Basketball is dead to me.

I officially give up on the sport of basketball.

Yes. Give up on it. Completely. I will only watch "March Madness" if there's a "Cinderella" team making some noise (and loud noise at that.)

Why the sudden disassociation from a sport from a sports fan? It's simple really. It's painful to watch it in several ways...

• Basketball has become a true "me" sport. One player/ego can make or break a team. See Syracuse in 2003. Carmelo Anthony had all the talent in the world, and probably could have gone straight to the NBA without an NBA-mandated 1-year exile to upstate New York. Instead, he goes to college for one year... and they win a title. After that, 'Melo's off to the big bucks in "the league." Before 2003 - Syracuse was a good team, not great, but a solidly coached team that nobody wanted to play in March. After 2003? Middle-of-the bloated Big East pack. Since the NBA instituted their 1 and 3 rule (must play at least 1 year in college, or stay a minimum of 3 years), there have been a series of players who have gone "one and done" to the NBA. Kevin Durant. Greg Oden. Most schools fall off for a year or two after a sudden departure. A few exceptions (i.e. Texas) manage to recruit to cover the loss of a Kevin Durant. But most leave for the money, eschewing their teams and education for a potentially short career. This detracts from the quality of the game play.
  
• College basketball players think they are in the NBA. It's about showtime. Dunks. Crossover dribbles. Pushing the envelope of the rules. They don't practice the fundamentals anymore. Twenty years ago, a guard that shot less than 80% from the foul stripe was a liability. Now, if he shoots 80%, he's the guy you want there in the last minute of the game. Shooting percentages are waaaay down. Players rely on the long shot too much, and can't even shoot it well. They don't set their feet, square up and hit the shot. They drift. They "kick out" their legs. If any shot of theirs is even contested, they cry "foul!" When I reffed intramural hoops in college, not a night went by when a shooter would exclaim "AND ONE!" if a guy challenged their shot. Learn how to play fundamental ball, and the rest of the game comes to you. Want to learn how to play the game right? Watch Hoosiers.
• Bad gameplay - worse officiating. Even though I only officiated intramural sports through college (I haven't made the jump to the "pros" of local & high school sports yet), I have an educated background on how the game should be called. Officiating today is terrible. They don't call the rules as they are written. They call them as the kids see them during NBA games, which are a farce in themselves (see: Suns/Spurs 2007.) The guys in stripes are woefully inconsistent because there's not a strict and consistent interpretation of the rules between conferences. Southland conference games are called dramatically different than Big XII or Big Ten games. It shows in the tournament in March. Just this last week there were two high profile games (UConn-Villanova and Rutgers-Tennessee (women)) that were decided by poor calls in the last second of the game. Villanova lost when an official judged that one of their players "bumped" a player - a very marginal "bump", more of a "brush" - after a rebound. The game was tied and there was one tenth of a second left in the game. This came seconds after a Villanova player was mugged under the basket chasing that same rebound. One would get 5-10 years in prison for the contact that warranted a "no call." (Villanova lost by 2.) In the Tennessee-Rutgers game, the clock "froze" for about 1.5 seconds in real time with .2 seconds remaining. In that 1.5 seconds, a Tennessee player grabbed a rebound while in the air, came down jumped up attempting a shot and was fouled. If the clock had continued to run, no foul would have been called - the clock would have run out giving Rutgers the win. However, the clock started running after the foul was called, the buzzer sounded, so time did expire - with Tennessee going to the line for two shots and a chance to win the game. Swish. Swish. Ballgame. In last Saturday's Oklahoma/Colorado game, I witnessed a guy travel, then bump into a opposing player - who was charged with a foul. Colorado guy blocked out a Sooner trying to block a shot with essentially a "low bridge hip check" similar to what you would see in a hockey game. No call.

That's when I turned the game off. That's when I turned off hoops essentially for good. I miss the days of Jordan vs. Bird vs. Johnson. All three were fundamentally sound players (notably Bird) and all three played the game with a passion like no other. They all enjoyed playing the game.

Good thing there's hockey and English soccer until the start of Arena Football. Otherwise I'd be pretty bored until then. Oh wait. The Oilers stink this year. Guess I'd better learn how to play kitchen with Miriam or find some time to clean up the yard... if mother nature will quit leaving the freezer door open on the weekends!!!!

RW