Sun Belt referees questioned in another controversial finish
By Marcus Nelson
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I can’t really give a fair representation of how bad the officiating was in Thursday night’s FAU 65-56 loss at South Alabama game since I wasn’t there.
But listening to Ken LaVicka call the game on ESPN760 makes me think it left something to be desired since he mentioned many times how bad it was. Apparently the coaches for each team agreed as both Owls coach Mike Jarvis and Jaguars coach Ronnie Arrow's bench each received technicals. The optimist would say it was consistent, but the realist would say it was probably bad enough to upset two of the Sun Belt’s most experienced coaches.
Well, it turns out the officiating in Mobile may not have been the worst in the Sun Belt on Thursday.
Check out these accounts of the wild ending in Lafayette, La. for ULL's 72-71 overtime victory over the Pioneers on a foul that no one saw or heard a whistle.
Here’s the straight news story from the Lafayette Daily Advertiser and the more interesting account from the UALR fan blog Burn the Horse.
If Burn The Horse is accurate, LaVicka has nothing on Denver play-by-play man Mitch Hyder who had these gems after a phantom foul call in overtime that decided the game:
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“Joe Scott is beside himself.” No call on Denver’s end when they got “hammered”, then Cajuns gifted. “It is beyond a crime.”
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“What we saw in the last 10 seconds of regulation and in overtime… what we have just witnessed… is absolutely mind-boggling.”
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“This is a bad situation for everybody, including the radio guy.”
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“The officiating was an absolute travesty. … An absolute, unequivocal joke.”
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“It is absolutely mind-boggling the garbage that goes on in this place [Lafayette].”
On the heels of the embarrassing “six-man” fiasco earlier this season (also benefitting ULL), perhaps it might be a good time for Sun Belt Conference to look at its officiating. Instead it probably is thinking how it can muzzle radio announcers.
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