Monday, March 14, 2005

ESPN & AP & Hewitt Speak Out...

... on the poor officiating in the ACC Final Sunday.


On a Sunday ESPN halftime show, Rick Majerus said that the ACC official who made the bogus call that netted 2 free throws for JJ Redick should make a public apology for his error. He said the mistake cost GTech the game and there is no excuse for that. Strong words. Dickey V and Mike Patrick, announcing the game, agreed.


Here, ESPN takes another jab:

Redick is also the game's best free-throw shooter, meaning the Devils shouldn't lose close games when they have the lead late (especially if the refs call "fouls" like the one that sunk Georgia Tech on Sunday).


In addition the Associated Press even questioned the call:

SOMEBODY SAY FOUL?: J.J. Redick can do it all on the court. His acting isn't so bad, either.


With Duke clinging to a one-point lead with 24.3 seconds left, Redick drew a foul from Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack and went to the free-throw line. That's pretty much the same as giving the Blue Devils two points, since Redick shoots 93 percent from the line.


He made both to make it 67-64, and the Yellow Jackets missed a couple of chances to tie it in the final seconds.


But replays clearly showed that Jack's foul wasn't one at all. In fact, Redick grabbed Jack, then pulled him slightly before falling to the court. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, and apparently, it worked.


When asked what he thought of the call, Georgia Tech Paul Hewitt was quick with his answer.


"I heard the whistle, and I saw Redick going to the line," he said.


Later, when Jack was asked about it, Hewitt interrupted.


"He's not allowed to comment on the officiating," the coach said.


Now Paul Hewitt has broke his silence as well.

"If you have two eyes that work well, you should have been able to see that," Hewitt said during the radio show. "It's inexcusable. It's absolutely inexcusable."


"It'll be a long time before I forget what happened (Sunday). It was wrong."


"There's nothing you can do about it, but I'm not going to sit around and act like it didn't happen, either," he said.


"That was a very, very unfortunate call by a veteran official who made another bad call during the game when a young man ran the baseline during a dead ball situation. That's as easy to call as a motion penalty in football."


Another version of the same story.


Hey ACC, are you listening????? Can you hear me?????