Foul? You be the judge.
February 8th, 2008 | by The Prowler |For those who question whether or not Blair fouled Joe Alexander or Cam Thoroughman last night, or whether it was Blair who was in fact fouled, I submit to you the following picture:
For the record, this picture from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had the following caption: Pitt center DeJuan Blair is fouled by West Virginia’s Joe Alexander in the second half at the Peterson Events Center.
Clearly, this was captioned by someone who wasn’t at and didn’t see the game, or he would have known the foul was called, somewhat surprisingly, on Blair. If my eyes don’t deceive me, it looks like Alexander is going over the back while Thoroughman is pulling him down from the other side. You can view the replay as many times as you want at espn.com. It is quite damning. The refs missed this big time by calling a foul on Blair. Rumor has it, after the game he noticed his wallet had been stolen during this mugging.
On a brighter note, this picture says it all:
Hail to Pitt!!
14 Responses to “Foul? You be the judge.”
By Pitt84 on Feb 8, 2008 | Reply
In a weird way, I was glad it worked out like it did with the two points taken off the board and then the other guy missing. By the way, in the photo of Ron making the shot, my daughter is in the picture…sort of. She is blocked by the cheerleaders pom-pom. I knew where she was sitting so I knew it was her.
By The Prowler on Feb 8, 2008 | Reply
That is awesome that your daughter is in that picture (at least in spirit). I wish I could even get to the games. But it is a long drive from southwest Kansas.
I agree that there is something sweet about the way that foul situation worked out. Even though the whole issue was a blown call, something about seeing WVU get it stuck to them makes the whole thing sweeter. But I would be happy if we could just get some quality officiating in the Big East.
By WVU_ftw on Feb 8, 2008 | Reply
when I get upset about losing to sPitt on a last second desperation 3, I just imagine their football players sitting around in pajamas watching bowl games on TV, relishing in their sweet 5-7 season.
By The Prowler on Feb 8, 2008 | Reply
All you have to do is watch the press conference with Rich Rodriguez to get how Pitt felt after their 5-7 season. All that hooping and hollering comes from keeping WVU from a national championship shot. Do you think we care what, if any bowl you play in, as long as it isn’t a BCS championship? Do you think Pitt would rather play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl while WVU plays for the BCS championship? Or do you think they would rather sit home AND be responsible for their arch rival missing the BCS championship? WVU was so certain that they made the title game already. They never gave Pitt a chance. No matter what Pitt did on New Year’s Day, on Dec. 1 they won, and kept their rivals from having a meaningful season.
Watching hoopies cry makes life worth living.
And lets face it, the victory was bigger than that. Several top recruits switched to Pitt after that game. And, likely Rodriguez doesn’t jump ship a few days later if Pitt hadn’t embarrassed him in Morgantown.
God I love college sports.
By J.D. on Feb 9, 2008 | Reply
Even if it was Blair being fouled, that doesn’t excuse the referee from not knowing who the correct shooter should be. If a referee sees a foul then they should see who is being fouled. And taking two points off the board after the fact is still bullshit.
By The Prowler on Feb 9, 2008 | Reply
Lets consider what you just said… even if Blair was fouled, that doesn’t exscuse the referee from not knowing who the correct shooter should be. Right, the correct shooter should have been DeJuan Blair. Not only did they put the wrong shooter at the foul line. They put the wrong team. Last I checked, if one person is over your back and the other holding you down, neither of those guys should be shooting free throws.
By TMGPanther on Feb 9, 2008 | Reply
Prowler,
Blair commited the foul by pushing off on Thoroughman. Look at the replay again just before the dust up shown in the photo you published.
By The Prowler on Feb 9, 2008 | Reply
TMG, I am not sure I see what you see on the replay. From the beginning, Thoroughman has his arm over top of Blair’s. At the point Blair extends his arm, Thoroughman already has him locked, and Blair is trying to get free. Unless holding Blair’s arm is a legal play, I don’t see that he did something first.
By Pitt84 on Feb 9, 2008 | Reply
You are right that the referees should know who is supposed to go to the line, but it is not beneath a coach to try and sneak a different shooter on the line if they think they can get away with it. It has happened and coaches have gotten away with it. That is probably why the play is reviewable. And its not like they took the two points off the board and just handed Pitt the ball, they let the correct player shoot and he missed. That game was not lost by WVU because of the free throw incident. Your guy left Ramon wide open in the corner with minimal time left.
By The Prowler on Feb 9, 2008 | Reply
Good point Piit84. Not to mention that this all happened with over 4 minutes to go. So it isn’t like WVU made the free throws, had them taken away, then Ramon went down court and hit the game winning shot.
All that said, the Big East really needs to get its officiating in order, and quick. In the football Brawl, it was clear that the Big East wanted a BCS title shot more than it wanted a good clean game. In basketball this season, I have seen more games that have had major blown calls or just outright one-sided officiating than games that were decided solely by the players on the floor. Pitt got screwed against UConn big time. The officiating of the Pitt/WVU game was atrocious. Several players for Pitt after the second Villanova game had to have rape kits done. And the WVU/Georgetown game was a flat at gank job letting Ewing get away with a goal tend to give Georgetown the win.
The Big East needs to get this stuff straightened out. It is beyond missed calls, and is really at the point where many of us are questioning the integrity of the refs (and maybe the league).
By J.D. on Feb 9, 2008 | Reply
I don’t think it’s really favoritism as much as just plain out bad officiating. There’s a lot of guys that have been officiating in the Big East forever. We see these same guys night in, night out. Good, bad or otherwise they will pack their bags and go do another game the next night. They are never really called into question or reprimanded if they make a bad call.
By The Prowler on Feb 9, 2008 | Reply
Maybe refs get old and stay past the age they need to retire just like coach and pro-players tend to do.
By WVU_ftw on Feb 11, 2008 | Reply
Pitt *won on a last second desperation buzzer beating prayer.
*Won = Game handed to you by a superior team that simply cannot shoot free throws.
WVU FOR THE WIN!!
By The Prowler on Feb 12, 2008 | Reply
A last second desperation buzzer beating prayer implies that he hit a half court shot with three hands in his face, falling over, with a midget biting his crotch.
While it was a last second shot that won it, that last second shot came on a perfectly wide open set three pointer with fans closer to him than any WVU defender. Considering the kind of shooter Ramon is, a wide open 3 is hardly a desperation prayer.