Rex Hudler

Down goes Missouri!!! Down goes my bracket!

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 10:26 PM) Down to 5, someone might get bailed out! As often happens with big comebacks, it appears UNLV has run out of gas before they could make it all the way past and finish it. Think the Buffaloes will be gassed Saturday? They better hope for the late game!!

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 10:09 PM) If there was ever a game where a 15+ lead could be blown in under 11 minutes its going to be this UNLV- Colorado game. Colorado looks terrible and tired. No crystal ball necessary, but damn good call! Here come the Rebels.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 10:04 PM) For some reason I thought only 2 networks were carrying games, not 4, as I found out later in the day. This was started last year. Best thing CBS ever did!!

A couple of my favorite pre-game quotes from New Mexico State star Wendell McKines... When compared to Michigan State's Draymond Green (which should be a high compliment): “From a rebounding and scoring and from it means a lot to the team perspective, yeah,” he told reporters at Wednesday’s media availability at the Rose Garden. “But I don’t really like to compare myself to nobody. I’m special.” If that wasn't enough, his follow up quote: “I don’t have a swagger, I have an aura about me, you can just feel the energy,” McKines said. “Just the aura in my presence, and you can feel like something special is about to happen.” Sorry about your aura buddy. It was especially fun to see the frustration of McKines and other Aggies arguing with each other on the court. On to VCU!

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 07:28 PM) 8-10 So I gave NM State too much credit. I'll take 13! 79-66 in a breeze. So much for not being able to play outside of Assembly Hall with our refs. Before anyone thinks I am annointing IU a Final Four team, take a breath. that's not the point. The point is this team has weapons and is worthy of a 4 seed and can play with anyone. They can also lose to anyone in the tourney, but they aren't the easy out IU seemed to be in the final years of the Bobby Knight days.

8-10

This is why I hate doing a bracket. I was rooting for New Mexico, always felt New Mexico would win and just checked only to find I picked LB State last night.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 04:04 PM) The foul was pretty iffy. They were about 50-50 in regards to position. Just because the Syracuse guy reached over the back of the Asheville player and got hip checked doesn't mean he had position. It was at least a close call. The out of bounds wasn't. The Syracuse player leapt for the ball and got hip-checked. I disagree that it was iffy. Trust me, i'd have loved for Syracuse to go down as much as anyone. UNCA lost because their best shooter wasn't today.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 04:03 PM) I reffed when I was younger, but unlike you I couldnt stop myself from make up calls and getting emotionally involved. Thus I decided Im not a good ref. LOL That's pretty damned honest! I do believe the subconscious can affect how games are called. The emotion of the game can't help but affect you in some way. But I do know that after games, hopefully over a beer, the first thing we did is discuss calls and what we may or may not have missed. We always wanted to get better. I just never ran across an official that made decisions that would overtly affect the outcome unless he felt they were right at that split second. I ran across some that were pretty incompetent, however. The higher level I got to, the less chance there was that would happen. But there are some officials, whether it was their personality or inability to understand the flow of a game, you just knew there were going to be arguments as soon as you got to the ballpark and saw he was your partner.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 03:38 PM) The lane violation was a good call. When you are behind the shooter, you can't cross the foul line until the ball hits the rim. You beat me to it. I had to look up the rule. I wasn't sure because it was pretty apparent the announcers didn't know and were speaking out of their asses, especially when they kept showing the replay which didn't even show him crossing the 3-pt line.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 03:50 PM) I'm responding to this comment you made: Refs do this in just about every game, especially in basketball. There's a foul probably every trip down the court, but to keep a game "interesting" and to keep a flow, they let certain things go. They call the game either super strict (if it's getting out of hand) or super light (if the teams aren't being physical and are just running up and down the court). Tim Donaghy was the most recent example I can think of off hand. He did a great job last year for the Finals explaining EXACTLY how refs go about doing this: http://deadspin.com/5807464/tim-donaghy-on...eries/gallery/1 I'm not saying it's good or bad (it's probably for the better since you don't want to watch the game stopped every 20 seconds), but it absolutely happens. And yes, it probably happens more in the NBA than in the NCAA's, but I still think it happens. Quote the one referee sent to prison. That'll help your argument. If you read my posts, I stated that calls change due to the flow of the game. The flow changes constantly. It's a natural progression that happens but is in no way done to "make the game interesting" or try to affect the outcome or final score of a game. You'll either have to trust me or get yourself a striped jersey or a chest protector and live it for yourself. Fans tend to be conspiracy theorists, but my experience is that 90% of the time they are wrong. When I was umpiring, I knew if I blew a call before anyone else did. And it sucked. I hated it. But I guarantee you I wasn't going to make a 2nd wrong call to make up for it. I had too much pride in the job I did to make another bad call. You make one, you move on. Period. I do encourage you to try officiating and take a little pride in it. You'll see the game much differently. Yes, you'll see bad calls because they exist. But you'll still see it differently, I assure you.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 03:49 PM) Even if the right team ended up with the ball, that's not how you fix it and it's sure as hell not gonna fly for an explanation. It doesn't need to. They screwed up twice on the same play. The same people that are going to b**** about the out of bounds being missed can't defend that they should have had a foul call in the first place. There were in essense two decisions to be made on the play and both were incorrect. It was a bad call for BOTH sides. It just happened that it turned out the most fair way, despite how it was botched. So you can't argue that it screwed UNCA and then ignore that a foul should have been called.

The out of bounds call was incorrect, but didn't screw UNCA. The correct call should have been a foul, which would have kept the ball in Syracuse's hands anyway. The lane violation was correct. Here is the rule. Players not in a legal marked lane space shall remain behind the freethrow line extended and behind the three-point field-goal line until the ball strikes the ring, flange or backboard, or until the free throw ends. If you had announcers that knew the college game and understood the rule this wouldn't have been a question. The replay they kept showing didn't even show the three point line.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 03:36 PM) Well that was just a really terrible call. Yep should have been a foul. No way UNCA should have gotten the ball in that situation. Not sure why he didn't call the foul. Unfortunately two wrongs do make a right in this situation. Second nomination for dumbest thing said by a CBS annoucer - "There is no way all three officials could miss that". Sure there is! All three officials are not looking at the same place at the same time.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 03:32 PM) The refs in this Syracuse game have been absolutely pathetic. Cost UNCA 3 points. I guess they're smoking the same stuff everyone else at Syracuse has. The non-goal tending call was certainly missed. Not sure about the lane violation that was just called.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 03:11 PM) If you don't think refs alter their call of games to make the games more interesting you're crazy. There is absolutely a play style and groove that teams get into that officials will adjust for. Go read any book or interview by any official in just about any sport and they admit it. We're either talking about two entirely different things or you are smoking a good batch today. Either way, without seeing your reading list, I'll choose not to engage further because that made zero sense to me.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 03:04 PM) Rex, Thats fine, obviously Im someone who is a conspiracy theorist. It could be subconscious and they dont even recognize it, but as the viewer it was hard to ignore. For a good amount of time, the refs called nothing on Montana. Then when the game was really out of reach, they started to call nit pick fouls. The only explanation I have is that they wanted to even up the box score (ultimately it ended 16-15 in fouls). Now maybe the explanation is that after 36 minutes they decided they wanted to change how they were calling it. And its not just this game, I feel this about many basketball games, and not ones where I have any attachment too. I can assure you referees don't have a stat sheet and other than feel, they have no idea how many fouls each team has had. And they could care less what the stat sheet looks like after the game. I can't speak to your specific game, but I can only suggest there was a reason. Something changed if they truly called the game differently. I can't speak for them. I can however say that many times things fans suggest they see simply aren't correct. Or perhaps after replays from three angles they see things the referees couldn't. One simple example I can give (understand most of my experience is from baseball) is I don't know how many times I've heard fans complain about "that pitch was in the same place as the last one". That's ridiculous. It may look like it on TV or maybe from 50 yards away in the stands, but as many times as I heard that when I was behind the plate, every time it was BS. Maybe it was only an inch difference, but that can be the difference between a ball and a strike. I just know from being an official at a reasonable level and knowing many, that officials take their craft seriously. Some are better than others. Some days are better than others. As I said, basketball is by far the toughest. There is emotion and a flow to games. Sometimes when players are subbed in and out the flow changes, which could change their rhythm. They make mistakes. But they don't go into games wanting one team to win at least to the point of it changing how they do their job. Officials will do anything they can not to affect the outcome of the game.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 02:36 PM) I don't know if it makes you old, but it certainly makes you weird to care about such a thing. Maybe so. But gray and yellow or whatever color are not home uniforms. Call them light vs dark if you want, I just don't like it.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 02:47 PM) So in the same post you say that refs dont care about the score, you say that youd swallow the whistle in a blow out, which is exactly what I accused the refs of doing. Do you see the irony in that? No. You said they swallowed the whistle so the game would be close. I'm saying swallow the whistle in a decided game so the clock will continue to run. You don't ignore everything, that's not what I am saying, but you let them play. It would have no effect on the outcome of the game. I'm not sure why they started calling more fouls at the end of the game as you say unless it was because the benches empited with subs and the game got sloppy to the point they had to call something. The difference between what I said and you said is integrity. Go officiate any sport, Work at your craft and take it seriously. Work at a competitive level. Then come back and tell me your earlier post makes any sense. You won't because it doesn't. Officials work too hard at what they do to dictate a game in that way. It's not as easy as people make it out to be to change the way you call a game in midstream. When there appear to be changes, its because they are adapting to that particular game. In basketball that could mean a team behind starts to drive more aggressively or the team ahead plays defense with less intensity. Subs come in and don't play the same way. In baseball it could be as simple as a pitching change that causes a strike zone to change. But all of those "changes" are made naturally based on what you have learned working on your craft and the changing tempo of the game. There are subconsious things that can affect officiating such as crowd noise, coached screaming etc. Basketball is by far the hardest sport to officiate. Officials make mistakes, they're human. But changing what they are doing to keep a game close... not happening, sorry.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 02:38 PM) Rex, Did you watch the game? During the 2nd half, the refs started calling a ton of fouls when Wisconsin got up 15+ (and stopped calling anything against Montana) to try and keep it interesting. Then when the refs knew the game was over, they called a bunch of touch fouls on Montana to even up the boxscore. Its pretty much par for the course in any basketball game. Refs dont want a blow out. I think you're full of crap. The referees don't care what the score is. Hell, if Wisky was up 20 pts I'd swallow my whistle just to get the damned game over with. But you'll never convince me that referees change the way they call fouls just to keep games interesting. And to answer your question, I wasn't paying that close of attention. I was just busting your chops while taking a not so sublte shot at all the Illinois fans who constantly whine about officiating.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 02:30 PM) UNM v LBSU about to start. That was a tough game to pick, should be fun to watch. Hopefully it will be showing on TV here, but I doubt it. Are you watching a tube TV with rabbit ears?? How in the hell could you not have TBS?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 01:43 PM) Ha. I look at it in the opposite fashion. I would rather pick teams I dislike. That way, if they happen to win, it could benefit my bracket, and if they lose, I'm happy that they lost. There is a difference in picking Kentucky to win a game or two, or even to get to the Final Four, but you will never see them winning a bracket I fill out.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 15, 2012 -> 02:33 PM) So New Mexico ended up with 2 tourney teams, while Illinois ended up with zero. Awesome. It's a better basketball state!

In the dumbest comment by a CBS commentator category I nominate Charles Barkley. I don't have the exact quote but he stated he was disappointed Syracuse stuck with the zone and thought they would be better served by going man to man.