From: Neil Cerutti Subject: Re: Q &A with Ed T. Rush Date: 25 Mar 2003 16:53:54 GMT Message-ID: In article <6bd12cd6.0303212209.5ea3417a@posting.google.com>, s_knight8 wrote: > http://espn.go.com/page2/s/rosen/030320.html > > Charley Rosen: When a ref has a bad game -- maybe he blew a > call that cost a game -- what kind of support system is there? Javie: Refs don't blow games. Players blow refs. > What about the common perception that superstars get the > benefit of most marginal calls? Javie: Why should I give them any benefit? I hate those assholes. > What about make-up calls? Javie: I sometimes call an extra technical here and there, to try and make up for stuff that pissed me off, but it hasn't really worked. > When I was coaching, it was taken as gospel that every > judicious technical that a coach received would buy his team a > few calls in his favor. What's the official view of this? Javie: Well, then you're an idiot. Actually, if you get me pissed off at you, I'm going to stick it to your team even more. So stay on my good side... if you can. (laughs) > When I was playing, whenever a player was dribbling and put his > hand on the underside of the ball, the refs would automatically > call palming. By that standard, practically everybody in the > NBA illegally handles the ball without being penalized. Not > only that, by allowing palming, referees have made playing > one-on-one defense virtually impossible. The same thing seems > to be true about traveling. Players are now permitted to pull > up their dribble, take one long step, then two short bunny > hops. Have the rules changed? Javie: (laughs) It's true those idiots just can't dribble any more. Am I supposed to waste my night trying to spot every little violation? Jeeze! > Do refs scout the teams before they work a game? This team sets > illegal picks. That one commits lots of fouls off the ball. > That kind of stuff. Javie: I keep a big database on my Palm III of all the little things players have done over the years to piss me off; I re-read each player's entry before the game, to make sure I don't forget any longstanding grudges I've built up. That keeps me going, you know? > What about matching certain refs to certain teams? Like maybe > assigning a crew who tends to allow more physical play to work > a Pistons game. Javie: Oh, man. I love to get the games for teams like Philadelphia and Miami, jack-offs like that. I wish the system was less random, so I could put the screws to them more often, really. I mean, they aren't going to win crap anyway, so nobody gets hurt if I have a little fun, right? > But non-calls are just as important as calls, yes? Javie: You'd think that. But as Ron Garrettson, Sr. used to say to me, you can't make any waffles with your whistle in your pants. I don't know what he meant, really, but I do feel that, making non-calls is just a recipe for a short, boring career. > Okay. So who would you match up the great game manager with? A > ref with a super high-percentage of correct calls? Javie: I think "correct calls" is really overkill. I didn't bust my ass up through the ranks to worry about who fouled who. The important thing is the drama. When the fans are up there wondering: "Is he gonna call that? Isn't he gonna call that? I wonder what Javie's thinking right now?" That's what makes the game fun, I think. I mean, have you tried *reading* that rule book? It's a load of crap! > What happens in the playoffs? Javie: It's no different from regular games, except I'm pretty sure of getting TV time on a network. That gets me pumped up. > Beyond the technical considerations, are there officials who > just aren't compatible? Javie: Frankly, I don't like working with other officials. The league's been ignoring my "One Ref to Rule them All" proposal, so far. We'll see. Damn, I especially hate those refs that constantly whine about keeping the game moving, trying to preserve an entertaining pace, that kind of bull. I figure, why try and make a sow's purse of a cow ear, or something? > Coaches and players all believe that the refs make fewer calls > in the playoffs, and that's one reason why postseason play is > so physical. Is this true? Javie: As I said, they're idiots. If you count the calls, you'll see there's as many, if not more calls made in the playoffs. After all, there's a huge opportunity there to get face-time for a charismatic ref, like myself. > Compared to baseball, football and hockey, how do you rate the > NBA's officials? Javie: Baseball's getting better, but the head-ump has to wear a mask, which kind of stifles his creativity, you know? Football refs have a greate job, but there really are too many of them. Who can understand what the hell they're doing? Now hockey, now, those guys get to make the really fun calls. I wish I could penalize a team as harshly and arbitrarily as a Hockey ref can--those penalties are game-killers, and it would be entirely at *my* discretion. Man, Miami would *never* win another game I reffed. I mean, in basketball, if I throw Eddie Jones out of a game, damn Riley just gets to put some other bastard back in. Oh well. So I guess we've got it better than baseball and football refs, but are somewhat behind the other two sports in many ways. -- Neil Cerutti