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"Tough calls for boss of ACC officials John Clougherty confirms that referees cost Virginia Tech a win against Bowling Green and dismisses charges of favoritism toward Duke. BY DAVID TEEL 247-4636 February 15, 2006 In 30 years as a college basketball official, John Clougherty worked hundreds of games in elite conferences such as the ACC and Big East. He earned assignments to 12 Final Fours and four national championship games and concluded his career in a regional semifinal of last season's NCAA tournament. The third of those title games, in 1989, put Clougherty in the crosshairs. His much-debated foul call against Seton Hall's Gerald Greene with three seconds remaining in overtime sent Michigan's Rumeal Robinson to the free-throw line for the decisive points. Clougherty's first season as supervisor of officials in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Colonial Athletic Association has been no less eventful, starting with his appointment in July to replace Fred Barakat, removed from the position after 24 years. The seven months since have included a mistake that cost Virginia Tech a victory, a rare public suspension, injuries to several referees and cries of favoritism toward ACC kingpin Duke. During a telephone interview Monday afternoon with the Daily Press, Clougherty discussed the season to date. The questions were not asked in the order which they are presented here. Q: Last week you announced the one-game suspension of a crew (Mike Eades, Ray Natili and Ed Corbett) for mishandling a technical foul in the Duke-Florida State game. My guess is officials are removed from an assignment or two more frequently than the public ever knows and perhaps more frequently than coaches ever know. Why the public reprimand of this crew? A: Um, the stand that we're taking is we will not comment (further) on the suspensions. Q: In your 30 years of officiating ... A: Was I ever suspended? No. But I am aware of officials that were suspended and I'm also aware that there's been officials in Division I basketball that have been suspended and it's been public. Q: You had the suspension last week. You had the accidental tip-in at the buzzer that shouldn't have counted in the Virginia Tech-Bowling Green game. Overall, evaluate ACC officiating in your first year. A: I think it's been very good. I think we've had some very difficult games to referee, maybe more so than some other leagues. Every game we have (seems) to be decided by a basket or two. ... I'm thinking, are we ever going to have a game decided by 20 points? There's just no breathing room. ... So the referees are constantly in a fishbowl and every mistake they make seems to be magnified. ... I think they've done really well. We've had a game or two that maybe could have been refereed better. I visit with the referees either by phone or one-on-one after every game and we always go over the mistakes we made. But I'm pleasantly pleased with the level of officiating the ACC has this year, and I would challenge anybody to say we're not getting our percentages right. And basically, that's what we're trying to do. No one's going to have a perfect game and a coach is going to pull out six or seven plays every game if he wants to. Q: You get reports from every game from an observer and from the crew. And do you get a report from the coaches? A: (Laughing) Maybe more often than I want. Immediately after the game the crew chief calls (an answering machine). And the observer calls the same number. So I'm getting two reports within minutes after the game is over, and they'll tell me areas that I might get questioned on, and the crew chief usually has a pretty good idea about what the coaches might come to me with. And I get a DVD or TiVo all the games. So I can, within 24 hours, see the game myself. The coaches, they know how to reach me at any time if they have an issue with the officiating. They don't have a form to fill out (after every game). They do at the end of the season. They've got too much going on to start rating the referees after the game. Q: There has been very public discussion - magazines, newspapers, the Internet - about alleged favoritism toward Duke, and Coach K's working of officials and its affect on how a game is called. You worked Duke games. Is Mike Krzyzewski any different than other coaches? And what do you think when you read and hear that Duke gets calls, that Krzyzewski gets calls? A: I'm not going to comment on any of our coaches ... and any of their sideline behavior. That wouldn't be appropriate for me to do. I will tell you that when there is a large discrepancy in fouls - it's not uncommon - it's easy for people to point the finger and say that team is being favored. ... There's always legitimate reasons that if you look hard enough you can find why one team shoots a large number of free throws. One night Carolina shot 20 more free throws than Clemson did, and the other night Wake Forest and Boston College, Boston College shot 50 free throws and Wake Forest maybe shot 20 (actually 14.). But I didn't see the uproar in those games from the media. You with me? ... This weekend we'll have games with a huge difference in free throws. I don't believe any of our referees favor any teams, and they have no agendas. They go in and they referee plays, and they try to get plays right. They have no other thoughts. If the end result is one team shooting a large number of free throws, it's because that's the way the game was played. Q: Do more renowned players tend to get more calls? A: I think it works the other way. Absolutely. I think Shaquille O'Neal gets fouled all the time. I think Michael Jordan, as great as he was, went to the line half the number of times he should have because you are making a supreme effort to stop that guy. ... If you're trying to make the case that a superstar is cut some slack because he is who he is, I'm not sure it's not the other way. I know you'll have a hard time convincing a great many people of that. I can assure you, Michael Jordan, he may have been able to get away with an occasional travel, but when he was going to the hoop, they were fouling him. Q: Just to confirm what (Virginia Tech coach) Seth Greenberg told me last week: The inadvertent tip-in at the buzzer by Tech's A.D. Vassallo that went into the Bowling Green basket should not have counted. Is that correct? A: That is correct, and Seth knows it. He and I have talked at length. The only thing I would say to that is that play happened and those three referees were taken by surprise. In 30 years of officiating, 30 years, I've never seen that play happen and I'm not sure any of those referees will ever see it again. But the fact is, there was an error in that ruling. Q: Were those officials (Ted Valentine, Bernard Clinton and Jeff Nichols) disciplined? A: If they were, it wasn't public. Q: I was curious about your scheduling issues this season just given the guys you have lost to injury - Reggie Cofer in November, Bob Donato earlier this year and Ed Corbett recently. What kind of headaches have these injuries caused? A: It's been really difficult. A guy like Reggie Cofer would work 30-plus games for me. Bobby Donato would be 20-plus - he commits to the Big East first ... and Eddie Corbett the same way. That's actually not the first injury for (Corbett). He had an earlier injury where I had to take him out of a few games. Then he came back and then he got injured again. And Mike Wood has a stress fracture in his foot that he's been able to get by on. But he had to come out of some games, not a large number, but some. I didn't really need that my first year because the four guys I just mentioned are experienced officials, they're hard to replace - not hard to replace number-wise, but the experience and quality of games that they all have, you just can't put anybody into those games. So it's been a challenge. Q: How do you fill these gaps? A: That's a very good question. Some of the officials that did not get that level of game, for example, and these are good referees, but they might be working a Southern (Conference) game or a Colonial game, I'll use the name of a guy like Tim Nestor, a Raymie Styons. I would move those fellas up into (the ACC). And of course then you have to fill that (Southern or CAA) spot. ... We have several guys like that. Roger Ayers is a good referee, Mike Eades is a very good referee. They just don't have the years of experience, but their play-calling is excellent. "

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-71503sy0feb15,0,6673955.story?coll=dp-sports-local



[Edited on February 15, 2006 at 3:19 PM. Reason : ]

2/15/2006 3:17:18 PM

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"Q: How many officials do you have on the ACC roster? A: Sixty-six. Q: And they would range from guys calling upwards of 30 games to a handful? A: That's exactly right. My top guys would get 30 games-plus. ... With a 12-team league that's reasonable. Then we have new guys that we just brought in who might get five, six, seven games to get their feet wet. No conference games, of course. Q: You know this better than I, but because of the closeness of the fans to the action, basketball officials become well known to fans and television viewers. It's pretty clear this year that some of the officials we're accustomed to seeing aren't doing as many games. Larry Rose, Duke Edsall, I'm sure there are others. How difficult was it for you to come in and make some changes? On the other hand, did you feel like you had to bring in new blood and put your stamp on it? A: That's getting close to where I might take a pass. I'm certainly here to cooperate with you. You're accurate in saying that those two referees you mentioned you don't see them as much, OK? And you're accurate in saying that I have to give some other referees an opportunity to show what they can do. If I don't give some referees around the league who are refereeing very good and let the coaches see these guys can referee the tough games ... then they'll never have the confidence they need to have in them. So yes, you may see more of that. I think after 30 years of officiating I have a pretty good idea of who is getting the play calls right, and those referees deserve a chance. And if they don't measure up, there's got to be some other guys who deserve a chance. Q: You're less than a year into it. Is this any fun at all? A: It will be a lot more fun when I get through my first year. I certainly don't want to sound like a whiner. I love this job. It came at a perfect time for me. ... I thought I could make a difference, and I still do, but it's not going to be immediate. This is going to take some time to get some positive results. I think it may take awhile to establish my own roster and be comfortable with the coaches and vice-versa. I would take the job again if it were offered to me tomorrow, but it's a challenge. You just live and die with every game. Q: Referees are independent contractors. You were one. You booked your own schedule. Now that you're on the supervisory end, does it concern you that some of your guys are working too much? A: Yeah. My notable referees all work multiple conferences, and they all work too much, and I worked too much. But I can't even hint about making them cut back. We can talk and I can say, 'You're looking tired. You're not as sharp as you should be.' But I can't tell them, 'If you're going to work four games a week we're not going to be able to use you.' You don't want to start doing that. I think you could get a labor lawyer breathing down your neck. « "

2/15/2006 3:19:05 PM

i was pretty bitter about the VT/Bowling Green game at the time

i broke my coffee table

2/15/2006 3:27:41 PM

you people are fucking ridiculous

2/15/2006 3:34:48 PM

whats rediculous about posting this?

if you havent fucking noticed...poor officiating has been somewhat of a story recently

2/15/2006 3:37:23 PM

I liked the article. I still feel that refs aren't held to too high of a standard. Clougherty will hopefully fix it soon, but I think that Bakarat and Swofford screwed up officiating so bad it will be a while before things are right in the conference....

2/15/2006 3:43:29 PM

its a bunch of pussies crying that their teams lost because of officials

get over it

2/15/2006 3:44:21 PM

THE GIANTS LOST

GET OVER IT

2/15/2006 3:45:19 PM

teams lose because they keep it close enough to where the refs become a factor. State needs to win by at least 15 so the refs have no influence. If the team hits their shots and stays ahead by at least 15, 20 would be even better, they will win without the referees being a factor.

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Quote :

"This Coupon good for 10 free points vs. NC State.* Just present to any ACC official prior to the game. *Offer only valid when playing NC State Wolfpack. *See ACC Commisioner John Swofford for details."

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2/15/2006 3:53:25 PM

Quote :

"I'm pleasantly pleased with the level of officiating the ACC has this year"

i'm redundantly redundant

2/15/2006 4:19:08 PM

Quote :

"THE GIANTS LOST GET OVER IT"

Quote :

"teams lose because they keep it close enough to where the refs become a factor."

[Edited on February 15, 2006 at 4:28 PM. Reason : .]

2/15/2006 4:27:44 PM

I'm a steelers fan, not a giants fan. Thanks.

2/15/2006 4:30:02 PM

?

2/15/2006 4:30:21 PM

^I assumed that you were tying the Giants quote to my statement about games being too close and refs becoming a factor... Was I wrong? If I was, I misunderstood the structure of the post.

2/15/2006 4:32:04 PM

Quote :

"Q: You know this better than I, but because of the closeness of the fans to the action, basketball officials become well known to fans and television viewers. It's pretty clear this year that some of the officials we're accustomed to seeing aren't doing as many games. Larry Rose, Duke Edsall, I'm sure there are others. How difficult was it for you to come in and make some changes? On the other hand, did you feel like you had to bring in new blood and put your stamp on it? A: That's getting close to where I might take a pass. I'm certainly here to cooperate with you. You're accurate in saying that those two referees you mentioned you don't see them as much, OK? And you're accurate in saying that I have to give some other referees an opportunity to show what they can do. If I don't give some referees around the league who are refereeing very good and let the coaches see these guys can referee the tough games ... then they'll never have the confidence they need to have in them. So yes, you may see more of that. I think after 30 years of officiating I have a pretty good idea of who is getting the play calls right, and those referees deserve a chance. And if they don't measure up, there's got to be some other guys who deserve a chance."

This guy has done one thing right, canning those bozos.

2/15/2006 4:32:22 PM

i was just stealing your idea

2/15/2006 4:39:39 PM

steal away....

I think it's bad that I have to think the way I do about officials in sports, but it has come to that point that bad calls are made in every single game. And through the power of TiVo and instant replay, they're all the more evident.

2/15/2006 4:41:32 PM

bad calls have been made since the dawn of officiating

people worry too much about that shit and not enough about the guys on their team who are underperforming

i grow weary of people complaining about officiating day in and day out

i would rather talk about this stupid play or that great play and who sucks and who is great

who gives a flying fuck about a guy with a whistle

2/15/2006 4:56:05 PM

when you're on the wrong end of a bunch of calls, it starts to wear on you and you must find an outlet for your frustration. Solution: TWW Sports Talk.... I know that's where I go.

2/15/2006 5:18:30 PM