Author Topic: Why are the refs so protected?  (Read 7310 times)

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Why are the refs so protected?
« on: March 20, 2009, 02:07:56 PM »

Offline rondo987

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I just read that Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 for "criticizing" one of the refs after Tuesday's loss to teh Bulls. I was watching the game at the bar, so I didn't really have a good idea of why he got ejected, but Doc claims that he didn't really say anything and the ref was basically staring at him, until Doc finally said "what?" which was when he threw him out.

So this whole thing confuses me about the nba and all of professional sports. How come once any player or coach states their opinion about the way a game got called, the immediately get fined up the butt?

Side note- the ref got fined too, which makes it that much more suspicious to me. Why would they fine the ref for unfairly giving a technical to Doc, yet fine Doc because he was speaking what they must have seen as the truth?
"Life has so many hurdles. Some of them I've hopped over, and some of them I've tripped over. The key is to get back up and finish the race."

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Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2009, 02:09:15 PM »

Offline RAcker

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Stern has his own version of the Playboy Mansion and the refs are the bunnies at the pool.   :-X

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2009, 02:10:52 PM »

Offline rondo987

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lol.
TP
"Life has so many hurdles. Some of them I've hopped over, and some of them I've tripped over. The key is to get back up and finish the race."

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Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2009, 02:12:57 PM »

Offline Chris

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I just read that Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 for "criticizing" one of the refs after Tuesday's loss to teh Bulls. I was watching the game at the bar, so I didn't really have a good idea of why he got ejected, but Doc claims that he didn't really say anything and the ref was basically staring at him, until Doc finally said "what?" which was when he threw him out.

So this whole thing confuses me about the nba and all of professional sports. How come once any player or coach states their opinion about the way a game got called, the immediately get fined up the butt?

Side note- the ref got fined too, which makes it that much more suspicious to me. Why would they fine the ref for unfairly giving a technical to Doc, yet fine Doc because he was speaking what they must have seen as the truth?

What the ref did, and what Doc got fined for were separate entities.  The league has a rule that coaches are not allowed to criticize officials to the media like that.  While Doc was in the right, he was still breaking a rule.  If he didn't want to be fined, he should have contacted the league office directly to have them look at the play.

As for the ref getting fined, he absolutely should have.  It was completely unprofessional, and undermined the integrity of the game.  He injected himself into the game by goading Doc into a technical, in the last minute of a close game.  Personally, I think he should have been suspended. 

But the two things are not directly related.

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2009, 02:24:18 PM »

Offline rondo987

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I just read that Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 for "criticizing" one of the refs after Tuesday's loss to teh Bulls. I was watching the game at the bar, so I didn't really have a good idea of why he got ejected, but Doc claims that he didn't really say anything and the ref was basically staring at him, until Doc finally said "what?" which was when he threw him out.

So this whole thing confuses me about the nba and all of professional sports. How come once any player or coach states their opinion about the way a game got called, the immediately get fined up the butt?

Side note- the ref got fined too, which makes it that much more suspicious to me. Why would they fine the ref for unfairly giving a technical to Doc, yet fine Doc because he was speaking what they must have seen as the truth?

What the ref did, and what Doc got fined for were separate entities.  The league has a rule that coaches are not allowed to criticize officials to the media like that.  While Doc was in the right, he was still breaking a rule.  If he didn't want to be fined, he should have contacted the league office directly to have them look at the play.

As for the ref getting fined, he absolutely should have.  It was completely unprofessional, and undermined the integrity of the game.  He injected himself into the game by goading Doc into a technical, in the last minute of a close game.  Personally, I think he should have been suspended. 

But the two things are not directly related.

Yeah, I understand the league has its rules about this. My point is that those rules, in my opinion, are BS. IMO, if a coach or player speaks out on a subject he is clearly right in, then why should he be penalized?

This is a game played in America, so why do these coaches get fined for using their first ammendment rights?
"Life has so many hurdles. Some of them I've hopped over, and some of them I've tripped over. The key is to get back up and finish the race."

-Paul Pierce-

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2009, 02:35:03 PM »

Offline Chris

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I just read that Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 for "criticizing" one of the refs after Tuesday's loss to teh Bulls. I was watching the game at the bar, so I didn't really have a good idea of why he got ejected, but Doc claims that he didn't really say anything and the ref was basically staring at him, until Doc finally said "what?" which was when he threw him out.

So this whole thing confuses me about the nba and all of professional sports. How come once any player or coach states their opinion about the way a game got called, the immediately get fined up the butt?

Side note- the ref got fined too, which makes it that much more suspicious to me. Why would they fine the ref for unfairly giving a technical to Doc, yet fine Doc because he was speaking what they must have seen as the truth?

What the ref did, and what Doc got fined for were separate entities.  The league has a rule that coaches are not allowed to criticize officials to the media like that.  While Doc was in the right, he was still breaking a rule.  If he didn't want to be fined, he should have contacted the league office directly to have them look at the play.

As for the ref getting fined, he absolutely should have.  It was completely unprofessional, and undermined the integrity of the game.  He injected himself into the game by goading Doc into a technical, in the last minute of a close game.  Personally, I think he should have been suspended. 

But the two things are not directly related.

Yeah, I understand the league has its rules about this. My point is that those rules, in my opinion, are BS. IMO, if a coach or player speaks out on a subject he is clearly right in, then why should he be penalized?

This is a game played in America, so why do these coaches get fined for using their first ammendment rights?

While I don't disagree with you completely, this has absolutely nothing to do with first amendment rights.  It is a rule that is put in place by their employer.  They are allowed to punish the conduct of their employees. 

However, I do think the rule is rediculous.  To me, it is clearly the league trying to avoid bringing extra attention to a major issue with their product.  While it makes sense in a business sense, it is very frustrating as a fan, because it does not show the commitment to improving the product.

But if the rule is there, then it needs to be followed. 

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2009, 02:55:57 PM »

Online Atzar

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I think the rule is a necessary evil, I guess.  If it wasn't there, then the coaches and players would just whine about the refs to the media after every loss.  As it is, they usually only say anything in particularly bad cases.  Of course, there are some exceptions - Mike Brown's explosion for LeBron getting called for a foul late in the Pacers game after he did the same thing that Granger got called for, and also Phil Jackson's tirade about Leon Pow.  Still, now it normally only comes up in the media in legitimate scenarios.

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2009, 02:58:07 PM »

Offline cordobes

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Not allowing coaches, players and executives to talk negatively about referees and officiating publicly and to the press is pretty much par for the course in pro basketball and soccer leagues. I agree with this policy, the refs already have a tremendously difficult job in these sports, they don't need people putting even more pressure over them. As long as there are internal mechanisms for the clubs to complain and then follow-up the procedures, I agree with these fines.

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2009, 03:21:07 PM »

Offline 2short

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nba refs are protected because they are not that good and generally biased even if that is what the nba wants
if they were not protected there would be riots in the streets

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #9 on: March 20, 2009, 03:22:56 PM »

Offline BudweiserCeltic

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I would think that the Refs Union has a lot to do with it.

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #10 on: March 20, 2009, 03:40:23 PM »

Offline rondo987

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This article, which I actually just saw on the front of the celticsblog website, describes exactly what I was trying to say in my original post, just in a much better way.

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/03/20/doc-rivers-unjustly-fined-25k-for-criticizing-referee/
"Life has so many hurdles. Some of them I've hopped over, and some of them I've tripped over. The key is to get back up and finish the race."

-Paul Pierce-

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #11 on: March 20, 2009, 03:44:19 PM »

Offline rondo987

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I just read that Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 for "criticizing" one of the refs after Tuesday's loss to teh Bulls. I was watching the game at the bar, so I didn't really have a good idea of why he got ejected, but Doc claims that he didn't really say anything and the ref was basically staring at him, until Doc finally said "what?" which was when he threw him out.

So this whole thing confuses me about the nba and all of professional sports. How come once any player or coach states their opinion about the way a game got called, the immediately get fined up the butt?

Side note- the ref got fined too, which makes it that much more suspicious to me. Why would they fine the ref for unfairly giving a technical to Doc, yet fine Doc because he was speaking what they must have seen as the truth?

What the ref did, and what Doc got fined for were separate entities.  The league has a rule that coaches are not allowed to criticize officials to the media like that.  While Doc was in the right, he was still breaking a rule.  If he didn't want to be fined, he should have contacted the league office directly to have them look at the play.

As for the ref getting fined, he absolutely should have.  It was completely unprofessional, and undermined the integrity of the game.  He injected himself into the game by goading Doc into a technical, in the last minute of a close game.  Personally, I think he should have been suspended. 

But the two things are not directly related.

Yeah, I understand the league has its rules about this. My point is that those rules, in my opinion, are BS. IMO, if a coach or player speaks out on a subject he is clearly right in, then why should he be penalized?

This is a game played in America, so why do these coaches get fined for using their first ammendment rights?

While I don't disagree with you completely, this has absolutely nothing to do with first amendment rights.  It is a rule that is put in place by their employer.  They are allowed to punish the conduct of their employees. 

However, I do think the rule is rediculous.  To me, it is clearly the league trying to avoid bringing extra attention to a major issue with their product.  While it makes sense in a business sense, it is very frustrating as a fan, because it does not show the commitment to improving the product.

But if the rule is there, then it needs to be followed. 

I'll admit I may have been carrying away by stating it violates our first ammendment rights. I do understand the circumstances. I was simply trying to make my case sound better. But again, I think the rule is just plain stupid. I'll agree that they shouldn't be able to speak out against refs to a certain extent, but I think the whole "zero tolerance" thing they have going is unfair, especially when the person making those comments has a point.
"Life has so many hurdles. Some of them I've hopped over, and some of them I've tripped over. The key is to get back up and finish the race."

-Paul Pierce-

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #12 on: March 20, 2009, 03:55:46 PM »

Offline BudweiserCeltic

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Any of you have a clip of the incident by any chance?

Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #13 on: March 20, 2009, 04:32:38 PM »

Offline crownsy

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I just read that Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 for "criticizing" one of the refs after Tuesday's loss to teh Bulls. I was watching the game at the bar, so I didn't really have a good idea of why he got ejected, but Doc claims that he didn't really say anything and the ref was basically staring at him, until Doc finally said "what?" which was when he threw him out.

So this whole thing confuses me about the nba and all of professional sports. How come once any player or coach states their opinion about the way a game got called, the immediately get fined up the butt?

Side note- the ref got fined too, which makes it that much more suspicious to me. Why would they fine the ref for unfairly giving a technical to Doc, yet fine Doc because he was speaking what they must have seen as the truth?

What the ref did, and what Doc got fined for were separate entities.  The league has a rule that coaches are not allowed to criticize officials to the media like that.  While Doc was in the right, he was still breaking a rule.  If he didn't want to be fined, he should have contacted the league office directly to have them look at the play.

As for the ref getting fined, he absolutely should have.  It was completely unprofessional, and undermined the integrity of the game.  He injected himself into the game by goading Doc into a technical, in the last minute of a close game.  Personally, I think he should have been suspended. 

But the two things are not directly related.

Yeah, I understand the league has its rules about this. My point is that those rules, in my opinion, are BS. IMO, if a coach or player speaks out on a subject he is clearly right in, then why should he be penalized?

This is a game played in America, so why do these coaches get fined for using their first ammendment rights?

While I don't disagree with you completely, this has absolutely nothing to do with first amendment rights.  It is a rule that is put in place by their employer.  They are allowed to punish the conduct of their employees. 

However, I do think the rule is rediculous.  To me, it is clearly the league trying to avoid bringing extra attention to a major issue with their product.  While it makes sense in a business sense, it is very frustrating as a fan, because it does not show the commitment to improving the product.

But if the rule is there, then it needs to be followed. 

you would think some talking head at ESPN would point out that the ref's are running thier mouths in the media today (see front page) about doc having a recorded of unprofessional behavior and this being a screw job by the front office.

I mean, if we fine coaches for saying anything about officials, shouldn't officials be fined for calling out coaches?
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Re: Why are the refs so protected?
« Reply #14 on: March 20, 2009, 05:01:30 PM »

Offline RAcker

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I think the coaches are just warned not to say things like this in the media or other public forum.  However, do you think any action would have been taken if Doc would have written a nice letter?   ???