A few words on our rationalization of referees
(If, before we begin, you’re waiting for a qualifier about how all of this pales in comparison to the COVID-19 challenge our country and our world are currently facing…just keep waiting. All of that goes without saying, and therefore I’ll be going without saying it — that being said, stay safe everyone.)
Alright, so after issuing that non-caveat caveat, and before really getting down to brass tacks, here’s two more:
- Contrary to your typical lazy fan outcries, officials are (almost) never ‘out to get’ any particular team. I’ve always believed that to be true, just as I’ve always believed that those who constantly bemoan said idea are among the worst people to be around as a sports fan.
- My reasoning for putting all of this down in print stems from having previously watched one of my teams get absolutely, repeatedly screwed over by the officiating (in a game that it still won by double digits, for the record).
Now in case you were wondering, no, the second caveat actually doesn’t contradict the first in this instance. I can see why you might think that, but Caveat #2 was not to suggest that my team was intentionally being ‘targeted’ by the officials in said game.
It was simply to say that in this particular game my Florida Gators had the raw misfortune of getting saddled with a crew of referees who, on this specific evening, could not have possibly done much worse of a job.
And here’s the thing, as a basketball fan (and sports fan in general) I accept that reality. Anyone can catch a bad break in any game, be it within the flow of play, officiating-related or otherwise. So yes, I accept the fact that on a given night my team may be on the wrong end of officiating incompetence — and even repeatedly so over the life of a game.
But as frustrating as that may be, there will always be another game, and another game, and countless more after that (at least that’s always been my thought process — recent events admittedly have me questioning a variety of long-held beliefs).
So to be clear, this isn’t a crusade against officials.
Rather, it’s a crusade against our own collective stupidity as consumers of sport — specifically how we rationalize something as simple as (occasional) blatant incompetence.
***For context, this article has sat, near-completion, in my drafts folder for well over a month now. It felt as important as anything else at the time I started writing, I suppose.
But then our collective livelihoods fell into disarray. And then, and then, and then…well, you know.
Simply put, I can’t continue down that path forever. So instead I’ve published the damn thing, and by the basketball gods does it feel good.
So lets dig in, shall we?
First there was the game, then a tweet
OK, so ‘stuff’ like this is bad enough.
There’s simply nothing justifiable here. While flopping is increasingly en vogue among players these days, we should all be intelligent enough to recognize that this kind of ‘going with the crowd’ is neither admirable nor respectable.
Remember the whole “If your friend jumps off a bridge…” idea?
Anyway, a full-length chronicling of the ordeal can be found below, and for the sake of context, please know that these guys are all close enough to my own age range that this is hardly an instance of an old man yelling at some young whipper snappers to get off of his lawn.
If anything, I’m supposed to empathize with this behavior more than the average basketball fan.
Yeah, no thanks.
(And now I’m getting off track. That’s my bad. Allow me to course correct.)
As annoying as these sorts of acting jobs are, and this one in particular, it’s the referees who deserve the greatest ire here.
Not only did this ‘A-plus’ crew go to the monitor for a review of the ‘incident’ (fine), but after watching the footage they assessed Florida’s Noah Locke a technical foul anyway!
I’m sorry, but are you nuts?
Arkansas gets awarded two free throws and possession of the ball when at least two individuals paid real American dollars to officiate this game had literally just watched that atrocious flop-job over and over again on replay at the scorer’s table?
C’mon guys.
And while that was by far and away the single-most glaring (and viral) officiating blunder of the evening, it wasn’t alone on miscue island.
Florida center Kerry Blackshear Jr. was called for four, count ’em, FOUR offensive fouls against the Razorbacks, the third of which was the sole legitimate whistle in this particular writer’s humble opinion.
The first at the 18:26 mark of the opening half was a total nothing call on what I’m stretching my imagination to assume was identified as a moving screen — after which the baseline official makes eye contact with his partner on the wing and nods his head as if to say, “Yep, we nailed that one.”
The second came less than 30 seconds thereafter, as Blackshear, stationed just inside the left block, took a forearm shove from behind by his defender, sending him careening into Arkansas’ Mason Jones (more on him later), who was on the hip of a driving Keyontae Johnson headed to the basket.
We skip offensive foul number three, which as I mentioned, was a completely legitimate call on a push-off late shot clock for a mid-range jumper attempt.
That leads us to the final bogus Blackshear whistle I’ll note, on what was another horrendous charge call ‘drawn’ by Arkansas’ Jones— and the following Twitter exchange amongst a few Gator hoops viewers:
And this is the crux of the issue for me.
“You gotta recognize the way the refs are calling the game and adjust yours accordingly.”
@Tempestuous82 seems like a good enough person, so this is hardly a shot across the bow. But that phrase, while certainly applicable to basketball (and most sports) in a general sense, is not a catch-all.
And unfortunately, it often tends to be used that way, intentional or not.
Far be it for me to quote myself, but for lack of additional creativity I’m going to do so (shrugs).
“That mantra only applies when officiating is within somewhat reasonable margins. You don’t ‘adjust’ to blatantly atrocious calls. That 100% falls on the refs. There’s no player onus for them sucking at their jobs. It’s OK to say that sometimes.”
Was I a tad harsh? In my language, maybe. But not in my sentiment.
Again, this is not a personal attack against officials. It’s simply the truth.
Like a strike zone in baseball, there are moderate liberties to be taken regarding how tight/loose a game of basketball is called. And all rational-minded participants within the event realize this.
But that benefit of the doubt only extends so far.
Perhaps, as Auburn beat writer Josh Vitale’s following tweet and story examine, part of the issue is actually specific to the Southeastern Conference:
Regardless, at some point it becomes not only fair, but prudent for the sake of the game to call out objectively poor officiating for what it is.
On this night in this arena, these referees made what can truthfully be described as a comedy of errors.
Incoherent block/charge calls, the ‘James Harden’ treatment given to one Mason Jones (a legitimately great player in his own right, but for crying out loud enough of the throwing yourself into opposing players every other possession), and an abomination of a technical foul call, compounded by the complete bastardization of the video review process thereafter.
This game had it all.
And while it has surely drawn my ire to a more passionate degree given my rooting interest in the aggrieved team, it needs repeating that the greatest victim in all of this is neither myself nor my team, but the game itself.
As consumers of sport we too often do a disservice to ourselves by romanticizing the in’s and out’s of gameplay.
When dumb stuff happens, it’s OK to call it out.
Then we all collectively get to move on to the best parts of the competition and atmosphere surrounding it.
On the night of February 18th in Gainesville, Florida, multiple counts of basketball officiating malpractice were committed.
And as long as we just acknowledge it as such, the odds of improvement in the game we love only increase moving forward.
It’s really not that complicated.
Out with the bad, in with the good.
You get the point…
Sure, we can’t ‘fix’ the entire assortment of ailments of this sprawling global sport within a day. But we can improve it every single day.
That’s all I want.
So the next time you’re tempted to offer up some tired sports cliché as justification for why things are the way they are, do yourself of favor and ask if it actually makes any sense.
A lot of times the answer will be ‘no.’
And now you’ve become a part of the solution, rather than an active participant in the problem.
Feels good, huh?