Post by HoyaLawya on Feb 8, 2005 13:19:05 GMT -5
Valentine ............ reminder article from last year's NCAA's ........ link is probably archival by now .... 'nuff said on that one. Dave "Look at Me" Libby still takes the cake, for me, on any national ranking of refs you don't wanna see calling an important game.
This official doesn't deserve any valentines
By Wendell Barnhouse
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Early in my journalism career, once I realized playing shortstop for the Cardinals was a dead dream, I tried my hand at umpiring high school games.
I liked working in the field as part of a two-man crew, but hated working the plate. The veteran umpire I worked with, though, made sure that I spent time calling balls and strikes.
In the first inning of one of those games where I was crouched behind the catcher, I called a pitch a ball and heard, "Hey, Cyclops, ya missed one." Rabbit ears, you know. (And it turns out the loudmouth was the scion of a publisher whose paper I wound up working at for four years.)
That anecdote is brought to you today to provide preliminary understanding of what's to follow. I understand that officiating sports is a difficult job; 30 years ago, without incessant video and replays, it was challenging, and it's borderline impossible three decades later.
NCAA Tournament games are high-pressured, one-and-done contests. The difference between the teams, particularly after the first weekend, is paper thin. Victory or defeat often comes down to a bounce, a break, a whistle.
Friday night in Atlanta, Brandon Mouton saw his senior season and his University of Texas playing career end with the Longhorns' 79-71 loss to Xavier. Mouton watched the final 2:09 after fouling out.
This isn't about whether Mouton's fifth foul was borderline (it was) or that the officiating cost Texas the game (it didn't) or if Rick Barnes' being ejected with 3.9 seconds remaining cost UT a final chance (maybe, but without Mouton, the Horns probably wouldn't have won in overtime anyway).
This is about how a referee with a bad reputation as a me-first show pony made the final minutes of a tense and stimulating game all about him.
Ted Valentine called the foul on Mouton. According to those close to the UT bench, this was the exchange between player and official.
Mouton: "Mr. Official, could you please tell me what I did wrong on that play?"
Valentine: "Shut the [bleep] up, man."
Mouton: "Relax, man. Everything's all right. I thought it was a loose ball. I know I had both arms extended going after the ball, but I didn't think I impeded his progress. Can you tell me what you saw?"
Valentine: "This isn't the NBA."
Perhaps Mouton didn't deserve an explanation. Referees can't take the time to explain each and every whistle. And maybe an official shouldn't give two toots whether a senior playing his last college game deserves a second or two of compassion.
Barnes said after the game that he was going to stand up for his players. He asked Mouton about the conversation with Valentine. If the player reported the profanity, then it's understandable why Barnes had seen enough when a final foul call had sealed UT's fate.
When Valentine called two technicals on Barnes, it led to the coach's ejection and was a distraction from Xavier's victory. Asked by a pool reporter to explain why he had teed up Barnes, Valentine declined comment, but he released a statement saying, "The rules speak for themselves."
What goes unsaid is Valentine's smug attitude and body language. He is the worst thing a referee can be -- an egotistical man in a striped shirt who understands he wields judge and jury power during a game's 40 minutes. Valentine's "It's All About Me" approach is well known among coaches, officiating supervisors and the media.
To be fair, I tried and failed to contact Valentine and Hank Nichols, who oversees officiating in the NCAA Tournament. While the NCAA uses a 10-member committee to select and seed the 65 teams, Nichols (who has evaluators at each NCAA game grading the refs) is basically in charge of selecting the striped shirts.
Any official who curses at a player or a coach needs to get his whistle yanked, just as any player or coach who curses at an official should be ejected. If Valentine did use the F-word during his exchange with Mouton, then he should be banned from further NCAA Tournament games.
And that is not a pro-Texas sentiment. It's a pro-college basketball sentiment.
www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/colleges/8328523.htm
This official doesn't deserve any valentines
By Wendell Barnhouse
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Early in my journalism career, once I realized playing shortstop for the Cardinals was a dead dream, I tried my hand at umpiring high school games.
I liked working in the field as part of a two-man crew, but hated working the plate. The veteran umpire I worked with, though, made sure that I spent time calling balls and strikes.
In the first inning of one of those games where I was crouched behind the catcher, I called a pitch a ball and heard, "Hey, Cyclops, ya missed one." Rabbit ears, you know. (And it turns out the loudmouth was the scion of a publisher whose paper I wound up working at for four years.)
That anecdote is brought to you today to provide preliminary understanding of what's to follow. I understand that officiating sports is a difficult job; 30 years ago, without incessant video and replays, it was challenging, and it's borderline impossible three decades later.
NCAA Tournament games are high-pressured, one-and-done contests. The difference between the teams, particularly after the first weekend, is paper thin. Victory or defeat often comes down to a bounce, a break, a whistle.
Friday night in Atlanta, Brandon Mouton saw his senior season and his University of Texas playing career end with the Longhorns' 79-71 loss to Xavier. Mouton watched the final 2:09 after fouling out.
This isn't about whether Mouton's fifth foul was borderline (it was) or that the officiating cost Texas the game (it didn't) or if Rick Barnes' being ejected with 3.9 seconds remaining cost UT a final chance (maybe, but without Mouton, the Horns probably wouldn't have won in overtime anyway).
This is about how a referee with a bad reputation as a me-first show pony made the final minutes of a tense and stimulating game all about him.
Ted Valentine called the foul on Mouton. According to those close to the UT bench, this was the exchange between player and official.
Mouton: "Mr. Official, could you please tell me what I did wrong on that play?"
Valentine: "Shut the [bleep] up, man."
Mouton: "Relax, man. Everything's all right. I thought it was a loose ball. I know I had both arms extended going after the ball, but I didn't think I impeded his progress. Can you tell me what you saw?"
Valentine: "This isn't the NBA."
Perhaps Mouton didn't deserve an explanation. Referees can't take the time to explain each and every whistle. And maybe an official shouldn't give two toots whether a senior playing his last college game deserves a second or two of compassion.
Barnes said after the game that he was going to stand up for his players. He asked Mouton about the conversation with Valentine. If the player reported the profanity, then it's understandable why Barnes had seen enough when a final foul call had sealed UT's fate.
When Valentine called two technicals on Barnes, it led to the coach's ejection and was a distraction from Xavier's victory. Asked by a pool reporter to explain why he had teed up Barnes, Valentine declined comment, but he released a statement saying, "The rules speak for themselves."
What goes unsaid is Valentine's smug attitude and body language. He is the worst thing a referee can be -- an egotistical man in a striped shirt who understands he wields judge and jury power during a game's 40 minutes. Valentine's "It's All About Me" approach is well known among coaches, officiating supervisors and the media.
To be fair, I tried and failed to contact Valentine and Hank Nichols, who oversees officiating in the NCAA Tournament. While the NCAA uses a 10-member committee to select and seed the 65 teams, Nichols (who has evaluators at each NCAA game grading the refs) is basically in charge of selecting the striped shirts.
Any official who curses at a player or a coach needs to get his whistle yanked, just as any player or coach who curses at an official should be ejected. If Valentine did use the F-word during his exchange with Mouton, then he should be banned from further NCAA Tournament games.
And that is not a pro-Texas sentiment. It's a pro-college basketball sentiment.
www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/colleges/8328523.htm