Bad Ref Call Hurts Credibility of All Sports Brands
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When I was sports editor of the Daily Northwestern in 1959 our football team was riding high. After winning our first six games, Northwestern was ranked No. 2 in the country, and we were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately, we lost the last three games and our coach, Ara Parseghian, soon after left for Notre Dame. The team descended into Mediocreville for many years.
What happened was not a travesty. We just ran out of gas. But this year’s NCAA Tournament, where Northwestern appeared for the first time ever, was nothing less than highway robbery that should not go unpunished. It should, at the very least, have long-term implications for the good of sports.
Northwestern got into the playoffs by beating Michigan against all odds. After a Michigan basket to tie the score with 1.7 seconds left, Nathan Taphorn threw the inbound pass the length of the court to Dererk Pardon, who hit a layup for the win, 67-65. The Wildcats lost their last game to Purdue by four points, but they were still good enough to make the last seed in the NCAA playoffs. They finished with an overall 24-12 record, their best performance ever.
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