Let's face it. He is right. Those refs have been just horrible. And if they don't bring those old refs back, this season may get ugly.
Maybe the league can make enough money in fines from players' and coaches' outbursts about the replacement refs that they can cover the demands of the Referees Union.
Well there was a reason these refs are just "replacement" ones...they're obviously the bottom of the barrel. IMHO it shouldn't matter how horrible their officiating is, as long as they call it both ways. Games might get uglier, but if they call everything the same for both teams it should have minimal impact on wins and losses.
i can just picture stern collecting all that fine money loot in the sock drawer of some clandestine upper eastside penthouse pad he's got tucked away......and pullin out a few hundreds from this stash everytime he invites a prostitute over.......maybe even kristen in fact, now that spitzer's done with her....
Yeah I kinda like the new refs. I guess you can have the same old crooked fosils like Bavetta, Salvatore, Mauer, Palmer...etc doing games. I like these guys, a foul is a foul and they will call it regardless of the player. I guess the only real way to test this officiating crew is to see how they would ref Yao. But since he's out, then I dont know who else.
I want to see what they do in the playoffs and if Dwade will get to flop his way to scoring champ this year.
If its about getting a chance to see the newer guys play, what about seeing a chance with the newer refs? Goes both ways. I dont think the replacements are better, but I dont think I've seen any biases to home teams, star players or anything. Which is a plus. They might get a foul call wrong on 1 team, but get a traveling call wrong on the other. It evens out
The NBA is serious about the replacement refs. It looks like the old guys aren't coming back. These fines seem to be larger than the fines against the regular refs. http://www.nba.com/2009/news/10/16/vangundy.fine.ap/index.html
