a few observations on basketball

Tonight, Phenom and I attended a big time college basketball game.

I am against the notion of "make up calls" from referees. It acknowledges they screwed up and promotes total inconsistency in calls. I'd prefer it if they worked harder to not screw up calls in the first place -- or be willing to reverse themselves when it's obvious they effed up.

I also think that referees ought to can this notion that they are participants in the game. It seems that too often the referees call according to strengths and weaknesses. Don't punish a team because they are stronger, faster, more athletic. You are not "equalizers" -- you should be nearly invisible on the court.

Behind us were two extremes of "fans." To one side, we had a man I'll call Buddy. Buddy had a high, nasally voice thick with a southern accent. After hearing Buddy all night, I now know why so many people around the world assume southern men are all rednecks and/or foppish. He was both. He was a totally blind fan. Every call was a bad call. His team could do no wrong. He clearly thought himself very clever because he made lots of brash announcements (generally to the referees) and when people around him laughed, he repeated them many many times. To the other side of us was a woman who was utterly clueless. At one point, she asked "what's an official time out?" When she learned the nickname for the visiting team, she asked if they were affiliated with a professional football team with the same nickname. I could envision her boyfriend swearing an oath to never take her to another game.

And, on the way home, we passed a car dealership where they put helium balloons on each car to attract attention. I noticed that the balloons were straight up in the air. I remarked I was surprised, since helium contracts in cold. Then, I realized I'd just revealed myself to be the biggest effing nerd ever. I blame the grad student. He did this to me.