my friends and I haven't definitely questioned her officiating ability (like she has a chip on her shoulder) but, is this going to far... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4591867.html umm...this reminds me. Did TNT have to apologize when Kenny Smith served up a punch line to Charles Barkley recenty? Kenny: Why don't you have to buy a woman a watch? Charles: Because there's a clock in the kitchen. Kenny repeated the question twice before Charles went ahead and finished the punch-line, so you can't just blame that on Charles; although, it was obvious Charles probably told that to Kenny.
It would take a full 6 pack and two brown paper bags before I'd do her. One bag over her face and another over mine just in case hers came off.
This is why I wish I had a blog, I have to wait until next Tuesday to go over this: she's a bad ref, but as the NBA's most visible "bad ref," everyone seems to think she's the worst. She's not, and there are probably 10-15 referees worse than Violet at this point. And that's been the case since 2000-01 or so. But because she's the only woman left, and everyone knows her name, everyone thinks she's somehow worse than all these crappy young refs. It's like it was with Shawn Bradley. He sucked, but he certainly wasn't the worst center in the game, not even close. Play 20 minutes, block two shots, pull in eight boards -- that's not horrid. But because he was the most visible, people forgot that there were Brett Szabos and Jerome James' floating around.
I mostly agree, though I think she's still worse than 2/3rds of the refs out there. My biggest deal with her is I've always gotten the sense that she tries to overcompensate for the gender issue by being overly assertive with her bad calls. As far as I've seen she's just about the least likely of any ref to back off a wrong call. And she makes a ton. Evan
I tend to agree with Kelly. I think she's below average, but compared to some of the truly horrible refs in the NBA, she gets a bad rap. I even think Dick Bavetta is more likely to call a game based on personal bias, but after the race he gets a deserved break.
watch the game and watch the horrible calls...thats all the proof you need. i dont want to be sexist, but its not the first time i watched a female ref a mens game and the calls were laughable.
Believe me, I'm watching the games -- she's bad, but nowhere NEAR the worst. I came across one of the ref scoresheets from 2002 or so, it was online for a while, and she was in the middle of the pack. There's a reason she's still in the league, and Dee Kanter (who was WAY better than "Violent" in the first year) isn't. She's climbed to the ranks of nearly mediocre. And EVERY ref is needlessly-assertive these days. That's how it's been since the three-ref post-Bad Boy era started. They're robots now, nearly to a man/woman.
I think she tends to over whistle too much. The guys should get away with some contact. Maybe she's overcompensating by going strictly by the book. This is good when Yao is playing, but its bad for our defense.
A whopper like this and everyone goes on only to talk about Palmer's bad ability at officiating. Hardly a mention or care about the overly sexist comment, and no attempts at a politically correct balance...... I am proud of you all The difference between Kenny & Charles and "Cornbread" Maxwell is Maxwell made a comment directed right at a female employed by the league who works within the product they are broadcasting (The same league that he works for). While Kenny & Charles said some bad locker room humor that may or may not be indicative of how they truly feel.
