Mark Cuban sounds off on the blown call situation. An excerpt:
There is a reason why there is so much secrecy around officiating in college football and basketball; to protect the people doing the hiring. If you dont have to worry about scrutiny, why not throw the people you hired under the bus ? Or if you can, just lie about the entire situation and tell everyone it was the right call, or say nothing at all so all the suspicion falls on the games officials.
In the Oklahoma game, the officials got it wrong according to statements from their bosses, and of course the many Tivo replays. Of course the bosses conveniently left out that the replay official wasnt provided all the angles that TV viewers saw, or that the equipment dosnt provide for freeze frame. Freeze frame is what, a $99 dollar software upgrade ?.
Conveniently leaving out key information that would change the publics expectation of the person actually doing the job is one quick and easy way for management to throw their employees under the bus. Which is exactly what happened here.The result was the suspended replay official being harassed and threatened and suffering physical repurcussions.
…Oklahoma fans suggested it was a conspiracy by the Pac 10. The Pac 10 said nothing. When you hear such inflammatory comments without response, its never the work force with the problem, its management. Just ask any PR firm that specializes in crisis management.
When you see problems on a repetitive basis in any profession, the first place to look isnt the people on the job, its the people managing the people on the job.