Word: ref
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...takes the less-than-stellar image of its referees very seriously. But when the league announced in July that it was putting a two-star Army general in charge of its officiating, the jokes started flying. Even the refs themselves can't resist corny quips. "You know, instead of getting cups of water over at the [scoring] table, we're going to get a canteen," says 32-year veteran ref Joey Crawford. "If you screw up a play, are you going to go down and do 100 push-ups?" Ronald Johnson, the retired general whom the league hired to revive...
...Donaghy made certain that the stench of corruption went beyond his own bad behavior, crashing this year's dream finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers with scandalous accusations. Before Game 3 of that series, he alleged in a court filing that two refs conspired to fix the 2002 Western Conference finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings. Donaghy claimed he wasn't the only rogue referee, as he described a corrupt culture in which refs would play tennis with coaches, ask players for autographs, and accept free meals and gifts from coaches and team officials...
...those who is sure to take him up on the offer - though he would surely make his opinion heard regardless - is Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, arguably the loudest ref critic on the planet. And though it's early in Johnson's tenure, Cuban is encouraged. "The biggest challenge the officiating group had was lack of experience in managing high-stress professionals," Cuban writes in an e-mail. "To say [Johnson] has that part mastered is an understatement." In addition to bringing on Johnson, the NBA has changed its management structure, separating referee oversight from its general basketball operations...
...Argentina actually pulled within six, when Anthony launched a desperation three pointer ahead of the halftime buzzer. Juan Pedro Llanas Gutierrez blocked it, and it looked as if we had a game here. But wait, a whistle? The ref wanted to pull the tweeter out now and kill Argentina's momentum? It was a terrible call, and it meant three shots for 'Melo. He sank them all, giving the U.S. that tiny bit of comfort it carried into the third quarter. Game over...
...After committing a foul on the other end and getting a lecture from the ref, Harris gets a lob pass in the post and goes up strong and gets fouled. He misses both free throws, though. [Brown 74, Harvard...