referee Page 31 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Fired NBA Refs At Head Of Line To Join The Scabs
The NBA needs replacements for their locked out referees so they're putting together a list of guys who own whistles—one of whom just happens to have been fired for being terrible at refereeing NBA games....

Anyone Want To Ref Some NBA Games?
"The NBA formally declared a lockout of its referees Friday, virtually guaranteeing that the league will open the preseason with replacement officials in two weeks." [NYT]...

NBA Players Will Have To Call Their Own From Now On (UPDATE)
Here's a tip for the NBA referee's union. When negotiating for better benefits and more job security, try to avoid bargaining from the position of being the most hated and least respected workforce in America....

It's Bizarro Phillies Dad!
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day...

Sympathy For The Refs
More and more it's looking as if the NBA will lock out its referees and turn to scabs instead, and no one will much protest because NBA refs aren't exactly coalminers in Matewan. But this is nevertheless a bad development....

NFL Preemptively Stops First Twitter Touchdown Celebration
As expected, the NFL has laid down a formal law banning the use of Twitter during games, providing fans with at least one safe haven in the ongoing war to see who can be the league's most obnoxious player....

Tim Donaghy Has Not Been Enjoying Prison (UPDATED)
Disgraced referee Tim Donaghy will be released from prison next week and not a moment too soon. A press release says that while in the slammer he nearly had his legs broken by a New York mobster. (Update below.)...

Economists Confirm That NBA Referees Are Biased
An academic study concludes that NBA zebras "tend to favor home teams, teams trailing in a game and teams trailing in a playoff series." Also, the team getting 10 points when Tim Donaghy is involved. [Oregonian]...

Ed Hochuli Curls The Pain Away
Speaking of terrible referees, what's Ed Hochuli been up to this winter—besides sculpting those beautiful 14-inch guns? [ESPN]...

Kill The Referee! (Starting With These Guys)
Here's a list you don't want to be on: The most notable referees who have been threatened with death for being bad at their jobs. It's not a very select group, either. [Off The Post]...

Here's Why Killing A Referee Is a Poor Idea
It's never too early for a bizarre story involving murder, cover-up, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the age old dilemma of players and referees not seeing eye to eye....

Brazilian Soccer Coach Pulls A Woody Hayes
Santilli's team was losing 1-0 on Sunday when he ran out on to the field to retrieve a loose ball, but as he returned to the sideline he decided to lower his shoulder into a player for the opposing team for no reason whatsoever. (Because he was brushed on the shoulder by a 60-year-old man, the playe...

High School Basketball Team Pulls Off Rare 17-Point Play For The Win (UPDATE)
Your team is down by five with 12 seconds left and has just committed an intentional foul. Game over? Not if you can find a way to get eight technical fouls called on your opponent....

The Internet Is Fed Up With Ed Hightower's Shenanigans
Veteran NCAA referee Ed Hightower is notorious for his foul-calling theatrics. One group of fans had enough and fought back the only way they knew how - via the awesome power of MS Paint....

Idiot Fan Attacks Referee (Who Is Also A Cop)
"Rempala said, 'You can't arrest me, you're a referee,' and he pushed the trooper again...once he realized the referee he attacked really was a trooper, [he] reportedly said, 'That's not fair.'" [TimesOnline]...

The Year In...Bad Officiating
So, today is the last day for end-of-year retrospectives. We've got at least one more of our own. Today: Bad, bad referees....

That's One Hell of a Right Jab
This picture comes from earlier today when umpire Garth DiFelice defended himself from a charging Kenneth Darby with a textbook right cross jab to the chin. Or at least that's the way it looks to me....

We Call This One 'Tony Romo's Identity Crisis'
Got an image you'd like to see in here first thing in the morning? Send it to [email protected]. Subject: Morning crap....

NHL Referee Needs Mouth Washed Out With Pucks
The Buffalo Sabres beat Pittsburgh on Monday, but with no thanks to the boys in zebra stripes. The Sabres were on the short end of three different 5-on-3 situations and even got a bench minor for "abuse of officials." Although to hear Sabres goalie Ryan Miller tell it, the officials are the ones who...

HS Championship Game Delayed Due to Lack of Referees
Sure, game officials are the bane of existence and they're all out to cheat for the other team and they're incompetent and corrupt and love being the center of attention and cause eczema in laboratory rats. However, unless someone figures out how to call their own 12-men-on-the-field penalties, you ...