Higgins versus BBN

[Zakk Wyldcat]

Barnhart may have no official say but the general consensus that he would have no influence or pull behind the scenes is prime example of his general fecklessness on the scene. As was said above, he is a 'go along and get along, make no waves' kinda guy.

Now, if the volleyball or rifle teams got screwed to the wall by a rooferee or seeding committee he'd be all over the case.

 

[Rupp'sRunt]

But then again, he also said he didn't think we got a difficult bracket last year.

If he said that, then he needs to be the director of something other than athletics

 

[kybassfan]

Ok, let's add some perspective.

First, for those of you that think Mitch could fix a problem with Higgins, I want you to go resolve the problem in North Korea. NOW DAMN IT! Oh? You don't have either the influence, responsibility or authority? Not a fair request? Ok, now you are learning.

Second, we had some fans that acted like total dicks. Death threats? Maybe, maybe not. Inappropriate calls? No doubt but doesn't matter. The issue is no longer Higgins. The issue is whether our "special" fans have introduced a seed of bias and motivation among a much larger group of officials. Can we ever get a fair whistle now? I see this as a very real threat. *Queue the whining about they were just fans and nobody pays attention to poor little fans*

Third, Barnhart had no influence over how we were seeded in the NCAA tourney. See the first item. That screaming you hear is what happens when you toss the bath water without checking for the baby first.

Lastly, if one starts applying pressure to someone to force them to influence things over which they have zero control, you start introducing motivation for corruption. This is the recipe for making a Jurich. This is the proof that the UL boosters and administration really are a bunch of idiots as compared to the UK boosters and administration. Let's not follow their lead into a world of crap.

If you can Barnhart, you do it for lack of performance in areas where he truly has responsibility. You don't do it for failure to strong arm refs or what is already a corrupt tourney selection process. For things that are actually in his realm of responsibility, I suspect the guy is well above the curve for performance.

 

[JonathanW]

Losses: 17 UNC, 15 Wiscy, 11 UConn, 05 Mich St (all tourney games) + 16 UCLA @Rupp
Wins: EKU 05, Cornell 10, Vandy 17 @ rupp

So basically 1-5 when UK plays a competitive opponent (toss out the EKU & Cornell games). That would probably be statistically significant.

 

[TheDude73]

I'll agree the man is pretty much a

 

[Ineverplayedthegame]

Question?
Would it have been against the law to call Higgins’ business 5-6 times a day to ask if he would like to have a lower interest rate on his credit card. Or has he ever thought of improving the SEO of his business’s website? Or maybe he would like a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas?

 

[IL Wildcat]

The lawsuit he filed against KSR was the best thing that could've happened for Kentucky. Now it's officially a conflict of interest for him to ref another UK game. I hope we never see that crooked POS again

Agreed. By filing that lawsuit, he gave UK fans exactly what they wanted. Thanks.

 

[zannmann]

As long as Higgins has a lawsuit, wouldn't working UK games be considered conflict of interest?

 

[Larry Skaggs]

Mitch must leave the room whenever Higgins’ name is brought up

 

[gossie21]

Actually it never got to the FBI (despite the media reports). There simply weren't any death threats made (again despite the numerous media reports). Doesn't mean many UK fans didn't cross the line. Hopefully they have learned from this experience.

As far as Mitch Barnhart, Higgins has only reffed two regular season UK games. First was UCLA last season in a CBS game which Barnhart may not have had much control over. Second was a SEC game vs. Vanderbilt last season, which because it's a league matchup Barnhart had little to no control over. (and FWIW I don't know for sure but I doubt Barnhart takes time to worry about specific referee assignments. More likely someone in the basketball office pays closer attention to those sorts of things.) The fact Higgins reffed a UK-Vandy game is strange too because I didn't know Higgins reffed SEC games. (He's primarily been a Big 12 official once conference season starts.)

Link to record of John Higgins' UK Games

The rest of the games were all in the NCAA tournament, which UK really has no control over.

One thing which needs to have more transparency and better decisions is who decides which refs advance to the Final Four and what is the criteria. Whoever decided that Higgins deserved to advance to the Final Four after the UNC-UK debacle should be fired. (and I doubt it was Barnhart).

I'm not expecting to see Higgins show up in any regular season UK games going forward. It could happen in the NCAA tournament, but that would be a mistake since Higgins filed his lawsuit (which includes claims against John Calipari), it would seem to be a conflict of interest for him to ever do another UK game again. Hopefully that stands forever, because he can't be trusted to call a fair game, even before the lawsuit.

For sake of clarity, the lawsuit does not include a "claim" against Calipari. A claim in the law typically refers to a claim seeking damages or some other form of relief. Calipari wasn't named as a party defendant, so technically there is not a legal claim being made against him. However, the complaint does identify Calipari by name a few times.

"Statement of Fact" paragraph 21 it states, "University of Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari is a frequent guest on the Show. Mr. Jones credits Coach Calipari as a large part of KSR's success."

Then he directly quotes Calipari in paragraph 24: "That same day, after the Game, Coach Calipari directly criticized the officiating at the Game during his postgame news conference, beginning the conference by stating, 'You know, it's amazing that we were in that game where they practically fouled out my team. Amazing that we had a chance."

In my opinion this creates a conflict of interest between Higgins and the University of Kentucky and Calipari. He is trying to create a connection between KSR and Calipari saying one helped build the others career, and that KSR took the fire started by Calipari's comments and fanned the flames. This is an essential part of his lawsuit, and he stands to gain a large sum of money in damages if he succeeds. That puts him directly at odds with Calipari even though he was not named as a defendant. I don't think the NCAA can ever assign Higgins to a Kentucky/Calipari game again.

 

[gossie21]

Lost 4 of the last 5 games he has officiated and five out of the 8 that he has ever officiated including Patrick sparks Michigan state game

4 of the games in the NCAA tournament. 2 in the Elite Eight, and 2 in the Final Four. 3 in which we were the favorite to win the National Title.

 

[ManitouDan]

Why do I have the feeling we wont see floopsy Mopsy all year , until the NCAA might really him .. like an elite 8 game or natty champ .

 

[kybassfan]

For sake of clarity, the lawsuit does not include a "claim" against Calipari. A claim in the law typically refers to a claim seeking damages or some other form of relief. Calipari wasn't named as a party defendant, so technically there is not a legal claim being made against him. However, the complaint does identify Calipari by name a few times.

"Statement of Fact" paragraph 21 it states, "University of Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari is a frequent guest on the Show. Mr. Jones credits Coach Calipari as a large part of KSR's success."

Then he directly quotes Calipari in paragraph 24: "That same day, after the Game, Coach Calipari directly criticized the officiating at the Game during his postgame news conference, beginning the conference by stating, 'You know, it's amazing that we were in that game where they practically fouled out my team. Amazing that we had a chance."

In my opinion this creates a conflict of interest between Higgins and the University of Kentucky and Calipari. He is trying to create a connection between KSR and Calipari saying one helped build the others career, and that KSR took the fire started by Calipari's comments and fanned the flames. This is an essential part of his lawsuit, and he stands to gain a large sum of money in damages if he succeeds. That puts him directly at odds with Calipari even though he was not named as a defendant. I don't think the NCAA can ever assign Higgins to a Kentucky/Calipari game again.

I think there is one fly in the ointment in that argument (good argument by the way). By extension, I think you could say that Higgins has a conflict of interest with college basketball. For example, if I wanted to have a negative effect on Cal and KY, I'd just make sure the stronger team always advanced against them both in regular season and the tourney to reinforce my negative agenda.

Having said this, I note that Higgins is still working.

My conclusion, the NCAA could care less what he does. As a result, I fully expect him to appear in one or more of our tourney games. Further, I suspect a few of his officiating buddies may now be on the same page.

 

[gossie21]

I think there is one fly in the ointment in that argument (good argument by the way). By extension, I think you could say that Higgins has a conflict of interest with college basketball. For example, if I wanted to have a negative effect on Cal and KY, I'd just make sure the stronger team always advanced against them both in regular season and the tourney to reinforce my negative agenda.

Having said this, I note that Higgins is still working.

My conclusion, the NCAA could care less what he does. As a result, I fully expect him to appear in one or more of our tourney games. Further, I suspect a few of his officiating buddies may now be on the same page.

My biggest worry about the whole situation with Higgins last year was that his "Referee Fraternity" would close ranks and seek retribution for the attacks on one of their own. When it comes to officiating I am probably a touch paranoid and quite a bit biased. So when I watch games I usually feel like we get the short end of the whistle. This year so far that seems to have been amplified.

As for what the NCAA can do, I'm not sure that the NCAA can fire an official during the regular season. I think conferences usually handle that. But if he officiates in the NCAA tournament, then I think it's clear the NCAA won't do anything about it. And I'm not sure how far I would want Kentucky/Mitch to push the issue, for the reasons stated above. That makes us a target to referees trying to protect one of their own.

 

[AndreHoldingMyRearend]

But, our AD is NOT in the room. Do I think Barnhart could do a better job? Yes. Do I think he is as bad as some think? Nope.

Yea but wouldn't you think we wouldn't get screwed harder than ever before with him in there at least? And what about the fact he said afterwards he was very happy and content with the road we got and how he was happy that he felt we got a fair draw? And you could tell by his expression when talking about it he was being dead serious. Does that not show his incompetence? Wasn't the main purpose for him being in there was for them to not be able to screw us right in front of our faces anymore? I'm sure cal wanted him in that room so we would stop getting screwed over can damn near guarantee it. Yet somehow we still got screwed worse than ever with our AD in the room?

I wonder what cal was thinking about Mitch when seeing those brackets released, he was probably very dumbfounded by all of it. And once he saw the bracket are we gonna act like he didn't have the right to point out that thats the biggest screw job ever and act like he didn't have the right to ask wtf is going on here? The fact is at the very worst we should've gotten a very fair shake with him in the room. But what happened was we got the worst draw ever. It's as if he's so incompetent that the others in the room knew they could screw him over and UK over worse than they ever have before and him not even notice it. It's like at thanksgiving when a kid gets to sit at the adult table for the very first time he didn't care what happened he was just happy to be there. All I'm saying is Mitch being there should've at the least ended the screw jobs we always get hit with, instead we got screwed worse than ever. There's something very wrong and not ok with that.

 

[JPScott]

For sake of clarity, the lawsuit does not include a "claim" against Calipari. A claim in the law typically refers to a claim seeking damages or some other form of relief. Calipari wasn't named as a party defendant, so technically there is not a legal claim being made against him. However, the complaint does identify Calipari by name a few times.

"Statement of Fact" paragraph 21 it states, "University of Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari is a frequent guest on the Show. Mr. Jones credits Coach Calipari as a large part of KSR's success."

Then he directly quotes Calipari in paragraph 24: "That same day, after the Game, Coach Calipari directly criticized the officiating at the Game during his postgame news conference, beginning the conference by stating, 'You know, it's amazing that we were in that game where they practically fouled out my team. Amazing that we had a chance."

In my opinion this creates a conflict of interest between Higgins and the University of Kentucky and Calipari. He is trying to create a connection between KSR and Calipari saying one helped build the others career, and that KSR took the fire started by Calipari's comments and fanned the flames. This is an essential part of his lawsuit, and he stands to gain a large sum of money in damages if he succeeds. That puts him directly at odds with Calipari even though he was not named as a defendant. I don't think the NCAA can ever assign Higgins to a Kentucky/Calipari game again.

Thanks for the clarification. I didn’t mean to say that Higgins filed his lawsuit against Calipari.

But I did want to convey that Higgins did cite Calipari by name as one who criticized the refereeing, which does show a clear conflict of interest.

 

[JPScott]

4 of the games in the NCAA tournament. 2 in the Elite Eight, and 2 in the Final Four. 3 in which we were the favorite to win the National Title.

And nearly all of those games had at least one or more egregious officiating errors, most of them committed by Mr. Higgins. (although to be fair some were a group effort)

 

[YouKay]

The missed shot clock violation in 2015 should have DQed Higgins from any further Final Fours. You simply cannot call him one of the top officials in the game when he misses calls like that.

What really might be useful would be for someone to make a highlight reel of all of his missed calls and bad calls, especially including the replays and commentary by the announcers, and send it to the SEC and NCAA heads of officiating. Whining from losing team fans on message boards isn't going to do a damn thing.

And ffs, can we please stop blaming Mitch Barnhart for any of this? UK is always going to get tough brackets because it's in the same region with Duke, UNC, UofLOL, and many other top programs. It's up to Calipari to make sure his team finishes as a #1 seed and we need to stop bitching about not getting to the Final Four when the team didn't finish with a top 4 record.

 

[gossie21]

And nearly all of those games had at least one or more egregious officiating errors, most of them committed by Mr. Higgins. (although to be fair some were a group effort)

Whatever do you mean?

I just noticed, but the URL I copied for this gif is from your website. Which I think is nice.

 

[Mojocat]

Why has Barnhart not pursued getting John Higgins banned from ever reffing any of our games?

Bad start to your premise. The NCAA could not allow any AD the right to unilaterally veto any individual ref - otherwise it would quickly deteriorate into something unmanageable. Before long, every school would have a list of guys who couldn't ref its games, and every ref would have a list of games it couldn't ref, and you wouldn't have enough officials to cover all the games. From what I gather, there's a shortage of qualified refs, anyway.

So the answer to your question is Barnhart doesn't have the power to do what you want him to do.

 

[mdlUK.1]

OK. I highly doubt he just made it all up. Not saying it’s all true but where there is smoke, there is usually fire. Some of our fans are a bit crazy after all.

Again, was ANYONE charged with a crime?

 

[Cat78Scot]

OK. I highly doubt he just made it all up. Not saying it’s all true but where there is smoke, there is usually fire. Some of our fans are a bit crazy after all.

He's made up a ton of calls over the years, why would this be any different? I'm sure there was some stuff but if it was serious, someone would have been charged. Has anyone been brought up on charges? Seriously don't know but I'm SURE we would have heard about it from the media!

 

[morgousky]

OK. I highly doubt he just made it all up. Not saying it’s all true but where there is smoke, there is usually fire. Some of our fans are a bit crazy after all.

Bro, it was investigated. There were no threats. Today, there's not always smoke where there's fire. The women in your life could go to the police tomorrow and tell them you screamed loudly at them and took their keys before smacking them in the face.

False imprisonment, theft, assault. You will be charged.

But all you did was tell her she wasn't driving drunk and never touched her.

Should we apply the "where there's smoke there's fire" logic?

Higgins is a liar. We know it. We've seen it. Anything he says should be highly vetted, not believed. Especially when he's already openly lied about threats on his life and on his social media. It simply did not happen.

 

[TheDude73]

And nearly all of those games had at least one or more egregious officiating errors, most of them committed by Mr. Higgins. (although to be fair some were a group effort)

3 of 4 years UK was the betting favorite to win it all...so why not believe Higgs threw down some serious cash against the Cats winning, and then made certain they wouldn't.

 

[morgousky]

3 of 4 years UK was the betting favorite to win it all...so why not believe Higgs threw down some serious cash against the Cats winning, and then made certain they wouldn't.

People think this is paranoia, and I don't understand why?

All it would take is for a family member (cousin) or friend that he trusts and we'd never hear anything about it. These officials aren't properly vetted in any form, there's no way anyone would find out.

It comes down to integrity, and as we already know, Higgins has zero. No reason at this point to believe he isn't making bets.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

He's made up a ton of calls over the years, why would this be any different? I'm sure there was some stuff but if it was serious, someone would have been charged. Has anyone been brought up on charges? Seriously don't know but I'm SURE we would have heard about it from the media!

I never said there were threats or anything. I actually haven’t even been keeping up with his dumbass. Do I think some UK fans reached out to him? Yeah, I do. Not saying they did anything illegal but I do believe some of our fans reached out to him or his business to voice their displeasure in his officiating. Lol. That’s all I was saying.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Again, was ANYONE charged with a crime?

Again, I never said anything illegal was done. I never said a single thing about threats on his life. Not 1 time. Do I think that a few of our fans reached out to him on social media or called his business? Yeah, I do. That doesn’t mean they did anything illegal but I do think something happened. It was all over national tv.

 

[kybassfan]

Again, I never said anything illegal was done. I never said a single thing about threats on his life. Not 1 time. Do I think that a few of our fans reached out to him on social media or called his business? Yeah, I do. That doesn’t mean they did anything illegal but I do think something happened. It was all over national tv.

I believe the thinking is that unless one or more fans convicted in a court of law with all rights of appeal exhausted, neither Higgins nor his compatriots would carry a grudge.

Somehow, I don’t think they see it the same way.

 

[Cat78Scot]

I believe the thinking is that unless one or more fans convicted in a court of law with all rights of appeal exhausted, neither Higgins nor his compatriots would carry a grudge.

Somehow, I don’t think they see it the same way.

I'm not sure how much more damage Higgins can do if he 'develops' a grudge from the treatment he received. Other officials could, in theory, start screwing with us. It's obvious there are no repercussions for corrupt officiated since Higgins has gotten away with it against us for so long.

I guess I'm hoping most people wouldn't be that petty and susceptible to corrupting themselves. Other officials have to have seen what Higgins has done, they would never speak up but maybe some see how badly we got screwed by him and help us out!

A guy can dream I guess.

 

[HICATFAN]

Higgins vs BBN?

Sheh, I could kick his ass by myself

Willie, in my mind (don’t go there) .... you are a legend!!!

AlohaCat

 

[Willy4UK]

Willie, in my mind (don’t go there) .... you are a legend!!!

AlohaCat

Buddy, I'd take one for the team. I'd break so many of his teeth down his throat that he'd be crappin his own enamel for two weeks.

 

[jeffbuckies]

Losses: 17 UNC, 15 Wiscy, 11 UConn, 05 Mich St (all tourney games) + 16 UCLA @Rupp
Wins: EKU 05, Cornell 10, Vandy 17 @ rupp

My memory is pretty bad, but didn't we have the lead late in most of those games (except the UCLA game where they lead by 7-10 points the entire second half)?

C'mon guys, blaming the refs is a Loserville fans move. Serious question for those that actually think refs cheat against us, have we ever lost a game because we simply didn't make the plays and the other team did, or is it always because a ref missed a call against us in the first half that lead to the other team scoring one basket?

 

[UKWildcatT]

For those who say due to the “actions” of some UK fabs, we will never get a fair whistle...it should be the opposite. These refs should be embarrassed by his blatant actions.

Hell, National talking heads were calling him out at halftime, not just Kentucky fans. Doug Gottlieb, yes, DOUG GOTTLIEB was even calling him out on his bias. What’s that say?

 

[TeleTubby]

C'mon guys, blaming the refs is a Loserville fans move. Serious question for those that actually think refs cheat against us, have we ever lost a game because we simply didn't make the plays and the other team did, or is it always because a ref missed a call against us in the first half that lead to the other team scoring one basket?

All we can ask for is a level playing field. When it's obvious that we aren't, we have every right to complain. Higgins made egregious calls in all five NCAA games involving UK. Go back and watch the Cornell game. We fall behind 10-2, lead 30-15 at halftime, and Cornell gets back into it while players are wrestling Cousins down multiple times. Bilas even points out what a joke it is. That's the game he did where we won.

 

[skcatfan]

My memory is pretty bad, but didn't we have the lead late in most of those games (except the UCLA game where they lead by 7-10 points the entire second half)?

C'mon guys, blaming the refs is a Loserville fans move. Serious question for those that actually think refs cheat against us, have we ever lost a game because we simply didn't make the plays and the other team did, or is it always because a ref missed a call against us in the first half that lead to the other team scoring one basket?

Serious question for you. Do you think UK fans are pissed at Higggins because one or two missed calls? If you can’t see a pattern of egregious calls against UK in games he has has reffed then you have an agenda. You would have to be pretty naive to think a ref that has an axe to grind couldn’t have an effect on the outcome of a game.

 

[kybassfan]

For those who say due to the “actions” of some UK fabs, we will never get a fair whistle...it should be the opposite. These refs should be embarrassed by his blatant actions.

Hell, National talking heads were calling him out at halftime, not just Kentucky fans. Doug Gottlieb, yes, DOUG GOTTLIEB was even calling him out on his bias. What’s that say?

Had to snicker when I read that. To counter your thought, I simply refer to the federal government. What should happen, NEVER happens.

 

[jeffbuckies]

All we can ask for is a level playing field. When it's obvious that we aren't, we have every right to complain. Higgins made egregious calls in all five NCAA games involving UK. Go back and watch the Cornell game. We fall behind 10-2, lead 30-15 at halftime, and Cornell gets back into it while players are wrestling Cousins down multiple times. Bilas even points out what a joke it is. That's the game he did where we won.

Serious question for you. Do you think UK fans are pissed at Higggins because one or two missed calls? If you can’t see a pattern of egregious calls against UK in games he has has reffed then you have an agenda. You would have to be pretty naive to think a ref that has an axe to grind couldn’t have an effect on the outcome of a game.

I'm not going to argue over officiating, but I will point out that we get bad calls against us and for us. It's not a higher conspiracy, it's just blown calls. Hell, how easily some of you forget Fox not getting called for hitting the UNC point guard in the groin/leg, which led to him twisting his ankle in the first half of the tourney game last year, or the fact that the had key players in foul trouble early on in the game. Tell me, if the refs were against us why would they call those fouls on UNC?

We're bitching over a a couple of possessions in an entire game. If the two teams are so close in talent that 1-2 bad calls decides the game, then there's no way to say that if those calls were not made then the losing team would have won. Do you think Cal sits back and bitches about the refs? No, he gives credit to the other team for making more plays than us when we lose.

Now, that's all I have to say on the subject. If you want to cry and moan the go for it. Just know it's not a good look. And, sorry if I am coming across as a dick, but I'm just tired of the "ray-ufs, ray-ufs" type of fans. It annoys me when opposing fans cry about the calls and when our fans cry about the calls.

 

[UKWildcatT]

Had to snicker when I read that. To counter your thought, I simply refer to the federal government. What should happen, NEVER happens.

Snicker all you want

 

[TeleTubby]

Tell me, if the refs were against us why would they call those fouls on UNC?

They can't make it obvious, though Higgins has come close enough that neutral observers have seen it. And one or two calls CAN determine a game if you know what you're doing, just as one or two calls from the bench can determine a game. Or one or two plays on the floor.

Read up on Tim Donaghy and what he said about officials.

And don't forget this quote from Bill Walton: "I hope we never see anything like the first half of North Carolina-Kentucky again."

 

[Cat78Scot]

My memory is pretty bad, but didn't we have the lead late in most of those games (except the UCLA game where they lead by 7-10 points the entire second half)?

C'mon guys, blaming the refs is a Loserville fans move. Serious question for those that actually think refs cheat against us, have we ever lost a game because we simply didn't make the plays and the other team did, or is it always because a ref missed a call against us in the first half that lead to the other team scoring one basket?

I don't see anyone talking about refs plural. I see everyone talking about one ref, backed up by video evidence in multiple games. You'd have to be either a moron or intellectually dishonest to watch the clip included in this thread and the other video evidence and deny something is up.

Watching for 40 years, I've never once thought or said this. I know what I've seen. By denying such obviously biased and corrupt actions by a ref, people condone it. Incredible that UK fans actually do this.