Well since I have been asked a few times privately about my thoughts about Saturday night and the officiating I will offer you my take right here right now. Those who listen to the broadcasts know I dont pull any punches when I sense incompetence on display. The zebras are compensated quite well for their work on the college level and although their jobs are tough they are not above criticism when warranted. When they start working for free then we will leave them alone. With that said lets go to work. Will start with the mens game since it had the ejection of CSU-P head coach Ralph Turner. Referee Ray Abeyta felt challenged and td up Ralph plain and simple on the first. After getting the first Turner stepped forward another step with a point and comment (no cursing) and was promptly given the second. He was outside the mythical coaching box and in my mind probably deserved the second although he will argue that point. Here is my problem. Whether it was decided ahead of time or during the game it was patently obvious Thunderwolves point guard Nate Tigner was not going to get the benefit of the doubt in this game but all conference superstar Derrick White was gonna get the whistle for the most part. The play in question was typical of the night and occurred right in front of me. Tigner starts a drive with a crossover dribble. White reaches out and should have been called for a blocking call or impeding progress hand check/grab but the kid is special and it was a UCCS home game and all refs are homers and well you catch my drift. Nate stumbles. Now we all know just how clumsy and totally lacking in basketball skill he is LOL. Abeyta calls him for the walk. So instead of Tigner to the line to shoot the one and one in a four point game he is called for bogus travel which sets up the technical foul calls. Four free throws and a successful possession afterword lead to a 10 point lead and game over. It is pretty obvious that their is something going on beneath the surface of the relationship between Abeyta and Turner . This crew of Abeyta, Keith Aragon and my favorite RMAC official Hank Brown I had no real problems with going in. But whether they want to admit it or not Derrick White got the Lebron treatment. He is a dynamic talent. He doesnt need anymore help LOL. Enough about the mens game. Will address a couple things about the womens game. First of all who names there kid Rad and if they didnt who elects to refer to themselves as Rad? I am speaking of course of RMAC official Rad Carter. Many out there want to think this game was poorly whistled. I dont think so for the most part. The aforementioned Rad Carter did miss one call when he called Katie Nehf for a kicked ball infraction. To his credit when Katie protested and later Kip Drown Rad seemed to acknowledge with a shoulder shrug he might have seen it wrong. The worst call of the season and one that had a direct outcome on the game in my mind was the dreaded charge call on Alex Evans made by Donovan Briggans. Briggans is a veteran official and does many high level games as well as big time high school games. But referees in my humble opinion just love to throw that fist out and call the charge. The problem is this one wasnt even close. So instead of Thunderwolves getting two free throws to cut the lead to two UCCS gets the ball and converts, goes up by six. Game, set and match. There you have it. The back story. But now if you want to look ahead FLCs Bob Hoffman in town Friday night. It should be a real treat watching him and Ralph try to gain an edge with the men in stripes.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 17:59:35 +0000
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