard gets about twenty feet up the floor. TWEET! Two of the refs get together and its obvious: Houston we have a problem. The wrong guy from Texas shot the free throws. Correctable error. The refs handled it correctly; got the right shooter on the line & resumed POI.

The guys behind the mics were completely lost. Play-by-play guy didn't have a clue at all. The analyst kept talking about do-overs and how the refs must be looking at the monitor to see how much time to put back on the clock. He said he was sure the NCAA coordinator of officials would be seeing this one, and that memos would be coming out to reminds the refs the correct ruling. :p Both were stumped that the free throws would be "done over" but the refs were allowing the field goal by Texas to stand. :rolleyes:

During the halftime break when they threw it back to the studio, Fran Frischilla set them straight (mostly) by just about correctly explaining correctable errors.

I'm thinking about contacting ESPN to see if I could do a little rules seminar for their on-air guys (for a low-low fee, of course)

You might want to have someone else do it. If the play occurred as you described it, the refs blew it.

At the point where the event in blue occurs (specifically, the moment the ball became live for the throwin), the error is no longer correctable.

Hey you're right! I was confusing Art 2 & Art. 3. Now that I know it can I still do the seminar?:D

I just watched this play on ESPN3 and they fixed the error within the correct time period. Texas scores but before the La Tech player begins his throw-in they stop play to review the monitor for the correct shooter. So they did it BEFORE the ball became live following the 1st dead ball.

Back in the early 70s when I was just a mere child (yeah, right), for two years I broadcast HS and a local college's basketball (and also HS football) games on the radio. This was in the Chicago suburbs. I did play-by-play and I worked with a color commentator who, supposedly, had played HS basketball. Even though I knew we weren't "perfect" in our rules knowledge, he sometimes said things that stymied even me. One of his favorites, which he used quite often, was saying that the HS and college officials got an OOB call wrong because the player actually was "forced out" and they should call that.

And yeah - he complained about not having the reaches and over-the-backs called, but pretty much a lot of people did that back then. Ya' know - they still do. :rolleyes:

The best part? In the two years I called basketball, I never had an overtime game! It was a sign from the future. :cool:

OT - the station was WKKD in Aurora (still there but with different call letters) and I was the news & sports director. During the time I worked there, I got to interview some show biz dudes including Jerry Lewis and Bill Bixby. It was a cool job, especially when I filled in as a DJ.

Where's Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. When You Need Him ???
 

I think that this actually was once a rule. Before my time. Yes. It is possible that some basketball was officiated before I started officiating.

Hope That You Didn't Get Him Upset ???
 

If I remember correctly (and at my age, that's not a given), it was a rule in the NBA only. I remember Dr. Naismith talking about it. ;)

When I interviewed Bixby, he was doing The Courtship of Eddie's Father at a local summer playhouse between seasons of filming his television series of the same name. I interviewed Jerry Lewis because he came to town to promote the opening of a movie theater which was part of a chain in which he was a major investor. The chain was going to show only family oriented movies. I reminded him of the time I met him in Vegas a few years earlier when I was a teenager (I used to visit there in the summers because my grandfather worked at the casinos on the strip) and he remembered me! He had pointed me out in the audience during one of his shows because we were both wearing red sport coats and he called me up to the stage. Talk about weird!

OK - was this OT or what?