BOL Round Table

definitely agree, brother...

but basketball is the worst, by far. It's way too easy for the referees to influence the game, and a perfect example was the Syracuse game on Thursday...there was just NO WAY they (the NCAA/tv/referees/corporate sponsors) were gonna let one of their "big draws" get beat in that tourney's first round, no matter what, so they had to pull out the stupid calls (which, conveniently, and for no good reason, aren't reviewable) in order to allow the #1 to scrape by.

That's the most recent example, but less noticable ones are "foul patterns" in other games, where the refs put one team in foul trouble and send the other to the line---like us vs. Vandy this year. And many other examples.

Yep, in basketball, it has allowed the big $$$$ to ruin the enjoyment, because there is just too much influence by the big $$ trickling down to the refs to allow the "Cash Cows" to proceed and advance...

Bottom line...it was a blown call. Havng said that Syracuse was winning by three at the time. So I am not sure how that call was made to save Syracuse? Refs do a very difficult job well for the most part but anytime there is a human element there is a chance for a bad call.

I don't think the call was made with the intent to help Syracuse or hurt the opposing team. I think the guy made a mistake.

Either way it didn't determine the game. It was one of many plays, calls, etc that affected the outcome but it did not determine anything.