Matt Futch !

[Valpo Zip]

I am not sure why was futch out of the game ! was he fouled out ? was it a double technical ? was it a flagrant ? i really have no clue why was he ejected.any one can explain ?

[JP Morgan]

He was ejected for throwing an elbow at a Can't player.

[Z.I.P.]

If that's the case I think he will be out for the next game too. Can anyone confirm the rule?

[zipboy]

I have not seen the replay but talked to 2 people who saw it on TV. They said it was a total joke. I am not sure of the rules either, but if he is supposed to be suspended, I would appeal based off the video tape. The MAC wants Akron and Can't in the finals. I can't see them screwing us over this year.

[zipsbandman]

I think the refs will be better to us in Cleveland just for the reason of getting us to the finals against Can't. This would really advance the tournament and maybe get the local media on board.

[dclear2k]

I really really really hope you guys are right about the refs. Imagine a K E N T V. Akron Final that would be a packed and I mean Packed house! But I have another question here, I've been to my fair share of games and this season is by far the worst with the refs. They constantly make bogus calls! Is this the worst ever officiating in BBall u guys have seen?

[zipboy]

One of the better refs in the MAC retired last year and became the head of the MAC referee crew, Sam something. At the beginning of the year, he said that he was paring down from 60 refs to the top 20. I can't see any improvement. People are human and make mistakes. But the league became a lot more physical this year to the detriment of the league.

[gozips19]

i didn't even see him leave the bench.... that was a bad call and i was happy that kd didn't a t as well

[The Hip Zip]

I'm thinking that he may not have been ejected because he remained on the bench after the fact. If a player or coach is ejected he must leave the floor. Or is this another botch job by an inept officiating crew??

[FearTheRoo]

Here's my perspective.Some of you know that I am a basketball official. I work college mostly, although not at the D-1 level. I am also a die hard ZIPS fan. I must admit up front that even I have trouble viewing the game (when I am a spectator) as an objective witness. I too have a 'homer' perspective.The crew on the game was probably one of the better crews in the MAC. I know one of them from some of the development camps that I attend to improve my skills as an official. That being said, I am a bit shocked today. Not so much with some of the calls, but some of the no-calls.Let's clear up a few questions circulating here:Matt Futch's ejectionFrom the NCAA Rulebook:Rule 4-26 Art. 4. Flagrant personal foul, live ball. A flagrant personal foul shall be a personal foul that involves severe or excessive contact with an opponent orinvolves contact that is extreme in nature while the ball is live.The rule book does not require an ejection. That is the judgement of the calling official.I witnessed Futch's foul in person and on TV when I returned home. As I said, this was a judgement call on the official. In his judgement, it was a flagrant personal foul and deemed it was worthy of an ejection. Keep in mind, player ejections for flagrant fouls (except fighting) do not require the player to leave the court. I personally do not agree with the call. Futch was moving his arms up, both at the same time, and made contact with the face of the Can't player. Yes, it was a foul, but in my opinion, nothing more. I don't know, maybe this is the reason why I don't work D-1 ...yet! here's my other concern on the Futch issue: the calling official used the replay monitor. What for? Here is what The Book says on using replay. The entire rule is a couple of pages, but this is the portion that may pertain to today:Section 5. Officials Use of Replay/Television EquipmentArt. 1. Officials may use courtside replay equipment, videotape or televisionmonitoring only in situations involving:a. A determination if a fight occurred and the individuals who participatedor left the bench area;re rest of the rule is for correctable errors and timing mistakes.Since there was no fight, I have no idea what he was looking at!!!Intentional Foul on Dials to stop the clock at under a minuteJoyce bringing the ball in bounds from the baseline, Dials fouled without the ball before it was brought in bounds. Many wanted an intentional foul.NCAA Rule 4-26 Art. 6. Intentional personal foul. An intentional foul shall be a personalfoul that, on the basis of an official’s observation of the act, is not a legitimateattempt to directly play the ball or a player. Determination ofwhether a personal foul is intentional shall not be based on the severityof the act. Examples include, but are not limited to:a. Fouling a player who is away from the ball and not directlyinvolved with the play.b. Contact with a player making a throw-in.c. Holding or pushing an opponent in order to stop the game clock.d. Pushing a player from behind to prevent a score.e. Causing excessive contact with an opponent while playing the ball.In this case, Dials was involved in the play because he was one of the players to potentially receive the in-bounds pass. Therefore, it is not an intentional foul.Joyce's Intentional FoulAgain, by the rule above, Dru was pushing a player from behind to prevent a score. Remember: an intentional foul is determined by definition not by severity. Severity comes into play with a flagrant foul.Lastly, my biggest problem, as I said, was the no-calls. One thing we try hard to do as officials is to call an even game if the players allow for it. If something is a foul at one end, then we need to make it a foul at the other end. There were too many shoves from behind (a.k.a. over-the-back) and too much contact on the shot against Akron that were not called when Akron was on defense. Again, keep in mind, I am a ZIPS fan, so I may not be as objective as I should.Hope this helps!GO ZIPS!Either way, Can't still sucks!!!!

[liljc]

I have never officiated any game in any sport in my life. That being said, I have only my eyes and my general knowledge of the game to go on. I was absolutely amazed at what I thought was the worst officiated college basketball game I have ever attended. (I have been going to the JAR since it was called the PEB.) They missed calls, they made incorrect calls and the interupted the flow of what was a very good and exciting game. I missed the Futch foul that got him ejected, so I don't have an opinion on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were erroneous. I can only hope that things are better next weekend. I'd sure like to see the Zips play Can't State again next Saturday night! Go Zips!

[JP Morgan]

Liljc - I couldn't agree more, that was the worst officiated game I have ever seen in the JAR.Fear the Roo - I enjoyed your post and insight. Since you are a college ref, can you give me your input on this? Why does it seem like there are more fouls called at critical points in the game in the MAC than other conferences? It just seems like MAC games don't "FLOW." Its up the court.....foul.......down the court.......foul.....timeout..........inbounds.........foul........etc. What gives? Is it bad play, bad players, what?The other thing that drove me nuts was the refs constantly talking to the players telling them to calm down. I didn't see tempers flaring and even if they were.....ITS A RIVALRY FOR PETE'S SAKE! The ref's acted like they were officiating a playground game...not a game between the top 2 teams in the MAC playing in the biggest regular season game of the year.Too me, the refs should not be bigger than the game and the players, and MAC refs constantly are.

[FearTheRoo]

JP, good questions.I don't really have an answer to your first one. Partially, I think it appears that they are making calls at critical moments because that it only what everyone remembers. Keep in mind, the team fouls were pretty even at the half! We know that when it comes to officiating, the only thing (typically) that fans and players will remember is the last two minutes of the ball game AND that is only IF we blow a major call. Otherwise, no one even remembers we were there....and that's how we want it! As for the ticky tacky stuff in the MAC, I don't know. There is a tremendous difference as to what you see when you are on the baseline 8 feet from the action compared to even just 25 feet away in the seats. That being said, I have seen a lot of touch fouls calls in the MAC when body fouls go uncalled. Your guess is as good as mine. When I work a game, I let them play....for the most part. Many times you'll get a "late" whistle. That usually happens when the official wants to see the entire play. If there was light contact on a shot for example, but the ball goes in, I won't call a foul because the shooter was not disadvantaged any way. Now obviously if there is significant contact and it goes in, the shooter deserves a bonus shot. As for your second question, talking to the players is GOOD OFFICIATING! I call it preventative officiating. Believe me, I don't want to blow my whistle. Besides, I don't get paid by the hour and everytime I blow the whistle the clock stops! (joke!) Seriously, the refs obviously knew this was a huge rivalry. We talk about this. Any time we see anything that can remotely lead to trouble, we talk to them. You know how it goes, small stuff leads to big stuff. The last thing you want is punches thrown! I have used this example before, a lead official (baseline) will talk to the post players if there is too much contact. Let them know to knock it off. Also, if someone is in the key too long, we'll tell them to get outl If they don't, then we have a lane violation (noticed it is not called 3 seconds because it actually ends up being 5-6 seconds!).I didn't like the way the game was called today. Some of the complaints are warranted, but some are not. Hope this helps. I don't mean to be a 'rules nazi', but sometimes a little education makes us all better fans. If an official blows a call, let them know...the right way. Your ticket is not a pass to berate them, but we also understand that an occasional 'vocal opinion' is part of the game!

[mrelegazna]

GREAT posts, Fear The Roo.I don't envy you. Without speaking to the officiating on this game, refs are always and will always be a very easy target. I'm of the opinion that if you want the refs to "let the kids play," particularly in the last few minutes, and not call "ticky-tack" fouls, then your gripe is with the rule book, not the refs. The refs have not only a right, but an obligation to call fouls as they see them REGARDLESS of the game situation. The only time I honestly noticed bad officiating today was on the Futch call. And it's not because I like to give the refs a free pass...the officiating in the Cal game sticks out in my mind as just one that was REAL one-sided.

[Chrisj0384]

I happened to look at Futch the exact second that it happened (I was in the front row) and it really appeared to me that all he did was move his arm up and the Cant guy walked into it. It was CLEARLY not a thrown elbow, whatsoever. It was very obvious. To me, it almost seemed like that one particular ref, the one that called the Futch foul, was trying to singlehandely make the Zips lose the game. This guy was calling every little touch the Zips made! It was ridiculous.

[FearTheRoo]

GREAT posts, Fear The Roo.I don't envy you. Without speaking to the officiating on this game, refs are always and will always be a very easy target. I'm of the opinion that if you want the refs to "let the kids play," particularly in the last few minutes, and not call "ticky-tack" fouls, then your gripe is with the rule book, not the refs. The refs have not only a right, but an obligation to call fouls as they see them REGARDLESS of the game situation. The only time I honestly noticed bad officiating today was on the Futch call. And it's not because I like to give the refs a free pass...the officiating in the Cal game sticks out in my mind as just one that was REAL one-sided.

That's why they pay us to be there and the fans PAY to be there! As for calling it regardless of the game situation, you have to. Otherwise you will lose control. There were over 5,600 fans screaming at three guys. Not an easy job! But if it is a bad-called game, then it is just that! I replayed the Futch call a few times on TIVO when I got home. I can't figure out what he saw. My only guess (and we will never know!) is that he maybe previously talked to Futch and others about all the 'crap'. He may have warned that the next malicious contact would be an ejection. Futch may have just done the wrong thing at the wrong time for the wrong official....i don't know.....I am just speculating.

[JP Morgan]

JP, good questions.I don't really have an answer to your first one. Partially, I think it appears that they are making calls at critical moments because that it only what everyone remembers. Keep in mind, the team fouls were pretty even at the half! We know that when it comes to officiating, the only thing (typically) that fans and players will remember is the last two minutes of the ball game AND that is only IF we blow a major call. Otherwise, no one even remembers we were there....and that's how we want it! As for the ticky tacky stuff in the MAC, I don't know. There is a tremendous difference as to what you see when you are on the baseline 8 feet from the action compared to even just 25 feet away in the seats. That being said, I have seen a lot of touch fouls calls in the MAC when body fouls go uncalled. Your guess is as good as mine. When I work a game, I let them play....for the most part. Many times you'll get a "late" whistle. That usually happens when the official wants to see the entire play. If there was light contact on a shot for example, but the ball goes in, I won't call a foul because the shooter was not disadvantaged any way. Now obviously if there is significant contact and it goes in, the shooter deserves a bonus shot. As for your second question, talking to the players is GOOD OFFICIATING! I call it preventative officiating. Believe me, I don't want to blow my whistle. Besides, I don't get paid by the hour and everytime I blow the whistle the clock stops! (joke!) Seriously, the refs obviously knew this was a huge rivalry. We talk about this. Any time we see anything that can remotely lead to trouble, we talk to them. You know how it goes, small stuff leads to big stuff. The last thing you want is punches thrown! I have used this example before, a lead official (baseline) will talk to the post players if there is too much contact. Let them know to knock it off. Also, if someone is in the key too long, we'll tell them to get outl If they don't, then we have a lane violation (noticed it is not called 3 seconds because it actually ends up being 5-6 seconds!).I didn't like the way the game was called today. Some of the complaints are warranted, but some are not. Hope this helps. I don't mean to be a 'rules nazi', but sometimes a little education makes us all better fans. If an official blows a call, let them know...the right way. Your ticket is not a pass to berate them, but we also understand that an occasional 'vocal opinion' is part of the game! 

Thanks Fear the Roo. I know its a tough job but those guys yesterday were IMO, really bad. I think Chryst needs to look into MAC refs and how they stack up against other conferences. This will likely include watching tape and comparing stats (ie # of fouls per game). MAC basketball is a product. The quality of the product depends on the players and refs. If MAC refs are subpar, they need to look for better.

[FearTheRoo]

Agreed!