I was listening to Mike and Mike in the Morning when they started discussing a Louisville cheerleader who nearly cost the Cardinals the game against Pittsburg by receiving a technical foul. Here’s the situation. Louisville (#16) is playing Pittsburg (#4) at home in a huge Big East matchup. Louisville is up by 3 with less then 20 seconds to go in the game. Pitt misses a shot, which Louisville rebounds and takes the length of the court and dunks in the final seconds pushing the score to 62-57 in favor of the Cardinals. The entire arena erupts in celebration although there is still 0.5 seconds remaining on the clock. One of the Louisville cheerleaders goes out onto the court and throws the ball into the air with excitement. The officials call a technical foul on the cheerleader, which gives Pittsburg two free throws. Ashton Gibbs hits both shots from the charity stripe and Pitt still has possession with the score now 62-59. With only 0.5 seconds remaining on the clock, Pittsburg misses the potential game-tying three and loses 62-59. The Louisville cheerleader very nearly caused overtime by going onto the court.
Those are the facts. Here is my opinion: hey Mr. Official, ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I realize the pep-squad captain should not have gone onto the court but let’s try to understand the situation. Pittsburg had no legitimate chance to come back at that point in the game (half of a second left on the clock). I watched the video. After the dunk, the only Pitt player on that side of the court was the one who was going to inbound the ball. Pittsburg knew they were done. Louisville knew they had won. The Fat Lady was singing UNTIL the official had to step in, completely ignore common sense, and call a technical foul. If there were 5, 6, 7 seconds left in the game (an actual legitimate chance for Pittsburg to come back), I could absolutely understand giving a technical, but not in this situation. Two highly ranked teams in the Big East battling it out for 40 minutes and an official nearly determines the ending. That should not happen.
The Louisville game made me think of other occasions in sports when an official ignored common sense and stepped in to alter the outcome of an important game. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the lack of common sense is an increasing problem in officials, especially collegiate officials. You may remember three years ago in college baseball when #8 Texas A&M played #6 Missouri in an important Big 12 matchup. Texas A&M was hitting in a tied 9th inning with 2 outs and runners on second and third. Missouri decided to intentionally walk the hitter to load the bases. During the intentional walk, the field umpire called a balk on the pitcher for not coming to a complete stop before throwing the pitch. By definition, the pitcher was guilty of a balk. By competitive standards and common sense, the umpire was an idiot! It was an intentional walk! There was no reason for an umpire to get involved.
In a more recent example, Kansas State played Syracuse in this year’s Pinstripe Bowl. Syracuse was winning 36-28 when K-State drove down the field at the end of the game. Adrian Hilburn caught a touchdown pass to bring Kansas within 2 points. While in the endzone, Hilburn gave a quick salute to the crowd and ran back to the sideline to celebrate with his team. The official flagged Hilburn for excessive celebration. K-State then had to attempt the two-point conversion from the 18-yard line instead of the 3-yard line. Needless to say, Syracuse stopped the attempted conversion and won the game 36-34. Mr. Official, use common sense! Do not become part of the game when it is not necessary and more importantly, do not contribute to the outcome of a game when it is completely unnecessary!
There is nothing more frustrating for fans or for players than when an official becomes extremely visible during competition. Nobody likes it when 43 fouls are called during a basketball game. Nobody likes it when flags are thrown for holding on every play during a football game. And nobody likes it when an umpire goes out of his way to get confrontational with a player or coach. The best officials are the ones who are not noticed during competition.
I realize the officials in the three cases I just mentioned made the correct call according to the rulebook, but look at that type of situation from another perspective. Is a person guilty of speeding when he or she is rushing a family member to the hospital because of a life and death illness? According to speed limit laws, the person is guilty, but there is not a judge in the world that would force someone to pay a fine in that situation. Common sense is key. It’s like when you’re playing spades. The three cards already played are the ace of clubs, queen of clubs, and jack of clubs. You play the two of spades and take the book. For those of you who don’t play spades, a spade trumps all other suits. Common sense trumps rules at the end of athletic competition.
Maybe I am just blowing steam because I realize what it is like to be battling your heart out in competition when an official steps in and tries to make the right call but severely ruins the game. Officials have tough jobs, but that does not excuse them for not using common sense. If I was the commissioner of all sports, my first order of business would be to rewrite every major sport’s rule book. Rule number 1: LET COMMON SENSE AVAIL.
