-EDITORIAL-
by TexCane
College athletics is built on a foundation of student, alumni and fan support. School spirit and loyalty is a big outcome of sports. Competitive spirit can be very emotional and sometimes controversial.
Miami is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 2004. The Canes compete in 18 interscholastic sports.
There has been, and probably will always be, controversy surrounding competitive competitors. For a number of years, there have been constant complaints about ACC conference officiating. There have been complaints about the consistent enforcement of the rules. At first, it could be dismissed as fan loyalty. However, the complaints have grown and the call for accountability can now be heard from coast to coast.
The latest incident occurred this past week after the Pitt-West Virginia game. After the game Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi met with the press. Despite a comeback victory over their rival, coach had strong words about the ACC officials.
"Some of the calls we got - late hit out of bounds, they catch a ball with hands in the face and I've never seen anything like it, you know?," said Narduzzi. "Wow. We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, and we beat the officials, too, in one game.”
The ACC didn’t like Narduzzi’s criticism. On Sunday, the ACC publicly reprimanded Narduzzi and fined Pitt $5,000 for violating the ACC sportsmanship policy, which states, in part: "Public criticism of officials or public comments evaluating the officiating of particular contests is not in the best interest of intercollegiate athletics.” No review of the officials performance has been announced yet.
This was not the first time ACC officiating has been called into question by ACC schools and coaches. It’s been going on for years. No has been no discernible evidence of conference review regarding officials performance.
There have been consistent rumors regarding the integrity of ACC officials. For example, there has been long time accusations of one particular official’s disdain toward one conference school. His calls against that school are double that of any other school he has officiated. If true, that tarnishes the integrity of the whole ACC.
Is enough, enough? It’s time for examination and accountability. And changes if needed.
GO CANES!
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