What I can't stand, however, are the apologists telling the media, "One official's call didn't cost us the win. We had our chances." As sure as the sun rises in the east, you can count on some pollyanna making such a statement. It happens every time. To those tree huggers my reply is often, "Poppycock!" Sometimes a bad call does determine the outcome of a close contest. When coaches or players deny it in a post-game interview, I have to think the fear of being fined or suspended by the league office forces them to fib. What they really would like to declare is that the bad call(s) did indeed cost them the game.
There is a frequently aired television commercial for Continental Tire in which ESPN sports show host Dan Patrick is standing on a basketball court, ball in hand, back turned toward the hoop. Facing the camera outside the arc he asserts, "We're led to believe each individual point is worth the same amount, regardless of when it's scored. Layups are always worth two points, theoretically. But fans know that's not the case because here, in the last minute, everything counts for just a little bit more. Under thirty seconds, three pointers tend to feel like five. As for buzzer beaters [here Dan flips the ball over his shoulder toward the hoop...swish!] they're worth the whole shebang."
I'm not sure what that shot or his message has to do with a tire company, but I love that TV spot just the same. When a game is on the line, everything gets magnified. The difference between a hero and a goat is almost always established when the outcome is in doubt. Why was the A's and Yankees' Hall Of Famer Reggie Jackson called Mr. October? Because in the playoffs, particularly World Series play, he rose to the occasion.
Several years ago in women's college basketball, the two best teams in the country were unanimously considered to be UConn and Notre Dame. On paper, there was a severe drop off in talent between those two teams and the rest of the field. The Huskies and the Irish easily won their respective region championships, thus advancing to the Women's Final Four. But due to a quirk in the tournament brackets, those two teams had to face each other in one of the national semi-finals. The NCAA, realizing that the UConn-ND tilt was going to be a de facto national championship, assigned its best three-person officiating crew to work that semi-final game, instead of giving that trio the honor of being assigned to the title game. One of those three refs was Dee Kantner, generally and annually considered the best ref in the women's college game. (She is also one of only two women ever to be employed as a referee in the National Basketball Association.) The rationale for the assignment was obvious: The big game demands referees who are the best.
This Sunday the WNBA Championship series begins, featuring a rematch of Minnesota's only professional sports team to win a championship in over twenty-five years, the dynastic Minnesota Lynx, versus the defending WNBA champs, the LA Sparks. One hopes that the WNBA, which some claim is on life support as evidenced by its financial dependence on the NBA and the extinction of six WNBA teams over recent years, is smart enough assign competent and qualified referees to its showcase series. They failed to do that in last year's finals when the Lynx attempted to win their fourth WNBA championship in six years.
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Here is what happened in game # 5 in the best-of-five series. The winner would be crowned WNBA Champions.
With three minutes to play in the final quarter, the Sparks led 71-63, the largest lead of the game for either team. A minute and twelve seconds later, a Lindsay Whalen steal of an in-bounds pass followed by her layup knotted the score at 71. The Target Center capacity crowd was beside themselves with glee. At the 1:12 mark Sparks all-star power forward Nneka Ogwumike, who would later be selected by the Associated Press as the WNBA's Player Of The Year, sank a two-footer as the Sparks reclaimed the lead. Her shot came almost simultaneously with the expiration of the shot clock, and the referee closest to the scorer's table made a hand signal above his head to indicate he wanted to review it at the next stoppage of play. Did Ogwumike get her shot off in time?
That stoppage did not occur until Minnesota called time out with just 35.8 seconds left. It wasn't until then that the three-person officiating crew found out that the WNBA rules do not permit a review of any play in the last two minutes of the game unless there is a whistle immediately after the play in question. In other words, the referees either did not know the rule or did not apply the rule! To add salt to the Lynx wound, television replays clearly showed Ogwumike did not release the ball until after the shot clock had expired. Her two points should have been disallowed.
But, there is more... With 23.4 seconds left and the score tied at 73, Lynx center Rebekkah Brunson was fouled while rebounding a missed shot under her own basket. The referee who was standing a mere five feet away along the base line, with an unobstructed view, called the foul on Sparks guard Essence Carson, even though the replays indisputably indicate that it was Ogwumike who grabbed Brunson's wrist; Carson was at least a giant step away. If Ogwumike would have been whistled for the foul, it would have been her sixth, thus disqualifying her from the game. As many people know, it was Ogwumike who won the game, and thus the championship, for the Sparks when she put in a desperation three-footer on an offensive rebound with 5 seconds left. That was the sixth and last lead change to occur in the games' frenzied final three minutes. Final score: Sparks 77, Lynx 76.
To recap, the three person officiating crew made a horrible call with less than thirty seconds to go (begrudgingly, possibly forgivable) and did not know a basic league rule which should have been employed with under ninety seconds to go (unforgivable!).
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To the league's credit, Rene Brown, its Chief Of Basketball Operations, admitted the next day that the refs blew the call when they allowed Ogwumike's basket to count. (She did not address the phantom foul called on Carson.) But, as Lynx superstar Maya Moore stated after being told of the admission, "That doesn't make me feel any better."
The WNBA is a league with ardent followers who, unfortunately, comprise a small fan base. Many sports fans who are not necessarily male chauvinists do not take the league seriously. There are more than a couple of reasons: Teams wear jerseys branded with huge font indicating a corporate sponsor -- for the Lynx it is Mayo Clinic, for the Sparks it's Equi Trust Life Insurance. (Are the city or team names even on there? How do they sell any swag?) There are only twelve teams in the league. The Lynx, by virtue of their regular season best record, were granted a double bye straight into the semi-finals. If it's that easy to reach the semis, is it a legit tourney? The WNBA's pay scale is much less than what the women earn in overseas leagues during the winter.
In short, the WNBA can't afford another championship series where it entrusts the officiating to a trio which should instead be working Monsignor Coates League sixth grade games. The WNBA, even though thirty-one years old, is still searching for authenticity. If it hands over the series' officiating duties to a group of amateurs as it did last year, that could be tantamount to a death wish. To do so would be a disservice to the players, coaches and fans, and would give the sporting public a legitimate reason to ignore women's professional basketball going forward. In this post-Title IX era in which women's sports are more popular than ever, that would be a shame. The WNBA's best-of-five championship series should set a gold standard for women's basketball. Let's hope we don't have a repeat of last year.
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