Sheed vs Refs...again

Only this time, I'm taking Sheed's side.

It seems the lesson to be learned here is that referees are never wrong. Referees cannot be punished. Referees are perfect individuals who would never do anything that is unprofessional.

Sheed has been suspended 7 games for an "altercation" with referee Tim Donaghy.

Stu Jackson said he felt the punishment was appropriate, but stated there was no physical contact between Wallace and Donaghy. Basically, Sheed cursed and threatened the official. Early reports stated that the referee cursed back. I notice there's no punishment being handed down to Tim Donaghy. In other words, foul language is not appropriate for a player, but a referee can say whatever he wants.

Seven games is also ridiculous. Chris Mills parked his car in front of the Blazers' team bus and challenged them to fight, and he gets 3 games suspension. Wallace curses at a referee for a bad call, does not physically threaten him, and gets seven games.

This reminds me of the whole Pat Riley issue. If indeed what Riley says is true - that an official approached him and told him it was a pleasure to watch Riley and his team die - then the league should be punishing the referee, not trying to silence Riley with a $50000 fine. It seems as far as the NBA is concerned, the referees would never be unprofessional, nor let personal feelings influence the way they officiate.

The reason I took an interest in this aside from being a fan of the NBA is due to some events that have taken place in the last couple of years of my own basketball career. I play in an amateur league and very few of us could be called future stars, but we still like to play competively and to the best of our ability. The referees in the league are usually players, and are from many different age groups. The way they roster the referees, you could have a 12 year old officiating an open age competition.

This one referee in particular is a fairly arrogant individual, and doesn't like the fact both my coach and myself sometimes question calls, sometimes just to know exactly what we did so we can avoid doing it again. It's amateur competition, it's not life or death, but we like to compete. During a game, I was knocked to the floor on one play, and the referee was heard to comment to some people on the sideline "Watch number four (me), it's funny to see him get hurt." He has also muttered in the direction of my coach "I'll never give you a call you fat (expletive)."

Worst of all, the association refuses to do anything about it. The referee in question of course denies it, and the association could care less about the witnesses we have. As far as they are concerned, there's nothing to investigate, and no referee would act in that manner. I say, if you're getting paid to officiate - and they are - you do a good, fair job of it. We're paying to play, we're not getting paid to play, we deserve to have some fun, healthy competition without the referees getting in the way. I believe that the association, coupled with the fact the Falcons were axed from the NBL, is the reason why basketball is not as popular as it used to be in Newcastle.

The NBA of course has bigger problems than that. Poor officiating is likely to turn fans away from the game. It is my belief that some of the calls in last year's Western Conference Finals were the cause of the 2002 Finals ratings being the lowest since 1983. Sure, a growing anti-Laker movement and the fact the Lakers steamrolled the Nets didn't help matters, but I can't shake the feeling a lot of people tuned out because they felt the Kings - who are not as marketable as the Lakers - were robbed.

But we can't dwell on that, the Lakers won, they are once again the defending champions. We all should have moved on by now, and the only reason I mention it is to show an example of how the NBA could lose fans, and therefore revenue, by standing by their officials and ignoring the other side of referee related incidents.

I'm hoping Sheed will appeal the suspension, because in my opinion, shouting some expletives at a referee is not worth one more game's suspension than fighting in a pre-season game, then waiting outside the locker room to continue the brawl.

(That was a little longer than I previously anticipated )

Rasheed has taken Rodman place, he's on every refs eye, just watching him to see what he does wrong to make the call. I don't know if the refs have anything against the tatoos, cause Rodman was crazy but the refs just hated to see him playing. The same way they do with Wallace. Now, I would like to admit they are human, but for them to be referees, they need to know the game. And that makes them fan, no? I'm just stating this bcause u said something about Riley, that Referee I bet is a Knicks fan, lol. So, maybe most of the Refs are Wallace's Haters. I agree the suspension sounds ridiculous, so that's the only thing that comes to my mind.

Definitely, Sheed's past has made for a less than friendly relationship with the officials. But they're still letting personal feelings get in the way of professionalism.

Wallace probably got this suspension in part due to his past behaviour. It's his fault that he acts like an idiot on the court and pissed he referees off. If he were to behave normally for an entire season then the refs would no doubt stop looking for reasons to give him technicals. I've been an official before, albeit in baseball, and I can tell you that when a player pisses you off but not enough for you to penalize them you DO remember them. It's human nature and the players should treat the officials with respect if they want the game to be called fairly. If they disrespect the officials then they'll get what's comming to them.

I can tell you that when a player pisses you off but not enough for you to penalize them you DO remember them.

But that's my point. A referee is supposed to be unbiased, and to be unbiased, you have to put personal feelings/emotions aside. NBA referees are professionals, and I don't see why they shouldn't have a code of practice that calls for punishment if they violate the code. The players have this, the coaches have this, why not referees?

It's human nature and the players should treat the officials with respect if they want the game to be called fairly.

Agreed, but the referees are being paid to be unbiased officials. It's their job to be unbiased and fair. The excuse of a player not having enough respect for the officials or doing something to irritate the official is unprofessional, IMHO.

If everyone had the desire to win Sheed (and Ricky Davis...and Artest too ) had...

This seems a little out of control compared to the Chris Mills situation...

Today has been a day of bad decisions for the league, first this, then the tragedy in Indiana

Well, the referees have the job of making the league credible. If you have a guy like Rasheed arguing in a childish manner over call, I think that it makes the league look bad. As a ref, you cannot let someone disrespect the game like Rasheed and others like him do sometimes. So I think that the fact that the refs look are Rasheed with a different eye is profesional, because they are doing their job to keep the game as a serious competition and not some foolish parade of childish emotional tamtrums.

The length of the suspension is also a result of how Rasheed has ignored the slaps on the hand that the league has imposed over him. The league has given Rasheed just about every suspension a player can get, but yet, he has not made a signigicant change of his on court manners and ways of dealing with the refs. I think that they are trying to send a clear message to Rasheed DIRECTLY: No more fooling around.

As far as ref suspensions, that would never be a good idea for the league because it would make the league look bad. When refs go on strike and replacement refs come in, the public mostly thinks that the games will automatically be full of bad calls. It would probably ten times worse if you start hearing about refs getting suspensions.

The referees are not supposed to be bias. They have to look out for the game, and more importantly, they have to look out for the league; Their boss.

That's fair enough. But what about the whole Riley situation? As far as the league is concerned, it never happened, never would happen, and there's no investigation.

I truly do not know why ther is nothing being done about that particular incident with Pat Riley. But my guess is that the league is looking out for itself. Admitting that there are fans amongs referees and that sometimes it gets the best out of them would without a doubt start to raise questions about the quality of officials in the league altogether. Everybody knows that it happens, but just the fact that they would ADMIT to it would creat a lot of negative opinions. So instead of that, they leave it open to the public for interpretation; without investigation. Maybe Pat is lying... Maybe pat deserved it... or maybe he wasnt or he didn't... Maybe it is in the best interest in the league not to find out the truth. Its almost like a huge coporationg being accused of having some members being guilty of fraud. They will denie it and unless the resources, like the consumer sor stock/bond owners, threaten to leave.

Anyway, I believe the suspension for resheed was from the league itself, not from a referee. A Ref. Can't suspend anyone, so the bad call should be on the League itself, like others said, they are trying to make the players respect the Refs, too bad the first lesson had to be for Rasheed but I don't think there are too many bad boys around, Spree is already calm down, Iverson doesn't get in trouble if not outside the court, the only one who comes and insult the Refs everytime he pleased is Rasheed. He never does anything wrong, he never fouls anyone, that's what he thinks.

Regarding Riley, there should be an organization inspecting calls as well, so there's Neutral calls for both teams, that way the home advantage doesn't come that significant.

Last edited by scubilete on Mon Jan 20, 2003 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah, I know the suspension comes from the league and not the referee, but that was my point, that the league ignores issues where the referee does something wrong, the same as they seemingly ignored the fact Tim Donaghy cursed back at Sheed.

I mean, if a referee got so angry at a player he walked up and punched him, on a nationally televised game, would the league fine and suspend the player for running into the referee's fist?

Admitting that there are fans amongs referees and that sometimes it gets the best out of them would without a doubt start to raise questions about the quality of officials in the league altogether.

Not necessarily a bad thing. It could lead to an improvement in officiating, clear the air with coaches, owners and team officials who feel that the league is open to their suggestions, queries, and complaints. Right now, there's an automatic "Shut up, the referees are always right and never do wrong" fine. Besides, the media has already raised questions about the quality of the officiating by publishing and discussing the Riley incident.

Maybe Pat is lying... Maybe pat deserved it... or maybe he wasnt or he didn't

He could very well be lying, frustrated with his current team and looking to get someone in trouble. Assuming he is telling the truth (I personally believe that it's mostly true, perhaps the referee used different words), I'd say he didn't deserve it, because if it's true it was very unprofessional on the part of the referee in question (was it Steve Javie?).

Maybe it is in the best interest in the league not to find out the truth.

I can see where you're coming from. Admitting such a problem exists could have a negative effect, but I think that it could also be positive, leading to improvements and a better relationship with the referees. Remember, the referee can be a deciding factor in many sports, and that kind of power must surely go to the heads of some officials (which is of course human nature, but unprofessional nonetheless). Even if the issue was dealt with quietly rather than publically, at least the issue would be dealt with.

Its almost like a huge coporationg being accused of having some members being guilty of fraud. They will denie it and unless the resources, like the consumer sor stock/bond owners, threaten to leave.

Covering up or ignoring a problem often leads to problems down the road if and when it is exposed. Better to address the issue before it escalates, and make an example of any offenders.

the only one who comes and insult the Refs everytime he pleased is Rasheed. He never does anything wrong, he never fouls anyone, that's what he thinks.

I know, Sheed's relationship with the referees is much like Dennis Rodman's was during his post 1993 career. But I still think a referee allowing personal dislike to affect the way he calls a game to be just as unprofessional and not in the spirit of the game.

I agree with you, that thing about maybe is not good for the league to find out, is not convenient for the league. If they want to have people excited with the sport and with the money they are paying, they have to clear everything up. They can't ignore their mistakes or Ref's mistakes, that would lead to a huge disappointment to the league. That's why you get now review when there is a last second shot, because they need to make the sport better, not worse covering their mistakes. How many think the Kings would have won that Lakers-Kings game if the officials would make that Horry's half court shot not valid?, they got complaints and tried to make it better. Now, if everyone stays quiet they will not do anything to fix the problems of the league.

Very true, the addition of reviewing the video to make the right call, while in some ways anti-climatic, does help a little in making a fair decision. Admittedly, Sheed goes about voicing his displeasure with the calls the wrong way, but Pat Riley has been involved in the sport as both a player and coach for what, some 30 years? He's no stranger to the sport, the league, and is an accomplished and well-respected coach. The league shouldn't have dismissed his claims/complaints without some investigation.

HEY MAN I AGREE! IM 15, FROM PORTLAND (OREGON), HAVE SEASON TICKETS, AND I AM PROBABLY THE BIGGEST BLAZER FAN HERE. IT WAS A BUNCH OF SHIT WHAT THEY DID TO SHEED. NOW WHENEVER THAT REF COMES TO PORTLAND NOBODY GOES TO THE GAMES CAUSE THEY KNOW ALL HE WILL DO IS TRY TO MAKE THE BLAZERS LOSE OR SOMETHING. US HERE IN PORTLAND HATE ALL THE REFS THAT HAVE GIVEN US SHIT OVER THE YEARS ESPECIALLY TIM DONAUGHY, STEVE JAVEY, AND BENET SALVADOR. ALL THEY DO IS CAUSE THE FANS TO BOO THEM. IT IS BULL SHIT. DAVID STERN NEEDS TO GET OFF HIS FAT ASS AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE OFFICIALS. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION, BUT I KNOW SOME PEOPLE THAT WILL PROBABLY AGREE. EVERY NBA TEAM HAS SHIT WITH THE REFS AND STERN NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. SOME OF THE DIPSHITS ARE SO OLD, THEY CANT SEE OR HEAR WHAT HELL IS GOING ON IN THE GAMES. AND AS FOR TIM DONAUGHY GIVING SHEED A "T" FOR STARING AT HIM IN THE WEST FINALS AGAINST THE LAKERS AND WHAT HAPPENED THIS SEASON: FUCK THAT DIPSHIT. AND ITS NOT JUST PORTLAND. I SAW HIM REF A GAME THAT INDIANA WAS PLAYING AND REGGIE WAS SHOOTING AND THREE AND AN OPPOSING PLAYER CAME OUT TO BLOCK THE SHOT, MISSED THE BALL, AND JUST FELL ON REGGIE RIGHT IN FRONT OF TIM'S FACE AND HE DIDNT EVEN GIVE A SHIT. THE REFS NEED TO LEARN THAT ITS THEIR JOB TO REF, SO THEY NEED TO FUCKING REF. JUST CAUSE A TEAM IS ON THE ROAD AND "CANT GET THAT CALL" DOESNT MATTER, ITS THEIR JOB TO REF BY THE RULES AND IF THERE IS A FOUL OR WHATEVER THEY HAVE TO CALL IT. THIS IS HOW THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO REF, BUT ITS LIKE THEY DONT GIVE A SHIT. I HOPE THEY WILL GROW THE FUCK UP AND REF THE WAY THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO. SORRY ABOUT THE LANGUAGE.

*scream!* Stop yelling at me! *covers ears!*

LOL!
I'm a blazer fan too, and now Sheed is not leading the league in T's.
It looks like he's learned the lesson.