NCAA head of officials on controversial play: 'We never saw what everybody saw at home'

[KamaAina]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/ncaa-head-of-officials-on-controversial-play---we-never-saw-what-everybody-saw-at-home-213242341.html

By now you’ve probably seen the blown call that went against Wisconsin with just under two minutes left in Monday night’s national championship....

Even after a review of nearly two minutes, possession was awarded to Duke in a head-scratching decision.

To explain how the blown call transpired, NCAA head of officiating John Adams appeared on Sirius XM radio and made a pretty surprising admission that they never saw the definitive replay that viewers saw at home.

“All four of our officials were involved in the review. We never saw, on our monitor, what everybody saw at home, if you can believe that,” Adams said.

No, I can not believe that!

[joeybee12]

1. Well, when you put money on Duke...

You don't WANT to see what everyone else sees.

[JonLP24]

2. I once was a junior high intramural basketball referee

I referred other sports such as volleyball & flag football while those sports were generally easy to call but basketball was incredibly difficult. There was a whole lot of shit I didn't see. Did he step on the line? Was he fouled on the layup? Everything moves so fast that is hard to tell when infractions occur. I remember this kid who was obviously more talented than everyone else was constantly protesting my calls (asking for fouls when he drove to the basket as if he needed them) he could have been right but I have no idea. It just added further stress. There was another situation which I wasn't the ref of (several games are scheduled at the same time @ outdoor courts) which an argument escalated because supervisors back us. They train us that if we blow a call, stick with it & move on.

This scene reminded me so much of my experience -- I cracked up at "are you talking about a do-ever?"

At the end of Bob Delaney's book he talks briefs about his NBA referee career, mentions when he was new to the NBA he was calling fouls in the post with the large players giving him confused looks after the whistle when they were just banging in the post but since they were so large it sounded like a foul when they bumped into each other. Not mentioned in the book, he also was a referee in that controversial Western Conference Final game between LA Lakers & Sacramento.

I have a lot of respect for referees to handle such a hostile environment (a referee was even punched for putting time on the clock that expired to 0 in Boston in the 1976 NBA Finals). It is not an easy job & impossible to do it without mistakes but players on both teams make mistakes every game but not quite held to such a high standard but playing basketball @ that level is very difficult as well.

[KamaAina]

3. Nice post, Krzyzewski!