From: allen@tessi.com (Allen Warren)
Subject: Re: Protesting NBA Games
Organization: Test Systems Strategies, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 21:07:57 GMT

operbwt@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu(Barry Trottier) writes:

>In article <1iuuhvINNbbf@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> as232@cleveland.Freenet.Edu  
>(Michael Lerner) writes:
>> 
>> This is the most boneheaded, childish idea yet.  Let's face it, the refs
>> make a hundred bad calls in the course of an NBA game in favor of one team
>> or another; one call DOES NOT DETERMINE THE COURSE OF A GAME!  If we start
>> reversing refs calls on the floor, we open a veritible Pandora's Box.  You'll
>> have people protesting 10-second no-calls, every offensive foul will be
>> protested by the offending team, etc.
>> 
>> Sure, the 6-man no-call was at the end of the game.  I think it was a good
>> no-call, but it should stand regardless.  I'm sure there was an equally bad
>> call made against San Antonio moments before. ;)
>> 

>You are dead wrong in this instance.  This call DID DETERMINE THE COURSE OF THE  
>GAME.  If the call had been made, it is very likely that the Suns would have  
>won.
>Protesting games where there is an obvious infraction is not going to cause  
>mass havok.  Games have been protested before, and protests only happen very  
>rarely.
>This is not a case of "the ref saw it wrong".  This is a clear cut case where  
>if the rules state what the Suns believe they state, they are definitely right.   
>The things that you stated are ALL things which take into account the  
>descretion(sp?) of the ref.  This instance is not one which could "go either  
>way".  What the rule says is what goes, no two ways about it.

>As far as the bad calls thing, that can't be helped.  THEY ARE UP TO THE REF'S  
>JUDGEMENT.  This call had nothing to do with the ref simply not seeing what was  
>happening, he saw it!


I have to agree with Michael when he states that "one call DOES NOT DETERMINE THE
COURSE OF A GAME!", or rather, the calling of or not calling of an infraction 
should not determine the outcome of a game.  Had either team had a substantial
lead, this no-call wouldn't even have been discussed beyond the realm of a
newspaper recount of the game.  Even if this incident would have occurred, say, in
the 2nd quarter, it wouldn't be much to sneeze at.  

In this day and age of technological wonder, we have replay after replay after replay,
and where does it get us?  Into controversy.  Yes, the refs *DID* make a mistake
and due to the circumstances, the mistake allowed San Antonio a chance to win the
game, which they eventually did.  But to try to revisit the ending of the game by
having it played over sometime in the future is ludicrous at best.  And saying that
this one call changed the whole outcome of the game is similar to stating that the
rest of the game up to that point in time was inconsequential.  Why not just have
all basketball games be, say, 2 minutes long?  Why not have instant replay on every
time there is possible contention, thereby stopping play to review each court moment
to discern if the refs were wrong or not?  This gets ridiculous ad nauseam.

allen
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro