Trouble Bruin in the Pac-12 - & it Ain't UCLA!

[twocentsworth]

Fellas - the facts are simple:

- Ed Rush, in a meeting on Thr. of the conference tournament, told game officials he would pay $5,000 or give them a trip to Cancun to anyone who "rang him up" or "ran him".
- Ed Rush said the same thing in a meeting the next day, Friday.
- On Friday, one official (who was present in BOTH meetings) assessed a T to the very same coach (AFTER an incorrect call went against Arizona).
- Per a PAC-12 official, the game official who assessed the T doesn't normally give people a T (in fact he worked only 11 games this yr w/ a T; which ranks him tied for 144th nationally).
- The ONLY T that Miller got during the year was in this game.

When you think about it, here's where it gets even more suspicious.

During conference tournaments, aren't players and coaches even more emotional than during the regular season? The officials that are selected to work these games not only get plays right, but more importantly, have the ability to manage players/coaches during incredibly tense situations.

During the BCS conference tournaments this year (PAC 12, Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, & Big East), do you know how many times a coach was assessed a T?.....

TWICE: Arizona's Miller and UCLA's Howland (vs Oregon in the Champ. Game).

During the 68 total tournament games played, some of the most volatile and boisterous coaches in America weren't penalized...yet a guy who had not received 1 T all season gets one AFTER the Supervisor specifically targets him in a meeting - not once but TWICE?

You're right....it WAS a joke after all.

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by twocentsworth

Fellas - the facts are simple:

- Ed Rush, in a meeting on Thr. of the conference tournament, told game officials he would pay $5,000 or give them a trip to Cancun to anyone who "rang him up" or "ran him".
- Ed Rush said the same thing in a meeting the next day, Friday.

Regardless of the bad timing and wrong environment to make such a "joke", wouldn't a SUPERVISOR need to have a better sense of how his "joke" was going to be interpreted? I can understand a couple staff officials kidding around about collecting a reward...but the SUPERVISOR??? Pretty astounding to me.

[Judtech]

I predict the first T in the PAC-10 will go like this:
Coach sees a call he feels is questionable
Coach asks official if Rush paid him to make that call
Coach gets T
Coach asks how much Rush paid him to give the T
Assistant Coach takes over coaching duties the rest of the night.

Every close or 'controversial' play made by officials supervised by Rush will now be endlessly, and some would argue appropriately, by everyone. How does that not harm officiating?

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by twocentsworth

Fellas - the facts are simple:

- Ed Rush, in a meeting on Thr. of the conference tournament, told game officials he would pay $5,000 or give them a trip to Cancun to anyone who "rang him up" or "ran him".
- Ed Rush said the same thing in a meeting the next day, Friday.
- On Friday, one official (who was present in BOTH meetings) assessed a T to the very same coach (AFTER an incorrect call went against Arizona).
- Per a PAC-12 official, the game official who assessed the T doesn't normally give people a T (in fact he worked only 11 games this yr w/ a T; which ranks him tied for 144th nationally).
- The ONLY T that Miller got during the year was in this game.

When you think about it, here's where it gets even more suspicious.

During conference tournaments, aren't players and coaches even more emotional than during the regular season? The officials that are selected to work these games not only get plays right, but more importantly, have the ability to manage players/coaches during incredibly tense situations.

During the BCS conference tournaments this year (PAC 12, Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, & Big East), do you know how many times a coach was assessed a T?.....

TWICE: Arizona's Miller and UCLA's Howland (vs Oregon in the Champ. Game).

During the 68 total tournament games played, some of the most volatile and boisterous coaches in America weren't penalized...yet a guy who had not received 1 T all season gets one AFTER the Supervisor specifically targets him in a meeting - not once but TWICE?

You're right....it WAS a joke after all.

These are exactly my thoughts. Rush should be fired by the conference. We already aren't trusted by the public in general, and this just makes it worse. And like JRut, you can talk all day about how you "Don't care what the public thinks", but in this situation, it does matter.

[Adam]

I don't think he should be fired, but I'll be surprised if he isn't. I also think the idiot who leaked the joke should be let go by the conference. This isn't whistle blowing, it's spite.

[TheOracle]

Originally Posted by Adam

I don't think he should be fired, but I'll be surprised if he isn't. I also think the idiot who leaked the joke should be let go by the conference. This isn't whistle blowing, it's spite.

Slippery slope. One guy quit before the tournament who worked the last 9 consecutive championship games. Two former Final Four officials opted to work smaller conference tournament games rather than the Pac-12. You cannot have that much internal strife with that many accomplished veterans without very serious problems with the entire organization. Larry Scott thought the organization was sick/weak, and brought in Rush to fix it. Rush made it worse, whether these comments came out or not. Bad hire that needs to be rectified regardless.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by TheOracle

One guy quit before the tournament who worked the last 9 consecutive championship games. Two former Final Four officials opted to work smaller conference tournament games rather than the Pac-12. You cannot have that much internal strife with that many accomplished veterans without very serious problems with the entire organization.

You must not have been around college basketball officiating very much. There is ALWAYS that much strife with a change in coordinators. New coordinator means changes, different game assignments, some get less, some get more ... and some get disgruntled.

Same thing has happened over and over in different leagues as new coordinators have taken over in the last 5 years. Completely standard.

Originally Posted by TheOracle

Larry Scott thought the organization was sick/weak, and brought in Rush to fix it. Rush made it worse, whether these comments came out or not. Bad hire that needs to be rectified regardless.

I don't know that your assessment of why Rush was brought in is all to on target either. Seems like you are just conjecturing ... unless you have some kind of insider info.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Brad

You must not have been around college basketball officiating very much. There is ALWAYS that much strife with a change in coordinators. New coordinator means changes, different game assignments, some get less, some get more ... and some get disgruntled.

Same thing has happened over and over in different leagues as new coordinators have taken over in the last 5 years. Completely standard.



I don't know that your assessment of why Rush was brought in is all to on target either. Seems like you are just conjecturing ... unless you have some kind of insider info.

Just look at what happened in the BIG a few years ago. The entire staff looks very different than it did when the previous guy was in that position. And all I heard for 2 years is officials complaining about the staff and who got left off the staff by fellow officials.

Peace

[Brad]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Just look at what happened in the BIG a few years ago. The entire staff looks very different than it did when the previous guy was in that position. And all I heard for 2 years is officials complaining about the staff and who got left off the staff by fellow officials.

Assume you are talking about the Big 12? Hard to decipher when using "the BIG" and "previous guy"

It is ALWAYS that way when a new coordinator takes over ... When Kelley took over the Metro there was a guy that worked the tournament championship the year before that received ZERO games the next year!!

When a new coordinator comes in everything changes — with the exception of bitching and moaning ... that never changes.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by zm1283

These are exactly my thoughts. Rush should be fired by the conference. We already aren't trusted by the public in general, and this just makes it worse. And like JRut, you can talk all day about how you "Don't care what the public thinks", but in this situation, it does matter.

If it matters why does he still have a job? It must not matter that much. And this is not the Rutgers sitaution at all. There was no public funds going to this indiviual in the same way.

Peace