You know just how corrupt

[kev69]

....the NCAA is, when they review the officiating of the game Sunday night, and instead of being appalled and disgusted by the clearly biased and vengeful calls of John Higgins, they decide he did a great job and promote him to doing the Final Four.

If this isn't a clear FU to Cal and the University of Ky, I don't know what is.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

Whichever Final 4 game he does now, people will closely monitor it for "suspicious" looking calls. So if he's going to screw another team, he'll have to do a lot better job than he did Sunday.

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

Whichever Final 4 game he does now, people will closely monitor it for "suspicious" looking calls. So if he's going to screw another team, he'll have to do a lot better job than he did Sunday.

This, that's why getting his name out there is a good thing. He can no longer fly under the radar when he's a national story.

 

[Dreklie]

All he has to do is call the games fair now ... Kentucky is out lol

 

[catben]

This is the very reason I was so incensed about this ref. The freakin NCAA rewards this jerk for a horrible performance. How can ANY reasonable person that knows basketball NOT watch the film of that game and come to ANY other conclusion but Higgins is a JOKE??!!!!

The other thing that galls my butt is the fact that Mitch Barnhart has ALLOWED the NCAA to assign this ridiculous referee to ANY of our games after ALL of the game changing crappy calls he's made over the last 8 years!!!

 

[Dreklie]

They don't care because it's the NCAA lol, they are mega profitable regardless what happens.

 

[Smashcat]

All he has to do is call the games fair now ... Kentucky is out lol

Sad but true.

 

[Smashcat]

They don't care because it's the NCAA lol, they are mega profitable regardless what happens.

Yep. They budget a certain percentage of revenue for lawsuits every year.

 

[zannmann]

Well, Roger Ayers being the top rated official last year, is all you need to know about how the NCAA rates officials.

 

[crestcat]

....the NCAA is, when they review the officiating of the game Sunday night, and instead of being appalled and disgusted by the clearly biased and vengeful calls of John Higgins, they decide he did a great job and promote him to doing the Final Four.

If this isn't a clear FU to Cal and the University of Ky, I don't know what is.

I don't believe for a minute that Higgins is in the final four for his work so far in the tournament. They've had the refs picked before they made the brackets

 

[buck8113]

my wife has been reading all this and said that was a good start but Ky fans now need to go after our AD and demand he start acting like an AD for UK and not some other team. Tell him to grow a pair and in the future start defending UK

 

[StormCruzzer]

Would love to see him ref the UNC game and screw them over

 

[BlueRunner11]

Would love to see him ref the UNC game and screw them over

No chance, Oregon going to get bent. I've seen enough of this tourney to know what kind of preferential treatment the cheaters have coming this weekend.

 

[phart]

I agree with 8113, we need our AD to stand up for UK.

 

[drainthatub]

The NCAA is likely behind the whole thing so of course he's gonna continue to ref. It starts at the top. Mitch needs to do something about it.

 

[JerseyCat84]

Mitch is too much of a wuss to do anything.

 

[stoneycat_20]

MJ may have paid his place off

 

[CatPhight]

NCAA is gifting Huckleberry a phantom title to go with the other ones tainted with asterisks.

 

[JonathanW]

I actually think what happens is that he calls a fair & good game, he is certainly capable of that (if Cal's team is not on the floor), and then the other-side will point to that and say "see, Higgins is a good official, those Kentucky fans are just a bunch of sore losers".

 

[qwesley]

I don't believe for a minute that Higgins is in the final four for his work so far in the tournament. They've had the refs picked before they made the brackets

Not what they have stated on how refs progress thru the tourney.

 

[docholiday51]

I actually think what happens is that he calls a fair & good game, he is certainly capable of that (if Cal's team is not on the floor), and then the other-side will point to that and say "see, Higgins is a good official, those Kentucky fans are just a bunch of sore losers".

Yeah,this is very possible,having him ref games after all the firestorm this week might boost ratings just a bit too particularly if UNC wins the first game

 

[truebluewildcat]

Rest assured if some missed calls cost ole Droopy Dog a shot at another title, it will be a story. The angle won't be crazy Tarheel fans, but how to improve the officiating process and whether or not refs should be held more accountable.

 

[JumperJack]

If he screws UNC, ESPN will call for a congressional probe. That's how things are different.

 

[kb22stang]

Rest assured if some missed calls cost ole Droopy Dog a shot at another title, it will be a story. The angle won't be crazy Tarheel fans, but how to improve the officiating process and whether or not refs should be held more accountable.

Which is exactly the way that this story started until some UK fans decided that wasn't enough. Is it really that difficult to have some perspective outside of your own interests?

 

[irishcatdaddy]

I'm not buying this Higgins is a victim bullcrap. There is an unwritten rule that you can't complain about officiating cause that's not the reason anyone would lose a game. Can we now put that to rest? The entire purpose of an official is to ensure that the rules of the game are applied and followed. If you have an official like Higgins who is just awful at his job that does indeed impact the outcome of games.

Since people want to paint him the victim...what about his actions affecting the potential livelihood of these kids. His inability to make the right call or control the physicality of the game could get someone injured. What if his actions caused Fox to get injured on that last play before the end of the 1st half? Also, his actions has directly cost several of these kids the opportunity of a lifetime. An opportunity none of them can get back. Yes, shots were missed, yes assignments were missed, and yes we lost a hard fought game; however, to allow a man like Higgins that lacks the basic skill set to be a YMCA official the opportunity to have an impact on such a big stage is inexcusable. Whether he has a personal issue with UK is a topic for another discussion. He's just bad at the officiating profession period.

 

[UKWildcatT]

If it was just UK fans complaining, I could see people blowing it off. When I see national pundits openly calling out the officiating, something you don't see happening, that tells me something.

I've had Arizona, South Carolina, Oregon, LSU and, believe it or not, several Uofl fans all say they knew the fix was in after the first half.

That's telling folks

 

[irishcatdaddy]

UNC student here (I know y'all hate me), props to y'all though you guys had a great team and I'm sure you will again next year. btw, Higgins doing a poor job (he 100% did) and UNC deserving the W are not mutually exclusive things

Lots of respect for that post..and most fans would agree (as much as we hate it) that was a huge shot that Maye hit to win it. With that said...The argument shouldn't be we would have won with out Higgins there... It should be those kids, the fans, and the general public deserved a better official. One with the skill set required to officiate on such a big stage. That's a NCAA issue.

 

[crestcat]

Not what they have stated on how refs progress thru the tourney.

They also said there is no bias in the way the brackets fall, that they don't try to make it harder for some and easier for others. They said that they don't set up games for TV ratings also, I just don't choose to believe them

 

[qwesley]

If it was just UK fans complaining, I could see people blowing it off. When I see national pundits openly calling out the officiating, something you don't see happening, that tells me something.

I've had Arizona, South Carolina, Oregon, LSU and, believe it or not, several Uofl fans all say they knew the fix was in after the first half.

That's telling folks

This Memphis writer definitely is not a fan of Cal and tweeted this during the game.

Dan Wolken‏Verified account@DanWolken
Does John Higgins get region MOP?