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

[TheOracle]

Originally Posted by Adam

This is where you lose credibility, IMO. You believe a guy who wasn't in the room over a guy who was? Or is there some other issue you're choosing sides over? Or are you saying you belive Miller over the official who called the T? Frankly, I will assume he was going over the top asking the official to ask for help. That's not a play you ask for help on. I'm going to ask this question, again.

In what other profession are you allowed to throw a tantrum like a 12 year old child and everyone brushes it off because of the stressful situation? Find me another job, please, where a public fit gets excused rather than punished. And there are jobs far more stressful than basketball coach where people are expected to act like adults. Somehow, coaches get excused from behavior that is otherwise expected and upheld.

I don't think Miller threw a major league tantrum. The call was missed, and at that juncture in that game it is important. His normal behavior, from the data on how many technicals he gets to his reputation, is fine. He's not Bobby Knight. If someone is lying in this case, I choose to beileve Sean Miller over Ed Rush.

Coaches can and should get technicals for crossing the line. Rush had a personal problem with Miller. He did not lilke him. I beileve, based on what I have read, that he took an opportunity to get him back through his officials, and by circumstance, you can make the case that it happened.

As someone who officiated, supervised, and now evaluates, I've seen most things. I think the responses from Rush have been despicable. Code? NevadaRef has it dead on--always assume that everyone can hear what you say, or keep your mouth shut. You shouldn't have to talk much about managing problem coaches or players in a locker room, your training should be applied evenly in all situations. You shouldn't have to tell war stories about using your authority to make yourself look good. If you don't like a coach or player (and it happens to everyone), go out of your way to ensure they cannot claim that you have a vendetta, and film doesn't lie.

If an official, assignor, coach, or AD does something wrong, they should be held accountable. It doesn't happen enough. In this case, the Pac-12 will be better for it.

[Berkut]

I don't think anyone doesn't think Rush was joking in that Irving won't be checking his bank account for a $5,000 deposit.

I think the officials in that room were quite certain the message being sent behind the joke ("If you get the chance, you damn well better bang or run Miller") was no joke.

Put it all together - Rush is in there slamming chairs around, throwing things, generally having a tantrum. He is making it clear that he is PISSED.

And then he specifically mentions Miller by name, and "jokes" about a bounty on him.

If *I* was the official in the room, I think I would have gotten the message loud and clear. If Miller steps out of line even a hair, and you don't ring him, you can say goodbye to your schedule next year.

[MD Longhorn]

Sounds like Rush's opinion of his demeanor during this portion of the meeting, and the 10 other guys perception of his demeanor differ by about 180 degrees.

As does the question regarding whether he called out the coach by name or not.

[Berkut]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

Sounds like Rush's opinion of his demeanor during this portion of the meeting, and the 10 other guys perception of his demeanor differ by about 180 degrees.

As does the question regarding whether he called out the coach by name or not.

THe ESPN article quotes officials who were in the room who said Rush did in fact specifically mention Miller, and only Miller:

Officials confirmed that Rush made the "joke" twice during the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday in a meeting and then again Friday after the Arizona-UCLA game when Miller was given a technical on a double-dribble call. The technical foul ended up being the difference in the game with UCLA beating Arizona by two. Miller was then fined $25,000 for his behavior, but Pac-12 officials say it had to do with Miller being warned.

"Ed Rush doesn't joke," said one official. "To say it was a joke is absolutely not true. If he meant it in jest, then he had time to correct it the second day and he didn't. And the only coach he mentioned was Sean Miller."

Officials confirmed that Rush went into the meeting before the UCLA-Arizona game and was banging a chair up an down, demanding the officials perform at a higher level. And then, according to the officials, Rush hurled a boxed lunch against the wall after the game, nearly hitting one of the officials in the head.

[BayStateRef]

Wow. So much to digest. And so much to discuss -- for a level (D-1) that few of us will see. And yet it touches us because we see ourselves in those officials, see our assignors in Ed Rush and see every coach we encounter in Arizona's Sean Miller.

So often on this forum, when anyone (fans, coach, media, other official) discusses in detail a call or non-call, many of us will say something like: "That is only one side. I'd like to hear that official's side."

Yet we rarely get to hear that side. The media doesn't hear it. The fans do not hear it. The coaches do not hear it. It might go into an internal report to a league, an assignor or a state office...but that's it. Most associations have a code or a rule that forbids officials from discussing their actions/calls/decisions in public. Only at the highest level (professional) do the leagues allow one person from the crew to speak about controversial calls. John Adams of the NCAA has gone on TV to explain calls/rulings (acting as sort of spokesman for the crew) in a few instances, but that is usually only at tournament time. We don't see or hear that viewpoint very often. At the NCAA level, we get videos that show crew errors -- not to point out flaws in the crew, but to re-enforce rules or points of emphasis for the rest of us -- an ongoing education process that is designed to make us better officials.

It is no accident that every network is trying to find another Mike Pereira, the Fox Sports analyst and ex-NFL official who is a huge hit as a commentator on rulings (made and missed.)

We hurt ourselves as officials with our code of silence. For those who keep referring to the original CBSSports report and its "anonymous source," I don't think you fully understand how the media works. This source is not anonymous to the reporter -- who has made a decision this person is to be trusted and "protected." If this source does not talk to the reporter, we do not know any of this.

I am not interested in the big picture politics behind the Big 12 and Ed Rush. But I do understand the many reasons this has taken hold. There are lessons for all of us in this.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by TheOracle

If someone is lying in this case, I choose to beileve Sean Miller over Ed Rush.

...

.Rush had a personal problem with Miller. He did not lilke him. I beileve, based on what I have read, that he took an opportunity to get him back through his officials, and by circumstance, you can make the case that it happened.

As someone who officiated, supervised, and now evaluates...

And there you have it — you are choosing to believe that Ed is lying. Who knows why. Maybe you have a vendetta against him??? It sure sounds like you are not a fan.

You are choosing to believe an anonymous, likely disgruntled, source who's account contradicts what Rush has said. The Pac-12 did its own investigation, interviewed EVERYBODY, and got the story of what really happened — a joke that was not targeted at ANYONE, but that was about bench decorum in general. That is also what Ed said in his interview, which was too late to sway any public opinion since the anonymous source's version has already been out for days.

I was also personally told by someone in the Pac-12 office that the statement was NOT repeated twice ... Another mad up lie either by the source or the sports media.

Obviously people are going to choose to believe what they want. When fans and coaches and sports writers believe the worst about officials, I expect it. When officials do the same, I'm disappointed.

Ed Rush is 72 years old and has made huge contributions to officiating — certainly more than anyone on this board. He assisted with training for the PAC-12 for the past 2-3 years before being the coordinator ... Simply trying to help better officials. Through a career as an NBA official, then coordinator of NBA officials, then coordinator of the Pac-12 the only bad things the media can say about him are these recent comments, which were completely perverted from the truth, and a 10+ year old remark from Mark Cuban about Dairy Queen.

That someone could be maligned so quickly in the sports media based on a single anonymous source is frightening. (Do you think they would EVER do that to a coach?!) ... That officials buy into the spin right along with everyone else, is disappointing.