It's Tim Donaghy's fault

The officiating in this NCAA tournament has ranged from bizarre to plain bad, a problem whose roots can be traced to the NBA scandal involving alleged point-shaving referee Tim Donaghy. The NCAA wanted to avoid any such nefariousness and subjected its potential tournament officials to background checks. Good idea.

Bad execution. Two of the college game's top officials, Jim Burr and John Higgins, found themselves ensnared in the process -- not because of background issues, but because of timing issues. For various reasons, Burr and Higgins weren't able to be cleared before the NCAA's deadline. Again, there was nothing objectionable about those two in particular. They've been allowed to officiate games in the 2008 NIT, also run by the NCAA. They just couldn't get cleared in time for the big event.

Removing two top officials from the NCAA tournament pool has done nothing to help the quality of the on-court product. The officiating for the Georgetown-Davidson game was almost as bad as Stephen Curry was good. Hoyas center Roy Hibbert in particular was treated unfairly, or incompetently, by officials who turned every 50-50 call against him ... and made some 90-10 calls against him as well. That's no excuse for the Hoyas. Even without Hibbert the Hoyas led Davidson by 17 in the second half. You don't blame that loss on the officials. But the officials were awful.

They might have been worse in Omaha, where my colleague Dennis Dodd was so appalled by the officiating that he devoted his entire column from his second-round game to the men in stripes.

And then you have Curtis Shaw, the most volatile official in the game. Shaw is the guy who ejected ISU coach Larry Eustachy in a 2000 Elite Eight game. He's the guy whom the SEC unofficially banned from working its games because of his temper And he's the guy who ejected Stanford's Trent Johnson on Saturday in the second round. Johnson became the fifth guy ejected from a game officiated this season by Shaw. Most zebras go an entire year without ejecting anyone.

It says something about the quality of officiating in college basketball when Curtis Shaw continues to work important games. Then again, there's a shortage of officials. Two of the best weren't eligible to work the 2008 NCAA tournament. Yet they were allowed -- by the NCAA -- to work the NIT. Explain that one.

Frady Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Sep 1, 2006	Posted on: March 25, 2008 11:23 am Score: 92 It's Tim Donaghy's fault CBS = Dictatorship [ Reply to Comment ]
patrickw Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Jan 28, 2008	Posted on: March 25, 2008 11:24 am Score: 88 It's Tim Donaghy's fault I have been watching a lot of college ball this season, and I can't remember a year when I've seen so much questionable officiating. It isn't always just against one team either, anyone could get screwed on any night it seems like. How much do they pay these guys, I might just try and take a second job... [ Reply to Comment ]
Robgator Reputation: 97 Level: Superstar Since: Nov 27, 2007	Posted on: March 25, 2008 1:21 pm Score: 84 It's Tim Donaghy's fault The only thing that fans and players expect from the officials is consistency. I have watched many SEC games this year and that is one thing that is lacking from many of those games. The officials many times call two different games. They let the players hand check in the first half and "commit murder" in the paint, then inexplicably the change the point of emphasis. If all of the officials would pick what kind of game they are going to call through out the game it would make it easier to watch. Last year the Hibbert/Oden match-up was ruined by the officials. They were so bound and determined to make sure the same thing didn't happen to Oden in the final game vs Florida that there were about 18 fouls on UF's bigs vs 4 to Oden. Was he dominant in that game? Yes. Did he benefit from some questionable calls (no-calls)? Yes. Officiating should equal consistency. [ Reply to Comment ]
jaybird1 Reputation: 94 Level: All-Star Since: Sep 5, 2006	Posted on: March 25, 2008 2:09 pm Score: 85 It's Tim Donaghy's fault Although the officiating has been horrible all year (the Pac 10 is easily the worst), the pay is great. Refs now make $2,220 a game in the BCS conferences and I can't imagine they make under $3,000 a game for first and second round NCAA tournament games (plus more cash the farther you advance in the tournament). If you look at Curtis Shaw's schedule that includes 100 games up to this point, every game featured a power conference school as the home team. When you add in Big East and Big 12 Tournament games that surely pay more than regular season games, I'm guessing that Shaw has made about $230,000 this season with possibly four games left (if he makes the Final Four). That's a sweet gig and it certainly beats working for a living. In the summer, I'm sure he makes a nice chunk of money as an instructor in various camps for up and upcoming officials (who pay up to $1,000 to attend) that want to advance to the big money in Division 1. I'm guessing that he totals a minimum of $50-75K off that tidy little venture. Big money results in big egos and the most of well known officials in the sport (Ted Valentine, Tim Higgins, Jim Burr, Tony Greene, Karl Hess, etc.) feel they have God-like power over a game and really could care less what coaches, players, fans, and media scribes think. This has been going on for years and I'm afraid there is very little that anybody can do about it. [ Reply to Comment ]
hoopsisbest Reputation: 96 Level: Superstar Since: Jan 10, 2008	Posted on: March 25, 2008 3:10 pm Score: 91 It's Tim Donaghy's fault Is there any wonder that the NBA prospects leave early? College refs trying to insert their personalities in the game call way too many bunny fouls and flop charges. Really talented kids get sick of play being stifled by incompetence and ref egos. I really believe it is a major factor in legitimate NBA prospects cutting their college careers short. [ Reply to Comment ]
Joey Tropicana Reputation: 88 Level: All-Star Since: Apr 9, 2007	Posted on: March 25, 2008 3:17 pm Score: 90 It's Tim Donaghy's fault i remember when that one guy missed a call in the eers game. i got mad and yelled at the guy in the tv. [ Reply to Comment ]
BURN1NWI Reputation: 95 Level: Superstar Since: Oct 2, 2007	Posted on: March 25, 2008 5:33 pm Score: 88 It's Tim Donaghy's fault Okay, you've got to be kidding. Right? Really? Officiating in the NBA is the joke of all the major league sports. In fact, it's common knowledge that the only way to get a call in the NBA is to have star power. You hear it constantly, "Well, he'll get the call when he's better known." You've got guys palming the ball, traveling, mauling the shooter inside and you can predict which way the call will go by which team has the better record. If these guys are disgruntled about the officiating at this level, wait until Shaq starts slamming his way inside then turns around for the bunny. [ Reply to Comment ]
nate488 Reputation: 73 Level: Pro Since: Mar 5, 2007	Posted on: March 25, 2008 7:09 pm Score: 31 It's Tim Donaghy's fault UCLA. Enough said. [ Reply to Comment ]
Hbomb30 Reputation: 85 Level: All-Star Since: Mar 14, 2007	Posted on: March 25, 2008 8:22 pm Score: 82 It's Tim Donaghy's fault Are you joking hoopsisbest.......talented college players leave early because of bad officiating? That doesn't even deserve a response becasuse clearly you won't understand an intelligent reply so I will stop my post here! [ Reply to Comment ]
herfavstuff Reputation: 96 Level: Superstar Since: Oct 27, 2007	Posted on: March 25, 2008 8:28 pm Score: 87 It's Tim Donaghy's fault The problem with officiating is collusion. Officials have traveled with teams, dined with color guys (you have to come to South Philly and see who "manges" together; you'd want to call the FBI), vacationed on the tabs of some questionable sponsors. Coaches have cheated. Administrators have cheated. Players have cheated. Boosters have cheated. And yet we are to believe that something miraculously virginal goes on with game officials. Call back to your alma mater and ask the chairman of the math department what the probability is of these guys all being clean. [ Reply to Comment ]

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