Rules, Rules, Rules

I have to now chime in on the WSU/Whoregon game last week, when WSU won the game, only to have subs storm the court, resulting in a T with 0.3 seconds left. Whoregon proceeded to tie the game and win it in the subsequent OT.

Mike Littlewood was the R. I don't know him. Couldn't recognize him. He did what he had to do in that situation. He had no choice. The wrong team won the game. He knows that. It is probably bothering him today, and will probably bother him for a while, which Coug fans probably do not realize and may take some vindictive satisfaction from. But in the end, Mike Littlewood was right.

Now some chucklehead named Ed Bilik, who is the Secretary-Editor of the NCAA Basketball Rules committee has thrown Littlewood under the bus. Bill McCabe, Pac-10 0supervisor, kind of has, too, but in a lawyerly way. Bilik decided to post a bulletin to all NCAA officials after the game inferring that Littlewood did not know the rules. Then McCabe basically said that he backs someone's judgment, but not knowing a rule is subject to a trip to Siberia.

To cap it, John Adams, who is the top dog for NCAA officials, said he felt that Littlewood was not wrong. So why would a dorky policy wonk like Bilik do what he did? Because he is an ass. I am embarrassed for the NCAA and Pac-10. Adams should get him removed from his post immediately. How could a 75-year-old guy whose claim to fame is coaching and being the AD at Springfield College (that's in Massachusetts just so you don't have to look that up) be even a remote player in this? Maybe he wears a hoodie like Belichick, but come on....How about someone who has actually been part of the big time that does not suffer from senility or a burning desire to stay relevant? Bilik must have a Bowden-sized ego.

Littlewood's opinion was that when subs enter during a live ball without being beckoned, it is a T by rule. Bilik's opinion, stated after the fact, was that since nothing interfered with Oregon's ability to inbound the ball, that no T should have been called. Great. Now not only does Easy Ed expect us to keep coaches in their boxes, but we can let celebrating players spill onto the court, slap guys who make baskets on the ass as they run by, and as long as there is no disadvantage, it's OK.

Ernesto Kent, pride of Mexico and Tiger Woods' role model, screamed for the T. Littlewood has to make that judgment. If a player entered the court at any other time, it is automatic. Why would it be different at 0.3 seconds? Rules are rules, and there are gray areas of the rule book that must be decided black and white quickly at the scene of the crime.

I wish Littlewood did not call the T. As a Husky, I don't like WSU, but I absolutely despise Whoregon. However, I would bet my officiating job that had Littlewood not called the T and gave Bilik's reason, he gets hammered for it by McCabe and Adams. And Littlewood knew that. He had no choice. And Billik and McCabe killed him for it.

No win situation for Mike Littlewood. My hat is off to him. I also feel bad for the NCAA. This would have never happened with Hank Nichols at he helm. I hope John Adams sees this. I also hope Bilik does, too, and he sees the bold and italics. At his age, I doubt he can use a computer or read a screen without a magnifying glass, but hell, Robert Byrd is still in the Senate, too, so who knows.

John Adams: You have to put Mike Littlewood into at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. He's more than earned it!