Crying foul over UK bias

Crying foul over UK bias

By Jerry Tipton / Herald-Leader Staff Writer


Foul disparity against Bulldogs raises eyebrows

After Mississippi State took a 67-60 lead on Kentucky with three minutes left Tuesday night, the referees called 10 fouls against State and none against UK. And that doesn't count a non-call on what some thought was a goaltend by John Wall.

Good officiating? Incompetence? Subconscious bias toward Kentucky, the Southeastern Conference's flagship program?

"To me, that brings out a real red flag," former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson said when asked about the 10-0 disparity in foul calls. "I didn't see the game, but you can't tell me (all is OK when) there's 10 fouls on one side and they're leading. C'mon. C'mon."

Kentucky Coach John Calipari saw it differently. After asking a reporter to confirm that the foul calls were 10 against State and none against his team, Calipari said, "Well, they fouled.

"If you watched the tape, they fouled. And we're one of the leading teams in the country in not fouling."

True enough. Going into the game, UK ranked No. 36 nationally in committing the fewest fouls per game. But Mississippi State ranked, ahem, No. 1. Because of shot-blocker Jarvis Varnado, the Bulldogs committed fewer fouls than any other team.

Against UK, State got called for 28 fouls.

Richardson said that Kentucky's No. 2 national ranking and 24-1 record going into the game could have played a role.

"When you're winning, you get help," he said. "You probably get more calls being one of the better teams than if you're one of the worst teams."

When asked why, Richardson said, "I don't know. It's amazing."

Officiating is a sensitive subject. The SEC's supervisor of officials, Gerald Boudreaux, declined to comment when told that several former league coaches said that, to be put kindly, it's good to be Kentucky.

"Basketball officiating requires a high level of concentration," he wrote in an e-mail. "and ... at times it is very difficult."

The SEC took a public relations hit last football season when calls that favored Florida in a tight game against Arkansas raised suspicions the league wanted to make sure the Gators played Alabama in its championship game.

On ESPN's Pardon the Interruption show Wednesday, co-host Michael Wilbon referred to that football controversy in condemning the plastic bottles thrown onto the court by Mississippi State fans near the end of the basketball game.

Unjustified, he said, "No matter how bad the officials were — and they were awful, they were an embarrassment. This was like the football season when the SEC favorite just has anything they want. ... They just handed the game to Kentucky. Ridiculous."

SEC Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom noted the sensitive nature of officiating and said the referees seek accuracy and fairness above all.

Yet several former SEC coaches saw objectivity as an elusive standard.

After noting that the referees did not cost Mississippi State the game, former Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson said, "There were two huge calls that were incorrect." He was referring to the non-call on the possible goaltend and a Patrick Patterson drive that resulted in blocking rather than charging.

"There's not any doubt in my mind," he said.

Sanderson noted the importance of "guts" in officiating along with positioning, judgment and fitness.

When asked if it was good to be Kentucky, Sanderson said, "I always felt that way. I'd be lying if I told you otherwise."

Conversely, former Tennessee coach Don DeVoe said he saw no calls that were "blatantly wrong" in the UK-State game. DeVoe did recall his star at Tennessee, Tony White, fouling out on a charging call when trying to split a trap in front of the UK bench in Rupp Arena. "Absolutely horrible," said DeVoe, who noted how crowds can easily intimidate referees.

Former Georgia coach Hugh Durham famously referred to the "blue mist" that influenced sports writers and, yes, referees.

"Have you ever tried to cover eight guys with five?" he said. "Somebody's always open."

The former coaches acknowledged that whatever advantage they perceived Kentucky enjoyed was not bulletproof.

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/02/20/1149084/uk-notebook-crying-foul-over-uk.html

I say the refs are really gonna blow the whitle on us Thursday after an article like this. Jerry Tipton is a complete A-HOLE

Wimp Sanderson was around before there was a basketball team at UK, how old is he??? about 110

Jerry Tipton are u serious with this bullcrap?

Wonder what they thought after the Vanderbilt game, When UK was getting raped.