Opinion: Refs steal spotlight
Head sports reporter Arman Kafai shares his frustrations
When you watch a game of basketball, you look for the stars. The LeBron James, the Steph Curry, the true superstars on the court. We all eye their every move, watching them hit jumpers and dunk with ease.
At times, we forget that refs are an important part of the game. They’re not the most important people on the court, but they’re still up there.
Sometimes we’ll even see a ref attempt to be a star of a game. And that’s what we saw on Friday in the 67-64 loss to Frisco.
In a tightly contested game, Carter Brown looked to tie the game at 66 with his bucket, after the team was down by eight points earlier in the 4th quarter. However, in a game that had emotions running high, a referee decided to determine the outcome.
Calling a charge on the drive, the basket was waved off, helping Frisco seal the game. Fan videos showed the defender sliding underneath and not set, which should’ve been called a block.
Instead of us talking about a player’s attempt to salvage anything from a dire situation, we’re talking about a ref who wanted to be the center of attention in the game. It seemed that way throughout the game, from the stare the ref gave the student section, to an overwhelming number of calls on the Redhawks at critical junctures.
We see it in the NBA all the time. Joey Crawford, who’s been in the league for over 39 years, is the most notable. Crawford is notorious for giving technicals out in cases where they weren’t even needed. His famous one was on Tim Duncan, throwing him out when he was laughing from the bench.
It was a call that you could’ve made in a normal situation, in the 1st or early 2nd half. But at that time, you can’t make that call.
But Arman, who says that the way a ref calls a game should be changed in the latter stages?
Well, look at this. The rules of the game change in the last two minutes, allowing for rules for certain fouls and the foul penalty to be altered, changing the foul limits for a team in order for the opponent to shoot free throws.
It also is the time where it’s the player’s time to shine. The stars on the court are players. That’s why people come to games.
A game should not be determined by a call. At best, they shouldn’t have called anything, letting the game go into overtime, and have the players decide the outcome of the game.
But now we’re talking about this poor, poor call. We appreciate you refs, but please know the role you play, and don’t determine the outcome of a game. That’s the player’s job.
Arman Kafai was born in Plano, Texas, and has lived in the North Texas area for the last 18 years. When he’s not digging through his list of stories...
Craig • Jan 11, 2016 at 10:13 pm
Pretty interesting perspective. I don’t agree with all of it but I do agree that refs hold a lot of power over the outcome of games. Close ones as well as blowouts.
Jack Gallagher • Jan 11, 2016 at 2:20 pm
Through implementing extremely biased calls, the refs have constantly plagued the beloved game of basketball for years. I am specifically outraged by three instances. Firstly, the 2006 NBA Finals grinds my gears. Dwayne Wade was granted an absurd amount of free throws from “phantom fouls” (fouls that were called but no contact, let alone foul, occurred in actuality). One play sticks out in particular, though the entirity of the final four games of the series was called atrociously, and it was at the end of Game 5. With 9.1 seconds Dirk Nowitzki scored a clutch go ahead jumper over Shaquille O’Neal. Dirk is very good and that is why he was able to make the shot. The Heat then proceeded to call a timeout, and on the ensuing possession, they got the ball into Wade’s hands. Wade shook multiple Maverick defenders and took the rock to the hole. However, there was one thing stopping him, The German Wunderkind. Dirk surprisingly played adequate defense and forced a Wade miss. There were two refs with clear sight to the play, but a referee from about 35-40 feet away called a foul. All video evidence indicated no contact, but the ref called the foul. Wade made his two free throws and the game was settled. Tim Donaghy, a disgraced NBA official guilty of betting on games, confirmed that NBA executives and officials are biased against Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and claimed that Danny Crawford bragged about the Mavs holding a 1-15 record in playoff games he officiated. The referees interfered with the outcome of this championship series and the livelihood and mental state of dozens of people. Secondly, the first round of the 2014 playoff series grinds my gears. The Mavericks were playing the Spurs. The overall officiating was drowned out by the fact that the Spurs blew the Mavericks out in Game 7 and later went on to win the Finals. However the series shouldn’t have gone to seven games, and the Mavericks should’ve won in six games. Dejuan Blair was unjustly suspended, Manu Ginobili attracted multiple calls via flopping, and the entire series was called with a bias. The third and final instance of poor officiating grinding my gears was in the Frisco vs. Liberty basketball game on Friday. The ref tried to silence the Liberty student section. One ref changed the ruling of a jump ball to a time out in order to favor the Raccoons, who on a side note have a mildly offensive name and should change their mascot entirely. But the most important official interference was the charge called with roughly five seconds left in regulation. In those instances the referees are supposed to have minimal impact on the game’s result, but one referee took matters upon himself to ensure a Frisco victory. The defender was clearly moving, so the ref either didn’t care or was too incompetent for his job. More shadiness in this event was unveiled as the coordinator of officials is the father of a player on the Frisco team. I plead that Frisco ISD will ensure more fair competition, but as for now I will simply air my grievances.