The Huff Post last night said "NBA Referees
Call More Fowls Against Black Players Than White Players". I liked that much better.

Only when the Raptors are playing...

You can't call a foul on a White Euro, they dont play defence.

Jack--Next season, I'm going to call a close foul on a Black player whose parents (and the parents of whose teammates) have seen this inflammatory picture. I'm now more likely to get called a racist on the court than I already am (and yes, officials are occasionally accused of racism by out-of-control parents of all races, and at all levels of play). I appreciate you and your blog, Jack, but I need to say that I don't appreciate this picture, which, whether you see it or not, adds to the culture that makes my job harder.

TRP, I am sorry I have made your job harder. The picture merely illustrates what the "study" suggests, rightly or wrongly.

Just so you know, FWIW, my personal view is that the "study" that made this suggestion is an unadulterated crock of statistical m**lda. Social "scientists" are attention whores sometimes.

Of course, when someone is called a racist nowadays, it's not PC to jump to their defense, and so I withheld my point of view. I should have made it clearer, but our town's champions of civil rights already have me on their Stennie enemies list, and that intimidated me.

Apology accepted, Jack. I do wish you'd been more up-front about your opinion...as it is, the picture was all I had to go on. But hey, I've done worse that than.

John Hollinger wrote a reasoned analysis of the study on his ESPN blog. (ESPN insider subscription needed...email me if you want me to send it to you).

My friend BloggingRef has some things to say, too: illegalscreen.blogspot.com.

By the way--basketball lover and runner that you are--have you ever considered officiating? We're short bodies, and I'd buy you your first shirt and whistle.

Do I look that crazy? My brother used to ref basketball at a Boys' Club in Newark, N.J. He said it was the hardest thing he ever did. You have to watch a hundred things at once.

I definitely could use the exercise, though...

Is it just me or is the officiating still at an all time low? Even though the Spurs won, Tim Duncan essentially got beat down, gangland style. It was interesting watching him keep his composure.

Then we saw the refs extend the Warriors/Mavs series by non-calling all sorts of Dallas fouls, including a really obvious Nowitzki hack on Jason Richardson on his game-tying three attempt (which clanged off the side of the rim with no arc...as it happens when your elbow/arm is hit).

Then the whole Joey Crawford thing. It's getting ridiculous.

In my 11 years and 500+ straight games courtside, the thought of such calls have never crossed my mind. Most refs work their hardest to get it right first. They even retire to the locker room at 1/2-time to watch tape to see if they did. The speed of play and athleticism of league players makes it tougher all the time, IMHO. But I always like it when a ref calls out the color uniform ("Red ball, the other way!") when making a call. It signals he/she doesn't care who is wearing it.

In my 11 years and 500+ straight games courtside

How many tickets do you have?