WOW Bombshell! Dick Gabriel just reported.....

[tank2009]

I noticed the difference to start the second half and thought it was possible/likely that during halftime these refs were made aware that their calls especially Higgins calls were obviously against UK.



I don't care if people bad mouth uk fans or not...you cant sit by and get screwed out of a game and not say anything. I have had it done to me as a coach and you are basically helpless because if you say anything it only gets worse.

It takes away from coaches, players, and fans and you have these little weasels with whistles who are power hungry , who likely didn't even play the game and couldn't so they get even with their whistle.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

Or, like happens to athletes sometimes, they simply focused more in the 2nd half. You people and your conspiracy theories are cracking me up. I mean I should be working, but I can't help but read this nonsense. It's like a Marvel show came to life and our hero is posting on message boards in an attempt to stop the evil genius.

Don't be so quick to dismiss the notion that a human being can let personal feelings affect his decision making process. You may not want to see it, but honestly, it's natural behavior. And if you don't agree that this guy is a hack with a personal vendetta, you are not paying attention. Did you not read the Seth Greenberg comments? Whether you choose to take him at his word is your decision, but I heard the interview, and he said pretty straight forwardly, Higgins has a bias toward Cal, and it showed in that game.

 

[kb22stang]

Don't be so quick to dismiss the notion that a human being can let personal feelings affect his decision making process. You may not want to see it, but honestly, it's natural behavior. And if you don't agree that this guy is a hack with a personal vendetta, you are not paying attention. Did you not read the Seth Greenberg comments? Whether you choose to take him at his word is your decision, but I heard the interview, and he said pretty straight forwardly, Higgins has a bias toward Cal, and it showed in that game.

I believe he could have a bias and that affects his "performance" but I don't think it's a conscious decision to til the game in our opponents' favor. I think it's more a subconscious bias that makes him incompetent, not evil.

 

[downw/ball-lineD]

I believe he could have a bias and that affects his "performance" but I don't think it's a conscious decision to til the game in our opponents' favor. I think it's more a subconscious bias that makes him incompetent, not evil.

I could go for this, IF it wasn't EVERY game he has done for UK. At some point it is no longer a coincidence, accident, anomaly. It is purposeful---and quite frankly, in the UNC game, it was readily APPARENT and OBVIOUS.

 

[kb22stang]

I could go for this, IF it wasn't EVERY game he has done for UK. At some point it is no longer a coincidence, accident, anomaly. It is purposeful---and quite frankly, in the UNC game, it was readily APPARENT and OBVIOUS.

And if you want to advocate to the NCAA that he never be allowed to officiate a UK game again I'd say good. That's a reasonable response. Threats and attacking his unrelated business = crossing the line.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

I believe he could have a bias and that affects his "performance" but I don't think it's a conscious decision to til the game in our opponents' favor. I think it's more a subconscious bias that makes him incompetent, not evil.

No matter what you believe he has put it to us to end our season three times. I have been saying for years he was the worst ref for us. There are no similar phantom calls by him on our opponents during those games. I observe him closely whenever he refs. Tom, Mike, Jay Williams, Jim Nantz, Raftery are all not nuts. People are on here defending him that could not pick him out of a line up.

Refs are human. This bastard hates Cal. No business calling UK games.

 

[uky8unc5]

Refs are human.
This bastard hates Cal.
No business calling UK games.

Sums up my opinion too.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

No matter what you believe he has put it to us to end our season three times. I have been saying for years he was the worst ref for us. There are no similar phantom calls by him on our opponents during those games. I observe him closely whenever he refs. Tom, Mike, Jay Williams, Jim Nantz, Raftery are all not nuts. People are on here defending him that could not pick him out of a line up.

Refs are human. This bastard hates Cal. No business calling UK games.

Well said. Dude is scum.

 

[kb22stang]

No matter what you believe he has put it to us to end our season three times. I have been saying for years he was the worst ref for us. There are no similar phantom calls by him on our opponents during those games. I observe him closely whenever he refs. Tom, Mike, Jay Williams, Jim Nantz, Raftery are all not nuts. People are on here defending him that could not pick him out of a line up.

Refs are human. This bastard hates Cal. No business calling UK games.

People aren't defending him, we are embarrassed by the overreaction of our fans to a basketball game. He can be bad and those people can still be shameful idiots. Those two concepts are not mutually exclusive.

 

[downw/ball-lineD]

And if you want to advocate to the NCAA that he never be allowed to officiate a UK game again I'd say good. That's a reasonable response. Threats and attacking his unrelated business = crossing the line.

I agree with this. For the record, I have not threatened the man or his business. I agree. he should never do another UK game.

 

[jarms24]

I believe he could have a bias and that affects his "performance" but I don't think it's a conscious decision to til the game in our opponents' favor. I think it's more a subconscious bias that makes him incompetent, not evil.

So, what you're saying is that you don't think he's intentionally doing it, but rather, unintentionally doing it.

In that case, I feel much better.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

People aren't defending him, we are embarrassed by the overreaction of our fans to a basketball game. He can be bad and those people can still be shameful idiots. Those two concepts are not mutually exclusive.

I agree people went too far.

Do you feel sympathy for him?

I do not. Thou reapeth what thou soweth.

 

[ClockCalamity]

That NW call was not even subjective. 1000 out of 1000 people would agree that was a goal tend.
That is not the case with our game. All of the UNC fans I've spoken to seem to think they were not given an advantage. The closest to not-objective call was the Bam goal-tend call, and even the announcers were split (I think 2 said "not" and 1 said "was").

Come on man... I'm not typically one to put ANY blame on the refs, but, if you watch this game again in its entirety, as I did, you don't come away with a better feeling about the refs, you actually feel worse. The calls themselves weren't the biggest issue. The biggest issue was the consequences of those calls on the game! Fox sits 12 minutes of the first half for 2 BS foul calls. You don't think that had a major impact on the game? Not to mention the points taken off the board for calls on us, and points left on the board for non-calls on them. I don't know how ANYONE, especially a UK fan, can look at that game and not see the screw job. And that being said, I've heard quite a few fans of other programs say that they thought it was obviously called one-sided as well. I'm not buying into the NCAA conspiracy stuff, unless this Gabriel story can be substantiated, but I would never put it past Vegas to have this type of influence.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

I agree people went too far.

Do you feel sympathy for him?

I do not. Thou reapeth what thou soweth.

Yes, I agree that some went to far, but no, I feel not modicum of sympathy for the guy. In fact, I think that the end result may give us what we all want, and that's Higgins never doing another UK game. And if that's the case, then I say "great work you freak shows, you did it!" Sometimes the methods to get something you need aren't the best, but I know that this turd deserves to be scrutinized and called out for his behavior, and if that could only come from a bunch of idiots trashing his Facebook pages, then trash that shit and don't feel bad for it. Sorry, but I think what he did is worse.

 

[SacramentoKat]

And if you want to advocate to the NCAA that he never be allowed to officiate a UK game again I'd say good. That's a reasonable response. Threats and attacking his unrelated business = crossing the line.

Wow, you went from "not focusing" to "unintentional bias" to maybe you should advocate he never ref a UK game again. That is called message board incompetentcy in my opinion.

There were not any death threats that I have see. Or heard. BBN lashed out in a forum that would garner attention and a response. Higgins business will not suffer one bit.

 

[minjo]

1. Funny how the NCAA NEVER fires ANY of the obvious ref cheaters.

Why fire? Don't you know they love cheaters?

 

[ukalum]

To everyone trashing people who haven't heard of Dick Gabriel. Not every fan lives in or close to Lexington or even the state of Kentucky. They did not get UK games on any UK affiliate, so they would have no reason to have heard of Dick Gabriel.

 

[DrH. Lecter]

Has the OP actually been verified. Not seeing this reported anywhere but here.

 

[minjo]

People aren't defending him, we are embarrassed by the overreaction of our fans to a basketball game. He can be bad and those people can still be shameful idiots. Those two concepts are not mutually exclusive.

You mean you are embarrassed. That is just fine but do not use the word WE. I and a lot of us are part of that WE and we are not in a group of embarrassed bunch.

 

[BigSexyCat]

Has the OP actually been verified. Not seeing this reported anywhere but here.

If you read through the thread you'll see where I replied to Justin and gave him the source and another poster confirmed it. Was it a word for word quote? No, but the overall context remains the same.

 

[BigSexyCat]

You mean you are embarrassed. That is just fine but do not use the word WE. I and a lot of us are part of that WE and we are not in a group of embarrassed bunch.

I agree with this. The UK fan base has no control over what others choice to do and for the record I would bet the threats were limited to two or less people.

 

[Blueisbest]

Until the referees are made to have a press conference after every game then nothing will ever change. At least then they will have to say why a call was made or not made. They need to face the scrutiny of the media just like the coaches and the players.

 

[kb22stang]

Wow, you went from "not focusing" to "unintentional bias" to maybe you should advocate he never ref a UK game again. That is called message board incompetentcy in my opinion.

There were not any death threats that I have see. Or heard. BBN lashed out in a forum that would garner attention and a response. Higgins business will not suffer one bit.

I saw threats on this website, to say that he didn't receive any is a more difficult logical jump than to say he did. But justify it all you want, that's the society we live in. "It's not my fault" "they did it first" "but he's a bad ref" as long as you believe it's ok then it must be, right.

 

[VillaCat]

I saw threats on this website, to say that he didn't receive any is a more difficult logical jump than to say he did. But justify it all you want, that's the society we live in. "It's not my fault" "they did it first" "but he's a bad ref" as long as you believe it's ok then it must be, right.

Not disagreeing with you, I say this in all seriousness....what kinds of threats did you see? We are talking about the Facebook page here or somewhere else? Just trying to gather facts since I haven't gotten involved in any of this myself.

 

[Deli owl]

 

[UK_fan_41102]

Imagine Higgins not getting the Final 4 job? People would be saying the poor job he did in the Elite 8 was why he didn't get it. The NCAA couldn't have people second guessing them, so they gave him a spot in the Final 4 to save face, plus reward him at the same time.

 

[barryn2000]

Not disagreeing with you, I say this in all seriousness....what kinds of threats did you see? We are talking about the Facebook page here or somewhere else? Just trying to gather facts since I haven't gotten involved in any of this myself.

I'm sure it happened. Things like this escalate as the crazy's feed on each other and it becomes a game of outdoing the last guy. We had posts here on this board wishing Higgins dead...telling Higgins that over the phone isn't as far a leap as going from complaining about bad calls to death threats.

 

[IdaCat]

Imagine Higgins not getting the Final 4 job? People would be saying the poor job he did in the Elite 8 was why he didn't get it. The NCAA couldn't have people second guessing them, so they gave him a spot in the Final 4 to save face, plus reward him at the same time.

There's dozens of other refs they could have chosen and it wouldn't have raised any issues.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

There's dozens of other refs they could have chosen and it wouldn't have raised any issues.

Did those dozen other refs do something to be rewarded for?

 

[DrH. Lecter]

If you read through the thread you'll see where I replied to Justin and gave him the source and another poster confirmed it. Was it a word for word quote? No, but the overall context remains the same.

I'm not doubting you but I live in Louisville and told this to a LilBrothel who promptly did a google search and found no other source or reporting for the info in your quote. Not KSR not anywhere. That to me is odd because the statement would seem to be quite significant.

 

[Mojocat]

First point, this is a potentially explosive revelation. If that message was in fact communicated, it would seem to validate many of the complaints made. However, I've learned not to trust message board quotes of quotes. heh. Sometimes, the essence of the quote is lost. Sometimes, people just make stuff up. Anyone verify this.

Second point, I don't know why some of you guys continue to be embarrassed by the "over-reaction" to this. This is a tempest in a teapot. The 24/7 news cycle loves controversy, the media guys "with an agenda" per Seth Greenberg (meaning Forde, et al) are pushing this, it will soon be forgotten - and if it doesn't pertain to you, it doesn't pertain to you. You think someone is going to think because you are a UK fan that you sent a threat? If you didn't make a threat, then you didn't make a threat, and this doesn't impact you. Anyone assuming all UK fans are idiots because a handful of UK fans are idiots, is an idiot and you shouldn't worry about what they think. Free advice. heh.

 

[Katwatcher]

I have never ever heard of officials reprimanded at half time by their supervisor. If that is true, I'm blown away.

^^^^^^^^^
I agree

 

[TnRustyCAT]

I listen to Gabriel every evening, and I missed that statement! I may have been relieving myself though!

 

[BigSexyCat]

I'm not doubting you but I live in Louisville and told this to a LilBrothel who promptly did a google search and found no other source or reporting for the info in your quote. Not KSR not anywhere. That to me is odd because the statement would seem to be quite significant.

I trust Gab. He's been involved in and around the program for decades. I have no idea why other media outlets have not picked up on this story.

 

[BigSexyCat]

I listen to Gabriel every evening, and I missed that statement! I may have been relieving myself though!

They do podcast Big Blue Insider. Maybe listen a little harder.

 

[Lumpy 2]

I believe he could have a bias and that affects his "performance" but I don't think it's a conscious decision to til the game in our opponents' favor. I think it's more a subconscious bias that makes him incompetent, not evil.

Whether or not it's a conscious decision the result is the same, when Higgins calls our games we get screwed. If it is a subconscious bias, Higgins has had plenty of time to review his performance and realize the bias exists then make an effort to correct his mistakes. That's what I would expect an honest person to do. By screwing us every time he calls our games, it proves Higgins is a crooked referee.

 

[throatpoker]

Did you just out yourself as a poser? How could a UK fan not have heard of Dick Gabriel?

What's a wkyt?

 

[Wildcat Sheli]

Podcast has been posted. Thanks to the OP for letting us know! Here it is: http://bigblueinsider.com/2017/03/march-29th-podcast-with-mike-pratt/

Starts talking about the officials being spoken to at halftime around 5:30 mark.

 

[ladycat90]

OMG, You guys are unreal. Let it rest and get a life. No wonder the rest of the country thinks UK fans are the biggest whinners in the NCAA.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

OMG, You guys are unreal. Let it rest and get a life. No wonder the rest of the country thinks UK fans are the biggest whinners in the NCAA.

LOL......... and how many people do you think you'll fool this time?