Answer me this -Philly, Lexington, and Bloomington

1) What on earth was that “phantom” call all about at the end of the game Monday between Georgetown and Villanova? (Jay W. –Philadelphia, PA)

Jay,
Wow, what a crazy way to lose a game. I really feel for the Villanova fans on this one.

For those of you that don’t know, there was a controversial call last Monday that cost Villanova the game against Georgetown. With less than a second left on the game clock Georgetown (on their own end of the floor) began dribbling up the sideline, when out of no where the referee blew his whistle and called what appeared to be a “ghost” nudge foul on Villanova’s Corey Stokes.

We all know that it’s a widely accepted expectation that the referees “swallow their whistles” at the end of a game and let the players decide the outcome. Like a really bad episode of Scooby Doo, this referee obviously saw a fake phantom commit a foul and decided to determine the outcome of the game on his own.

You have to wonder if there was some bias there, especially since it was on Georgetown’s floor a place that Villanova has won every year since 1997. I’m not typically one to criticize refereeing or imply cheating, but this sort of thing is not unprecedented. I mean geez, look at the game-fixing ref story we recently had in the NBA. Just ask any of those losing teams that Tim Donaghy bet against if the referee has the ability to intentionally determine a game.

In related news yesterday, Bob Donato, the Big East referee that made that call, had no comment other than to say “Jeepers! And,I would have got away with it too, if it hadn’t been for your meddling kids.”


2) Please explain what is going on with Kentucky this year? (Ashley J. –Lexington, Kentucky)

Ashley,
Yeah, Kentucky is really struggling this year. Diehard UK fans are probably cussing up a storm this morning after last night’s annihilation that came at the hand’s of #24 Vanderbilt. Kentucky suffered is worst ever SEC loss losing 93-52. A game the Commodores actually led at half 41-11. Kentucky followers may point the finger at first year coach Billy Gillespie who replaced Tubby Smith as the reason why Kentucky will probably miss the NCAA tournament this year, but I have a different theory.

Ashley, I don’t know if you’re familiar with Hollywood or not, but there is a little thing called a “Writer’s Strike” going on. Now, I know you’re from Kentucky and you might not know all the nuisances of show business, but it’s really pretty simple. Basically, the writer’s of many popular TV shows have ceased work and as a result TV has kind of sucked lately.

Similarly, the Kentucky basketball players, which don’t often experience this kind of collapse; are kind of shell shocked, and have sort of “ceased work”. I think they may be a little deflated because of the lack of success they’ve experienced and the realization of what Kentucky hoops has become this year. As a result of this attitude, we are seeing mediocre efforts from these blue chip kids, and we’re seeing basketball teams blowout Kentucky, instead of the other way around.

I’ve followed Billy Gillespie, and he’s a good coach. My guess is he’ll get this turned around and Kentucky will once again rise to power, so don’t worry.

BTW, if you are who I think you are... you’re extremely hot! I loved the latest clip I saw of you on Mr. Skin. Call me.


3) It looks like Indiana is expected to announce publically NCAA rules violations against coach Kelvin Sampson today. Given Sampson’s alarming trends in violations the last few years do you think this was a bad hire for Indiana? (Anonymous University President-Bloomington, IN)

Mr. President,
I understand your concern. I’m not sure anyone outside of Norman, OK probably thought that Kelvin was completely crooked, but now I think I’m convinced. As you know Kelvin left OU in quite a pickle by committing numerous recruiting violations before bolting for Indiana. Oklahoma suffered the penalties of his actions while he enjoyed his new lofty paycheck at Indiana. Now, here we are and Indiana is going to have to announce violations that Sampson was in on as many as 10 impermissible 3-way calls to recruits just months after his hire in Bloomington.

The short answer to your question…Yes, in my opinion (regardless of Indiana’s successful basketball record this year) in hindsight it appears that it was a bad hire. If I’m Indiana, I’m very concerned with coach Sampson’s ethics; and if I’m any other basketball program in the nation, I know I’d certainly think twice before hiring a crooked coach that seems to be pretty good at getting programs in trouble and then moving on.

As a side note. I thought it was pretty cool that I managed to use the words “pickle”, and “3-way” in the same paragraph in a clean manner. That’s not always easy to do.