I want to put this out there after a game with a positive outcome and foul margin as to not come across as sour grapes..
People across the nation are wondering how the same officials from the regular season are calling a different game in the tourney. How do we see certain calls from November-February and different calls in March? Why is a foul not always the same regardless?
Follow the money.
Let's break the season down into 3 parts and view everything for a moment through the lens of D1 basketball being a lucrative enterprise where decisions and influence are based on what makes the most money (please suspend your unwavering trust in the purity of the NCAA for just one minute...)
1. Pre Conference Season
A warm-up season to some, some trips to exotic locales, and a resume builder for potential tournament teams. There are some competitive matchups here and there, but essentially this is a bunch of games where smaller programs are paid to sacrifice themselves to bigger programs and get beat. There is really no incentive for a fair fight here. This is when you want to play a team like Saint Peters. The agreement is understood and involves a bit more than just the 2 teams. Make sure the people, the masses of the large schools fanbases, get what they want.
2. Conference Season
The meat grinder. Lots of highly paid coaches and AD's within the conference who would like to win every game, but absolutely NEED to win enough games to make the tourney. The recipe is typically this: win most of your home games and steal a couple on the road. Apart from a few teams at the top and a few teams at the bottom, that is the script. Getting 9 of 14 teams in the dance would seem to maximize profits more than having 5 or 6 dominant teams. Also, what happens in your home arena is far more memorable to the home base than what happens on BTN road game on a Thursday night. Mackey and Ass Hall will always sell tickets. But getting Rutgers fans to come out and see wins against big name teams? Ticket and merch sales = Cha-ching.
3. Post Season
Made-for-television entertainment for a national audience. Crank up the offense and enforce those freedom of movement rules that got tucked away in a corner somewhere the last few months. Hope your coaches and teams can adjust on the fly and you haven't trained them in habits that will result in an early exit.
Ed Hightower was perched prominently courtside a couple weeks ago at the BTT. What does a Special Advisor to conference officials do anyway? This is simply a quality control position, right? Nothing to see here...
People across the nation are wondering how the same officials from the regular season are calling a different game in the tourney. How do we see certain calls from November-February and different calls in March? Why is a foul not always the same regardless?
Follow the money.
Let's break the season down into 3 parts and view everything for a moment through the lens of D1 basketball being a lucrative enterprise where decisions and influence are based on what makes the most money (please suspend your unwavering trust in the purity of the NCAA for just one minute...)
1. Pre Conference Season
A warm-up season to some, some trips to exotic locales, and a resume builder for potential tournament teams. There are some competitive matchups here and there, but essentially this is a bunch of games where smaller programs are paid to sacrifice themselves to bigger programs and get beat. There is really no incentive for a fair fight here. This is when you want to play a team like Saint Peters. The agreement is understood and involves a bit more than just the 2 teams. Make sure the people, the masses of the large schools fanbases, get what they want.
2. Conference Season
The meat grinder. Lots of highly paid coaches and AD's within the conference who would like to win every game, but absolutely NEED to win enough games to make the tourney. The recipe is typically this: win most of your home games and steal a couple on the road. Apart from a few teams at the top and a few teams at the bottom, that is the script. Getting 9 of 14 teams in the dance would seem to maximize profits more than having 5 or 6 dominant teams. Also, what happens in your home arena is far more memorable to the home base than what happens on BTN road game on a Thursday night. Mackey and Ass Hall will always sell tickets. But getting Rutgers fans to come out and see wins against big name teams? Ticket and merch sales = Cha-ching.
3. Post Season
Made-for-television entertainment for a national audience. Crank up the offense and enforce those freedom of movement rules that got tucked away in a corner somewhere the last few months. Hope your coaches and teams can adjust on the fly and you haven't trained them in habits that will result in an early exit.
Ed Hightower was perched prominently courtside a couple weeks ago at the BTT. What does a Special Advisor to conference officials do anyway? This is simply a quality control position, right? Nothing to see here...
