All of this "Corchiani got kicked out of class and sent to the principal's office" stuff brings back a funny memory. I think "48 hours" had recently started as a show, and in the late 80s or early 90s, they did a sgement on NCState basketball (maybe it was on the whole Triangle and college passions).
As I recall it, Corchiani is sitting in class and the teacher was passing back a graded test. The camera is behind Corchiani, looking over Corch's shoulder; he sort of looks back over his shoulder sheepishly, holding the paper, and says something like "I didn't do so well on this one." Just the way he did it was funny.
Another good article by the PlayCaller. Agree or disagree, you gotta love getting that kind of content here.
Kudos to those who assisted in presenting it.
Yup. Gotta agree. Whenever I see any public figure getting completely roasted around here -- which is shockingly often, to be honest -- I always like to see someone make a case for the defense. I still think the ejection was a bad mistake, obviously, but I found myself agreeing with the majority of the playcaller's points. That was some high quality stuff.
I remember when Lou Bello was refereeing in the ACC, specifically the 60s and 70s. Bello should have been an actor. His dramatic flair when making calls could help rev a crowd up almost as much as a 10-0 run. For example, a charge call might consist of a running start, a spear-throwing right arm toward the other basket, all while his eyes were bugged out. He was a friendly-looking guy who smiled a lot, maybe a personality kinda like Valvano. Somebody correct me on that if need be, I was just a kid.
Duke students loved Bello. Not because he favored Duke, though. Just because of the antics. I remember after a particularly Academy Award-type night for Bello, my dad (a sportswriter all through the "golden age" of the ACC) asking me as we drove home, "Why do the Duke students love Lou Bello so much? He really screwed Duke tonight."
It's too late now, but maybe Hess should have gone the gregarious route. The act he's honed just rubs people the wrong way.
My feelings about Hess can be summed up thusly: If every school's fans hate him, he must be doing something right.
Man, if your Mom made you wear that color when you were a baby, and you're still wearing it, it's time to grow up!
Playcaller writes: "The public’s verdict of absolutely-and-completely-guilty may ultimately have been a just one, but it was reached far too swiftly."
Not necessarily. See "Blink."
My first impression was that Hess was absolutely-and-completely guilty.
After watching the videotape, reading the first ACC statement, reading what Hess emailed to N.C. State, reading the ACC reprimand, reading what Corch and Googs said, reading what those around them say happened, reading Playcaller's two suppositions, reading thoughtful and not-so-thoughtful posts by smart Duke fans who have followed basketball closely for years, and reading thoughtful commentary from the press, and striving to give Hess every benefit of the doubt, I have come to the conclusion that ... he is absolutely-and-completely guilty.
In hindsight, I don't think my original verdict was reached far too swiftly. At all.
Lou Bello was a Duke grad, Class of 1947. He probably did not referee Duke games, but he was everywhere else. I remember him at The Citadel when Norm Sloan was coach there. What an act he had! Also, my friends at Clemson absolutely loved him. Here's his obit from 20 years ago. He was an Army aviator in WW II and was a POW in Germany for eight months. Wow!
sagegrouse
Loved the playcaller's article, good insight but not real specific on this particular "call" if you will. I still think that if the scorer's table was being impacted by Chris and Tom, then they would have or should have taken care of it. In the big scheme of things it really isn't a big deal, but it gives us all something to talk about doesn't it.
For the record, I generally dislike all refs. I don't know why, maybe it is because I often got tossed from games when I was still playing... . Also, if they make the right call and it favors your team, then you think, well that was how it is suppossed to work. But if they make a "bad" call that impacts your team, then you get mad as fire at them... essentially they can't really win and I guess it is not important what the fans think anyway as long as they are fair.
Now, Lou Bello, he was a classic!! I remember him doing the sports show on the local NBC TV channel (3) in Durham back in the day... he would always open the segement with "HELLO, SPORTS FANS" in his NY accent. He was really fun to watch...
He probably did screw up, and he may be a horse's rear.
A co-worker who went to Liberty ("Baptist" at the time, I think) with Hess remembers him as supremely confident and perhaps a bit arrogant. This co-worker also would play sandlot ball with him, and said that Hess would personally destroy other sandlot twosomes while my co-worker just watched and rebounded a bit. Hess seems typical of the profile of a D-1 ref as the Playcaller described it.
But being disliked does not equate to being a bad ref, or what's the use of even pretending that there are good referees out there somewhere?
Man, if your Mom made you wear that color when you were a baby, and you're still wearing it, it's time to grow up!
Now I will worry myself over which ref my dad was referring to when he said that, although I guess it doesn't matter. But I did see Bello ref a lot, really! He did a bunch of Carolinas' Conference games (Elon, Guilford, Catawba, W. Car., App State, High Point, Presbyterian, etc.).
Man, if your Mom made you wear that color when you were a baby, and you're still wearing it, it's time to grow up!
I thought Lou called some Duke games myself... not positive because that was a LONG time ago, but he was an ACC ref so would he have to disqualify himself from both Duke and UNC games?? I know that I couldn't claim to be unbiased for either team myself, I would give every call to Duke and every call to whoever was playing UNC... just being honest!!
This discussion and the playcaller's articles remind of Anders Frisk, a Swedish soccer referee who retired after a barrage of death threats from Chelsea fans.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/ma...deniscampbell
Officiating a sporting event is ridiculously difficult, and while I've shouted my share of bile at them in my younger days, I've come to realize that often referees do actually know more about the sport than I do.
...The Playcaller = Karl Hess?!?
He knows quite a lot about Karl. And he seems to draw extensively on insight from some sort of sociology and/or psychology background. Hess is a psychologist... Hmmmm... Anyone see them in the same room together?
I like this summary. The Playcaller articles are wonderful, and well-written. But he doesn't say why the fans were tossed out.
Does anyone know the specific reason that Hess took the extreme, Roy Williams-esque, measure of removing those two ticket holders from the game?
If this happened every other game or so, one could simply think, 'overexuberant fans'. But this surely seems to be unprecedented, and there seems to be nothing out there to help others of us who want to know just what NOT to do when Karl Hess is assigned to the game we have a ticket for.
What line did they cross?
Inquiring minds, and all that.