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Home > Blogs > High School Huddle > Archives > 2009 > March > 17 > Entry
Foul call against Trotwood sparks uproar
FOUL CALL AGAINST TROTWOOD
SPARKS PLENTY OF CONTROVERSY
===Personally, I agree with referee Angelo Zolotas’ call. It was a foul. From my seat on press row, Matt Kavanaugh’s right arm got hit on the shot with eight-tenths of a second to go. And a foul is a foul is a foul. Kavanaugh made the second of two free throws. Centerville 52, Trotwood-Madison 51. It took guts to make that call. If I were the referee, I probably wouldn’t have made it. But he made it and I agree with it.===
I’m going to quote three people here.
First, golfing legend Jack Nicklaus.
Then OHSAA Associate Commissioner Deborah Moore.
Then Trotwood-Madison High School Principal Gerald Cox.
Then I’m going to ask basketball fans to check out the video and decide for your yourselves.
JACK NICKLAUS: ‘HOW TO LOSE GRACEFULLY’
“My dad taught me that when I was a kid. He said the most important thing in sports is to be gracious in victory and be sincere in defeat. When you shake that person’s hand, you should mean it and make him or her feel as if you mean it. Does that mean you have to accept it? No. Every time you get beat, you should learn from it, so you don’t get beat again.”
http://golf.discoversouthcarolina.com/golf-tips/golf-tips91-93.aspx
DEBORAH MOORE: ‘NO MECHANISM FOR PROTESTING’
“There’s no such thing (as a protest). In fact, protests are specifically prohibited under our bylaws. Any issue relative to a contest has to be resolved by the contest officials during the contest. Once a contest is finished, it’s done. There is no mechanism for protesting.
“… Everybody knows that there are all kinds of calls that take place during a contest that one could impart one’s own judgement as to whether it was an appropriate call.”
GERALD COX: ‘VOICE TO BE HEARD’
“We have several students, parents, staff members, community members who believe that the call at the end of the game on Saturday was not the proper call. And that it should not have been made given the particular circumstances — the end of the game; district final; score tied. They just felt that the foul was not blatant enough, flagrant enough, whatever descriptor you want to use there.
“Many of the students and many of the staff have addressed letters to the Ohio High School Athletic Association either to Commissioner (Donald B.) Ross or to (Assistant) Commissioner Henry Zaborniak, the person whose responsibility would involve the officials, to review the circumstances and take some kind of action.
“I think most people at this point believe that the action would have to be something directed at the process and perhaps at that particular official or the officials in general. I don’t think anyone at this point is expecting that they’re going to re-play the game or the last few seconds of the game or anything like that. but they would like for their voice to be heard and the situation to be reviewed and to have some kind of response.
“The students have a petition going. I haven’t seen it. I don’t know what the specific words were that they used, but I know the substance of it is they just think that the call was not the proper call to make. So they’ve got their little petition going. They’ve got hundreds of student signatures. I think they said they’ve probably about 500 student signatures. They did send a letter off to the commissioner. They did have a secretary send that off for them earlier today.
“I’m addressing a letter to the commissioner myself and I believe our central administration is addressing a letter as well. Those are the district things that I am aware of. I also got word that several other members of the community were drafting or crafting some kinds of letters that they wanted to send off as well.
“News people came out and met with us today, and talked with myself, Coach (Mark) Baker, some student spokespeople. We had one member of the basketball team, senior Aaron Robinson, talk, and then the two young ladies who were coordinating that effort with the signatures and so forth spoke as well. And I thought everybody did a pretty nice job.
“I thought they represented themselves real well and were very clear about the fact that they bear Centerville no ill will. A couple of them actually congratulated Centerville on the victory and wished them well for the remainder of the season, and just focused on what they thought was the unfairness of the situation given the call that the official made. That’s pretty much what happened today. They’re asking for some kind of response, whatever that response is. Everyone is pretty unified in that.
“I think I would be happy if someone acknowledged that perhaps it was not the correct call to make and that they will, in fact, make sure that’s a part of the process that the officials go through. My understanding is the officials did huddle up with 6.6 seconds left in the game, and they did talk through that. They did say, ‘Hey, unless there’s a flagrant foul, we do not call a foul. This game goes to overtime.’
“I would like to think that officials do have that as part of their process and that they do, in fact, implement that when the time comes. I’m not sure why that didn’t happen. It was an official who told us that that’s the process they followed. And I’m not sure why they didn’t. I would like to see some acknowledgement that, ‘Yeah, that’s what should happen and that’s what we should have done. We made an error there. There was an error in judgement.’ Or something of that nature.
“And then perhaps that that one official is actually dealt with. And by dealt with, obviously I’m not talking about firing the official or anything. But I’d like to think that when an employee of mine does something that I believe is against district protocol, that I talk with him, document the conversation. You know, those kinds of things. I’d like to hear that.”
Permalink | Comments (19) | Post your comment | Categories: Boys basketball
Comments
By teddy
March 17, 2009 10:23 PM | Link to this
Much to be said for losing graciously, “if you hadn’t been tied this wouldn’t have happened to you”, etc., but I have to say that is one of the lamest calls I’ve ever seen - the ball is - arguably - already out of his hand by the time the other kid touches - and I do mean touches - him - but, there is absolutely nothing to do about it - and nothing should be done about it (short of absolute evidence that money changed hands) it was just a bad call - and bad calls - like good calls - are part of the human experience - have to live with it.By Waaaaaahhh
March 18, 2009 10:20 AM | Link to this
Clearly a foul. Grow up and move on.By trotwood suck
March 18, 2009 10:26 AM | Link to this
Next Trotwood is going to say they were discrimnated against.By Zeb
March 18, 2009 10:33 AM | Link to this
Call was correct. Most times the referee will not make that call at the end of a game, allowing overtime to decide it. It was a tap of the arm. Part of the game. Move on.By Harley
March 18, 2009 11:52 AM | Link to this
I only saw the clip of the disputed call, but it looks like it was a foul. Whether a ref makes that call at the end in that situation can be up for debate. However, I believe the call was correct. No one can blame the official. It’s a shame that the parents and administration at Trotwood are not taking the opportunity to lead and teach their kids about adversity and life. Any sport is a game of inches and imperfection. I’m sure there were some close calls that DID go their way. Stop complaining, cheer for Centerville and start working for next year!By White Centerville vs. Black Trotwood
March 18, 2009 11:57 AM | Link to this
It’s an age old issue. I did some research on the ref in question. He lives in Centerville… Black Oak area. How ironic?By I hate trotwood
March 18, 2009 12:34 PM | Link to this
Of course Trotwood is going to bring the race card. Get over it!! Your team lost! They need to look into the fighting that happened in the locker room. Bye Trotwood!! Quit crying!By Drop it
March 18, 2009 2:12 PM | Link to this
Bad calls happen all the time. Protesting like this is not a smart thing for Trotwood to be doing. I remember seeing Centerville get a bad call against them at the end of a tournament game at UD arena against St. X about 4 years ago. There was no protest, not from players, coaches, and definitely not from administration. No matter what the sport or what part of the season, you just don’t blame refs umps or judges. On top of that, this isn’t even an obvious bad call, so the fact that people are acting this way over it is terrible.By Buckfan149
March 18, 2009 2:14 PM | Link to this
Clearly Kavanaugh was hit on the arm. Get over it, you lost.By eventsman
March 18, 2009 2:44 PM | Link to this
A foul is a foul whether it is in the first minute of the game or the last seconds of a game or anything in between. If anything they were consistent… a light amount of contact was called a foul on Centerville with about 50 seconds to go that resulted in free throws for Trotwood. The same call was made for Centerville down the stretch. Kudos to the officials for consistency.By sec 312
March 18, 2009 3:05 PM | Link to this
nice …whine and complain…good example for the kids. Kat does not air ball from 14 feet..hit on the wrist..meant air ball which equals…FOUL!!By You'll white folks from Centerville
March 18, 2009 3:45 PM | Link to this
You all seem to believe that Centerville deserves or should of won. The way I see it if this was on the other shoe (TW) wont even get any place on it! It would be shoved under the rug!By david k
March 18, 2009 4:39 PM | Link to this
The call was NOT consistent with the way the refs had been calling the game. They had let the kids play until then, and should not have let the call determine the outcome.By tk
March 18, 2009 5:46 PM | Link to this
girls division one state game last year, it happens. the call was weak, but his arm was hit. life goes on…By buck
March 18, 2009 6:18 PM | Link to this
Seems to me the call that put the Trotwood kid at the line that tied the game could be called into question also. The offensive player leaned in an created contact and was rewarded by a trip to the line. It could possibly been a no call there or a player control foul against Trotwood. If you go with the theory that players should control the outcome and referees should swallow their whistle in the last moments of the game; then officials are asked not to do their job and you might as well have them go to the locker room during the final minute of any game. A foul in the last minute of the game should be called the same as the first minute of the game. The referee made the call in real time; not in some slow motion video. You don’t have to like the call or agree with the call; but there is no sense in protesting because other calls made throughout the game would have to also be reviewed to determine their accuracy. All the calls or no calls made throughout that game had some impact on the final score.By MARSHALL IS STILL PLAYING
March 19, 2009 4:14 PM | Link to this
I don’t know why either team is crying about the outcome of the game. Centerville is weak and the only play teams in this area that they know they can beat! Trotwood your time is up, you all have a good coach and with him coaching you all have a bright future. Now since both of their seasons are over lets all cheer for Marshall and Dayton Christian.By You're kidding me, right?
March 21, 2009 2:06 AM | Link to this
The defender clearly made contact on the shooter’s arm that affected his shot. That is a foul. You don’t ignore it because of time or score. What do these people want? Must there be blood to have a foul? Must there be broken bones? Must the shooter go to the floor? No. For the official to pass on that foul would be an injustice to the shooter. Why should the defense be allowed to hit his arm and disrupt his shot just because of time and score? The only think weak here is the losing team/school/administration/community’s argument.By You're kidding me, right?
March 21, 2009 2:20 AM | Link to this
The defender clearly made contact on the shooter’s arm that affected his shot. That is a foul. You don’t ignore it because of time or score. What do these people want? Must there be blood to have a foul? Must there be broken bones? Must the shooter go to the floor? No. For the official to pass on that foul would be an injustice to the shooter. Why should the defense be allowed to hit his arm and disrupt his shot just because of time and score? The only think weak here is the losing team/school/administration/community’s argument.By Carlton
June 4, 2009 5:21 PM | Link to this
Folks are missing a bigger issue here: Why is the supposed “leader of young men” (Baker) still allowed to coach after putting his own players in harm’s way with that fight circle he sanctioned? Where’s the outrage on that situation? Has anybody sent round a petition on Baker? The devil hisself (Bobby Knight) couldn’t have gotten away with that one.