NCAA Tournament: West Virginia Beats Officials, Then Duke

I have never hated Duke. I have never hated Coach K. I don't mind dynasties; I respect sustained excellence. And I always thought that opponents' complaints that Duke gets all the calls to be nothing more than loser-whining. Until today. In West Virginia's mannish 73-67 whipping of Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which I was fortunate to attend, the referees put on a jaw-dropping display of biased officiating in the first half. The refs—Mike Sanzere, Tom Eades, and Ed Hightower—called the game too tight in general for my liking. But in the first half, it surely appeared as if they were actively aiding Duke. Never mind that Duke ended up shooting 10 more free throws for the game. It was the non-calls on Duke players holding, hacking, and fouling WVU players that were just as bad. It's clear I'm a WVU fan. But readers of this blog know that I try to view my team with a clear eye and call them out when they deserve it. I am not a homer. The Duke-biased ... [link]