Hey look, one of the a-hole refs from the 2013 title game is back in the news
Now Kentucky fans are irate with him:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaabk/report-elite-eight-ref-gets-deat…
But no matter how much he sucks it up and ruins games, he is back at the Final Four!! No amount of incompetence or ineptness will stop the NCAA from giving John Higgins the plum assignments.
(BTW I am NOT endorsing death threats towards refs. Just pointing out that clearly the NCAA doesn't care at all when refs biff up the biggest games. The only way bad refs stop getting big assignements is when they decide to retire.)
March 29th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
March 29th, 2017 at 11:24 AM ^
Death by snoosnoo.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
That's how I want to go
March 29th, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
:D D: :D D:
March 29th, 2017 at 12:37 PM ^
Gotta get the quote right!
"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised."
Didn't she say she wanted to blow up the white house at that womens march? Oh wait that was Madonna that said that I forget what Ashley spoke about.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:53 PM ^
Among other gross things.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
March 29th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
If that's what it would take to spend an night with those Judd's, I'd man up for it.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
want to still find her hot so I am going to go ahead and assume that she somehow just awkwardly spilled a Dr. Pepper directly into the center of her arm pit.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
Holy shit, she sweats. It's like she's a human being or something.
I find this picture of Ashley quite disturbing.
I dunno, I find maniacal fandom from chicks pretty hot.
So did Dario.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^
I will never forgive Higgins, Cahill, and Greene. That said, I don't wish any of them dead like Kentucky fans.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
I never wanted them dead. I just wanted them all to retire in disgrace and embarssment at how horrible they were. But typical of the NCAA, they just don't care.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:09 PM ^
Why would you want Kentucky fans dead?
March 29th, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^
They're almost universally awful.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
Those are the fans that are willing to buy tickets in support of their team, even then, go high up in Rupp Arena and you'll see some nasty fans. The average fan in Kentucky is nearly impossible to be around during basketball season. That being said, I might not be much better, I kept showing them footage of the fans watching the final seconds of the game at the bar I used to bounce at. here in Lexington. They don't like it when I do that, haha.
I work with one. Thanks to the game, he bought me Penn Station for lunch, hah.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:09 AM ^
When Billy Gillispie coached Kentucky (2007-09) he made one NCAA tourney and one NIT.
Kentucky fans practically ran him out of town with torches and pitchforks. There were videos posted online of fans harassing him all over the athletic complex and hundreds more following him and yelling expletives at him when he was simply trying to walk to his car.
The fan base is nuts.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^
No one would or should wish death on any fan or ref or whoever, of course, but I will say that my one of my neighbors - who is the worst kind of bandwagon fan and yes, that includes Kentucky basketball for some reason - has been absolutely silent about hoops since Sunday and it has been wonderful to NOT hear, thank you very much.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^
March 29th, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^
March 29th, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^
While I am opposed to biased incompetent refereeing, using Kentucky fans' opinion as the barometer to determine that is . . . unsound.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:36 AM ^
This isn't a very fair interpretation. If someone threatens to kill me, am I really "making the news"?
I also didn't think officiating played all that large of a role in that game. The FT difference is essentially due to the deliberate fouls Kentucky committed at the end. Kentucky lost primarily because they had several bad possessions in a row down the stretch that cost them the lead. And then they gave up that last shot.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
it a fair statement that I am currently entirely too busy if I do not know at this date and time what shot you are referring to?
I need a vacation.
(Seriously though, are there any other fans who have not watched a second of basketball since last Thursday at approximately 9:22 PM? I think Michigan's run tired me out because I haven't watched a second of the tournament since).
March 29th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
You are not alone. Actually, I haven't even watched the Oregon game, yet. I was at the Ringling Brothers circus show in Richmond Thursday night, and recorded the game for later viewing. No sense in that... I lost interest in the tourney when my phone told me that Walton missed the last shot. Dammit.
Kentucky made a game-tying 3 with something like 7 seconds left, but then UNC rushed upcourt and drilled an 18-footer.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
I don't know if I should be proud or disappointed that we (Michigan fans) didn't think of giving 1*s to Higgin's roofing business.
of the rest of us who would not stoop to that level. His roofing business & the families it supports has nothing to do with a shitty call he made in a basketball game.
all that. He has a roofing business? I am going on Yelp right now to rip that thing apart!
/s.
Maybe!
March 29th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
What is their beef with the officiating? I only saw the second half but it didn't seem like officiating made that much of a difference.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^
The first half was very choppy, with quite a few calls. Additionally, there were a couple of calls that even I --- unbiased observer ---- thought were not good.
That said, this video doesn't do them any favor. The first couple of examples made me say, "Looks fine to me. What are you bitching about?" Plus, you obviously don't see how they were calling UNC at the same time.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
Kentucky is 32-6 in the NCAA tournament under Calipari. They are 1-4 in the tournament under Calipari in games that John Higgins officiates. Yikes....
John Higgins is the poster child for what is wrong with college basketball. Same can be said for Saratore. They both have "real" jobs that require much of their focus and college basketball is more or less a "side gig" to make some extra cash. There is no check and balance system in college basketball because the refs are considered part time individual contractors. There is too much money at stake to not have full time refs, training and full game by game evaluations.
The refs let the players play and called it equal for both teams. Kentucky's offense in the game was terrible and it appeared they weren't even running an offense other than "chuck up terrible shots and hope for a call".
That argument isn't that Higgins is incompetent. It either means that he refs against them or that there is a higher likelihood that he refs in their bigger games. Considering that there are more games in the earlier rounds, it makes sense that there is a higher likelihood of him reffing Kentucky for games where they play better competition, e.g. against the 1-seed in the Elite 8.
I don't think Higgins is incompetent. I do think certain refs have certain biases against certain coaches. I know that Higgins is a favorite of Izzo because he "lets the players bang". I personally dislike Higgins and Boroski more than TV Teddy. Whenever I see them draw a Michigan game, I feel like we are at a disadvantage.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
Huh, it's toooootally weird that a ref that happened to give a lot of favorable calls to Louisville would also happen to make calls that are unfavorable to Kentucky.
March 29th, 2017 at 11:51 AM ^
Good refs?
March 29th, 2017 at 12:07 PM ^
The ones you've never heard of.
March 29th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^
Dog.