NBA Refs Get No Respect
No respect at all…
Poor, poor referees. See, they thought everything was cool between them and the League. First, the NBA let them have a major say in deciding the winner of the 2006 Finals, and at the start of this season, gave them the power to control players’ emotions by being able to call a tech should a player do so much as sneeze in their general direction. The refs then went ahead and got cocky, and the League had no choice but to lay the smack down on them.
It seems that more than a few refs were shook after the “brawl” at The Garden last Saturday, so the National Basketball Referees Association tried to set up a conflict resolution meeting between themselves, the League, and the Players’ Union.
“How do we address the culture so a message is sent to fans that it’s OK to bring their kids to games?” Referee spokesman Lamell McMorri said. “We are addressing this issue so the culture is changed, and this behavior isn’t acceptable.”
Despite Martin Luther King III (MLK’s oldest son) accepting the ref association’s invite to moderate the meetings, league officials and the players weren’t having none of it:
“I don’t know if a summit is required,” Union Chief Billy Hunter said. “I don’t think it’s that much of an issue. My contention is referees pretty much call the game the way it’s dictated by the league. Any resolution is between the league and the union. Referees are an appendage of the league.”
Billy don’t play!
Appendage?! Ouch.
And I thought Phil Jackson calling the Bulls a “latte” was bad.
17 Responses to “NBA Refs Get No Respect”
Dec.21 at 5:13 pm
HIBACHI!!! says:
billy is cold as ice.
Dec.21 at 5:13 pm
HIBACHI!!! says:
and first.
Dec.21 at 5:14 pm
marcel mutoni says:
colder than cold.
Dec.21 at 5:30 pm
HIBACHI!!! says:
ICE COLD!!! arite arite arite arite arite arite arite arite arite arite arite arite arite arite what happened andre benjamin..please come back.
Dec.21 at 5:53 pm
TheHype says:
what happened andre benjamin..please come back.
look under: Idlewild
Dec.21 at 6:01 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Why, no one else did ^
Dec.21 at 6:13 pm
TheHype says:
BD: point taken; and funny
Dec.21 at 6:24 pm
Dylan Rice-Leary says:
^^ Lol, But back to the topic, I am getting more and more interested in how this is going to play out. Was it Scoop who said that Stern is the only person who could single-handedly take on hip-hop and win? The diferent angles on all of the controversy is great.
-Players have their issues (parity, having some say),
- the owners have their’s (re: the Cuban Rule, plus all the luxury/revenue sharing issues), -The Refs are conflicted (bc they want to be 100% right all the time. No other sport deludes itself that the officials are so infallable as does the NBA. Plus they DEMANS respect, and then they are upset that the players don’t like them),
-the fans are getting worked up by variations of all these issues,
-sport’s media is friggin schizo by doing such things as hyping up the fight at the Garden and then asking what is wrong with the NBA? THe league isn’t very violent, but the coverage is gatuitous and infamatory, and then the reporters ask about the terrible directions taken by the league. -And then Stern is acting like a frigign King: dress code, new ball fiasco, Sheed Rule, Melo supsension, etc -And then there is Etan(!) Lang brought it up a number of times this year, and was asking why people weren’t talking about it, but if it is true that the players filed a lawsuit against the league w/r/t the new ball, and Hunter is responding this way to the reafs/front office, then it looks as if things are going to stay interesting. I am not going to front and say that Stern isn’t a genious and an amazing business man, but how do we know this man is right? Are games getting better? More exciting? Or are they just being called differently? On one hand, I just want o watch some B-ball, but another part of me wants to see this come to a head.
Dec.21 at 9:16 pm
Max Airington says:
“How do we address the culture so a message is sent to fans that it’s OK to bring their kids to games?” Referee spokesman Lamell McMorri said. “We are addressing this issue so the culture is changed, and this behavior isn’t acceptable.” I was at the Wolves v. Lakers game last night, and as my main man Jake would say, “What about them cheerleader hoes?” I felt like I should tip them after every routine they did. I was about two hundred feet away and could still see the cross promotion between Daisy Dukes and Camel cigarettes. And for only $100 a game? Baby, you could take that act down the block, literally, and make that much in twenty minutes. But at least the inactive players were in suits. McMorri, please stop using chidren as a crutch for your faulty logic.
Dec.21 at 9:43 pm
BETCAT says:
I still dont see the need to bring Matin Luther King J.R.’s kids into this. Mr. King (not Billy) is one of the greatest people of all time and has everybody (except every type of rasict including the black ones. I am black and i know lots of people who hate whites and hispanics) respect, but why his kid? It was uncalled for and i think the people who brought him their (the Refs) were tryin to say ‘ Hey we love black people to. Matter o fact we brought a great black man’s son’ thats the way i intrepreated it. I could be wrong but i doubt it
Dec.21 at 9:47 pm
BETCAT says:
oh and one last thing: Dick Bavetta will take over the NAACP by 2025. Mark my words it will be goin down because we all know that Dick loves DWADE (i think he was the one who missed all thoose carries in the finals) and DWADE is loved by black people and all people who love sports
Dec.21 at 9:50 pm
Max Airington says:
Guess who’s doing the intro for the Christmas Day game? America’s favorite personification of all things holy and family oriented, The Pussycat Dolls. Do you really want to wake up to this on Christmas morning? http://www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com/pictures/20061220/pussycat%20dolls/pcd4.html
Dec.22 at 11:49 am
marcel mutoni says:
um, yes.
Dec.22 at 12:24 pm
HIBACHI!!! says:
i’m with mutoni… imma keep lookin at their *beep*..
Dec.22 at 5:16 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
The refs for the Knick brawl included Dick “Mummified” Bavetta and Violet “See No Evil” Palmer. That’s two out of three who weren’t gonna step in there.
Dec.24 at 1:25 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Considering they haven’t been out very long, I’m kinda surprised to see the Pussycat Dolls already have figurines made up at the wax museum. Very lifelike, though.
Dec.24 at 3:31 pm
mutoni says:
by the way, someone created a proper intro for the x-mas day game. check it out