Dat Call Was Turrible

In a matchup of last year’s National Championship, Rutgers took on Tennessee in Knoxville. Aside from being an extremely high profile game for women's basketball, Vivian Stringer's squad played for a worthy cause. In tandem with the Jimmy V Foundation, the Scarlet Knight’s wore pink jerseys and shoes to support “Think Pink”, an initiative to support breast cancer research. I assumed that meant Tennessee was supporting breast cancer ignorance, so I cheered against them. The presence of Candace Parker made it easy to do so. Here’s quick rundown of some of the reasons I dislike her:

• Everyone goes crazy every time she dunks, even though she’s 6’4”. I’d dunk all the time if I was 6’4”.
• She dates Shelden Williams.
• She stole Chris Paul’s nickname (CP-3).
• She willingly dates Shelden Williams.
• Judges handed her the McDonald’s All-American Dunk Contest even though JR and Josh Smith did dunks that were a billion times better.
• She looks like Janelle from “The Real World: Key West”
• At some point she asked herself, “should I go on a date with Shelden Williams?” and decided that it would be a good idea.

Rutgers had a one point lead when Nicky Anosike was fouled with 0.2 seconds on the clock. Replay clearly showed that the clock malfunctioned, and that the game should have been over. Instead, Anosike hit two free throws to give the Volunteers the 59-58 win. When questioned about the call, officials were dumbfounded that anyone would choose to spend time with Shelden Williams.

Meanwhile in DC, Villanova had Georgetown on the ropes. The score was tied at 53 and ‘Nova could hold for the last shot. As Scottie Reynolds (who went to my brother’s high school) drove, his pass was deflected to Jonathan Wallace, who took off up the sideline with less than a second on the clock. Wallace appeared to step out of bounds with a tenth of a second remaining and the ref blew the whistle. But instead of a turnover, Corey Stokes (who went to someone’s brother’s high school) was called for a touch foul 70 feet from the basket. Wallace made the free throws and G-Town escaped with an aided victory.

Referees get abused for their inconsistency and inaccuracy. But as far as I know, we don’t have a better way of interpreting and enforcing the rules. So until the government allows me continue my research aimed at creating a robot with the eyes of Tim McClelland, the brain of Dick Bavetta, and the biceps of Ed Hochuli, I’m going to have to live with the occasional controversial ending. But at least I don't have to kiss Shelden Williams.