Too close to call = Should not have counted???

I thought too close to call = you don't know if it should have counted or not.

Are your nachos making you thirsty?

McCabe's only around when calls go UCLA's way. Yet when it goes against, the general response was the call could've gone either way.

Josh...playing offense aggressive pays off! Keep driving and keep shooting. No hesitation.

sorry, Jill, you need to take some reading comprehension classes.

he says, "it's too close to call," and you somehow make the leap to mean that "it should have counted."

btw, were you even at the game? how certain are you that it actually went over the backboard? and be truthful--is the rule what you thought the moment that basket went in? i didn't think so.

i would recommend you edit this entry before more people read this embarrassing post.

Don't agree. The ball went over the corner of the backboard which is legal. It's only if it goes over completely from back to front that it's illegal.

Based on McCabes comments about how Alfred threw his face in front of Morris' pass his opinion is pretty much meaningless to me.

This tool McCabe runs his mouth off after the game, trying to get into the spotlight.

I would sure like my boss nitpick me in public, no wonder they can't get qualified people into the Pac-10 referee jobs.

McCabe is a tool and a hater, end of story. Who's ready for some March Madness?!?!!?!

if that is true, no 3 pointer from the corner baseline would ever count.

Read the rule, it did not go over the backboard it cleared a corner from an angle; as 09 Bruin says, deep corner 3s wouldn't count either as the technically go over the corner of the backboard too. McCabe is an idiot and needs to find another job as he's doing a poor one as official's coordinator.

Jill,

This is a serious question, and I would like a response from you or Brian.

Just today, in the LA Times, McCabe is quoted explaining that although there was body contact on Collison at the end of the stanford game, the foul should not have been called. It was a "weak" call, not a strong call. McCabe apologized to the Stanford Coach for this technically correct call.

Now after publically criticizing his officials for making a call at the end of the game less than 48 hours ago that decided it on a foul that technically occurred, how can he expect them to make a border line call like the one he second guesses them on above?

He should decide that he either wants them to call the game consistantly for 40 minutes, or to swallow the whistle at the end of games. Furthermore, he should tell them whether he wants them to anticipate calls (blow the whistle when you don't actually see a foul, but suspect one based on the outcome of a play) or call only what you are sure about.

I am sure the league officials need some clarification because his quotes are incredibly inconsistant.

It is important as reporters that you ask follow up questions like these, not just transcribe what he feels like telling you.

The backboard extends over and across the baseline. So as another comment above has already said, any shot from the baseline technically is shot from behind the backboard and must therefore go over the backboard to go in the hoop. To the letter of the rule...no baseline shot should count.

But the reason they always count is because of the spirit of the rule. The spirit of the rule is to clarify that any shot that, say, goes off the rim and bounces up and over the backboard (or hits the shot clock) is out of bounds. Likewise, the spirit of the rule is to prevent players defensively trapped UNDER the basket from heaving it up over the backside of the backboard. Josh's shot fits neither of those criteria. His shot was a shot from the wing while falling out of bounds.

Michael Jordan earned a living with the baseline-falling-out-of- bounds jumper.

McCabe is a total jackass. This is the same guy who had "no doubt" that Al Aboya jumped into to the ball with his face against Washington, when every single conceivable replay and camera angle showed that wasn't the case.

He had a lot to say about that call in the Stanford game, but nothing to say about Lawrence Hill's charge or Mitch Johnson's obvious double dribble. McCabe is an incompetent hack, and based on the performance of Pac 10 refs this season, he ought to be fired.

Jill, with the detractors questioning the ability of Pac-10 officials, could you do a story on Pac-10 ref credentials, and the degree of difficulty to become one?

I'm with RickBruin... On the test to become a Pac-10 official, let's find out what follows the questions "please spell your name correctly on the first try" and "are you currently breathing without assistance?"

I thought the Pac-10 prohibited any public second-guessing of the officials or condemn their incomptence? Shouldn't that extend to the head of officiating as well as the coaches? The Commish should fine McCabe.

I like how the blog posting was edited like a previous comment suggested. :-)

Getting the calls...so this is what it must feel like to be a Duke fan. Interesting.

im not complainin... pac-10 refs are gnarly bad, but at least it seems to be evenly spread, like when someone sneezes in an elevator and the virus starts to diffuse evenly into the air and down your nostrils (i just saw a film lol). we got the call, and we got bigger and better things to strain our brains over...like who we dancin with in that hoe down comin up! go bruins! =)