WARNING: This post is a bunch of disjointed thoughts....
I admit, I stayed up to watch the NCAA men's basketball national championship game last night, but mostly to see one shining moment--more on that in a moment.
Early on in the game, it seemed as though the refs, once again, wanted control of the game and missed a lot of major fouls, yet called a lot of ticky-tack. This had an effect on both teams. Florida realized that they had to be more sly about their fouls, and were successful at doing that. UCLA on the other hand couldn't adapt to a game that wasn't called like they were used to. They play a more bruising (some liken it to Big Ten or Big East style) game of basketball, where contact is expected, and seldom called within the league.
Perhaps I'm slightly biased (see the 2005 final, and the 2nd round Illinois/Washington game from 2006), but it seems that the officiating between conferences is so different during the regular season. When it comes tourney time, some teams have a difficult time adapting to a "less bruising" style of play when they are used to getting calls a certain way all season. Perhaps it is the way in which officials are selected for the tourneys--often crews are made of officials from different leagues--that causes the odd calls and non-calls.
I don't want to take anything away from Florida as played their hearts out and deserved the win. However, I do think that the game should have been (and could have been) a lot closer if the officiating was more consistent. You could see the effect the early foul trouble had on a very young UCLA team.
I'm not sure what to do about the officiating, but something needs to change. I don't like seeing good teams made to look silly mainly because the refs took over the game. That's not what college ball is about.
</soapbox>
Did anyone notice that this year's one shining moment didn't seem to include much of the final game at all? I remember much more of the final in years past than this years. The shot of Dee walking off the court dejected from the loss to Washington pretty much summed up a disappointing finish to a great career.
