Lets get serious…

I watched Duke beat UCONN last night. Obviously, so did everyone else.

Starting with ESPN’s own Dana O’Neil, and her article ‘Beautifully Ugly‘, every blogger and their wannabe blogger moms got online today and wrote headlines like ‘Unathletic Duke Finds A Way’, ‘Duke Beats UCONN in the Trenches’, and so on. You guys know the formula for titling sports articles these days.

People keep trying to define the reason that Duke, despite being titled as unathletic and soft, continues to win. Stanley Robinson in a postgame interview stated, “We were more athletic than they were. They were just smarter.” I totally agree.

Duke might complain to the AP that they are tired of being questioned about their toughness but in actuality that stereotype is one of their greatest advantages. Have any of you readers played on a sports team? It makes no difference at what level. Before a game did the referees call the team captains over for a chat? As a captain of my high school basketball team I was called over for plenty of these meetings. Players shake hands, wish each other good luck and then the referees lay out the guidelines for the game.  No one is perfect. Even the ‘objective’ officials can be biased. If they don’t favor a particular player or team they like,  you can be sure they have a preference to certain playing styles. The distributing guard, the finesse swing man, the overpowering big; it is clear that throughout the NCAA one player’s best move one night might be illegal the next.

This might sound foreign to some people but the referees do discuss the teams they are about to officiate and points they want to emphasize while out on the court. They look at the types of the teams and the trends around the country and come up with their own game plan in their best effort to make the game fair. A very noble objective, I have no doubt in my mind that the officials are trying to do their best to make the game even. BUT in actuality these very attempts to make the contest fair are giving certain teams handicaps.

Let us critique the calls in the game in question. Duke has the reputation of being softer than other teams. UCONN has the reputation of being an aggressive defensive and rebounding team. If you are an ESPN subscriber you have access to watch the entire game via ESPN360’s replay archive. Pay attention to the defense Jerome Dyson plays on John Scheyer every time the two are matched up. Dyson does a textbook job of defending the ball; picking the ball up at half court, staying in front of his man, and coming over the top of the ball screens (prevents ball handler from shooting an uncontested shot). Dyson has been labeled one of the toughest defenders in the country and has a reputation of being a hard-nosed ballhawk. Scheyer, in a word, soft. I beg you to watch the game again and look at the number of times Scheyer dribbles the ball into Dyson knocking him backwards flailing his arms to stay on his feet OR just using his off hand he pushes off to create space. No call. Why? Scheyer, although having blatantly just committed a foul, gets away with it because if theses fouls were called, Duke, who only has three guards on their roster would be forced to sit their best ball handler and overall guard. While these no-calls seem inconsequential, how well would Duke run the floor with their two best players on the bench with foul trouble?

This all comes back to Duke being stereotyped as a soft team. While the refs are keeping the game ‘fair’ by trying to keep Duke’s starters on the court, it negates the depth of bench that UCONN has. The list goes on.

The life bans imposed on four premier league referees in Tanzania for corruption is reduced after an appeal…. From BBC News. Full story

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The referees are as followed dilan maya and sonny

This fall there has been a wave of poor officiating decisions in the sports world.  Now, refs are always going to be criticized.  Much like offensive linemen, you expect them to do their jobs and only notice them when they fail and give up a sack or make a bad call.

SEC officials have been in hot water all season after a number of questionable personal fouls were called, some of which affected the outcome of games.  One crew was even suspended after one of these calls.  There have also been questions raised about the fact that the SEC replay booths do not have high definition televisions, which is frankly shocking since it’s hard to buy TVs that aren’t high def these days. But the poor calls in college are not limited to football.

A study co-authored by an Indiana University professor found statistical evidence of bias in referees in college basketball.  The chances of the away team getting a foul called on them are 7% higher than the home team’s chances.  Teams with the lead are more likely to get a foul called against them, and refs are way more likely (upwards of 60%) to call the net foul on a team that is at least three fouls behind their opponent.

And of course, most recently, there is the controversy surrounding the France vs. Ireland soccer match that took place earlier this week.  The game ended in a 1-1 tie, with France advancing on aggregate 2-1.  The controversy arose on France’s game tying goal, which came in the 105th minute, and was scored following not one, but two handballs by Thierry Henry.  Unfortunately for the Irish and their fans,  officials didn’t see either of the handballs and the goal was allowed.  The Football Association of Ireland has asked the game to replayed, and a decision will hopefully come soon.

Hopefully, as the year comes to a close, so does this period of heinous officiating. We can start off 2010 with some very cleanly reffed games during the BCS bowl games and get things off on the right foot.

Now you listen to me!

I’ve never been a fan of NBA ref Violet Palmer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because she’s the only female or that I think she Donaghys games — I just think she’s a horrible game-caller. Steve Nash seems to agree, as evidenced by him givin’ it to her like KoKo The Monkey last night. Fine Steve, you can you the call…you don’t have to cry about it.

UVA just played in Mike G’s (ok, the UOA’s) Wilmington 8s. Win/loss-wise, we had a rough weekend, but in the big picture, it was a good weekend for teaching, learning, and expanding what the team can do. I was happy with the results. If you haven’t heard, the tournament consisted of eight teams playing eight games, all of them observed. Active travel and up/down calls were made, immediate referral was used, and Mike pushed his proactive and clearly-in-control style on his observer recruits. Oh, and there were lots of hand signals, even in the parking lot.

A few weeks back, The Huddle put out an issue on Spirit of the Game, allowing a few high profile players to discuss their views on Spirit and its role in the sport. RSD posts and blog entries have continued to raise the subject, and while I’ve only got a few years’ worth of perspective on things, it seems to me that dialogue on the subject is both growing and diversifying at a greater rate than ever.

This shouldn’t be news to anyone, but the way our sport is governed on the field, even at the highest levels, is categorically different from most others. While a lot of people equate Spirit and sportsmanship, I don’t think it’s that simple. Sportsmanship, while critical to quality competition, does not define any sport. Spirit, on the other hand, is ingrained in the rules, and thereby the definition, of Ultimate. Without sportsmanship, basketball may be lame, but it’s still basketball. Without Spirit, Ultimate is inherently different.

There are obviously a lot of blurry lines here. As The Huddle put it, Spirit is a “Big Idea.” Whether or not Spirit even has a place in the game, and the pros and cons of the presumed alternative of a more mainstream form of rules management, is even bigger. For one, all it would take to make this conversation moot is a revision of the rules that removed the Spirit of the Game clause. Also, there are lots of teams at all levels, most of them filled with good natured people who in some way value Spirit, that bend and break rules to their advantage. After all, when every other team does it, it’s hard to compete without following suit.

So yeah, how we make sure that Ultimate’s rules are followed while allowing for high competition is a complex issue. Add in different people’s notions of legitimacy and marketability (and, more interesting to me but less discussed, whether these two things even matter), and the roles of observers, referees, and even in a world without Toad, the discussion can get pretty heated.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this, other than to say that it’s an issue that I think about a lot. On one hand, I get annoyed with random league players that take offense to any and all contact because I see such a reaction as an ignorance of what can sometimes come of trying really hard to win. At the same time, how maddening is it when people simple disregard the rules because there’s nobody there to stop them? It’s a thin line that we all know plenty about, and people are only going to keep talking about how to toe it.

For now, though, Ultimate is a pretty special sport because it puts at least some stock in the idealistic notion that people can successfully police themselves even when they have a stake in the outcome. I see a lot of value in that.

I’ve watched a bit of sports in my day, but I have to say this was the closest call I’ve seen in my life. It really could’ve gone either way, so I’m guessing the savvy, motivated crew of NBA refs had their money on Denver from the get-go. Hey, I’m not gonna fight it — any loss by a mediocre Eastern Conference team benefits the Raps.

Yeah, yeah. We see you.

Here’s something that might help in NBA refs regaining some credibility: According to the Orlando Sentinel, Dick Bavetta might be ready to call it a career when he’s finished leaving his mark on games this season. In case you missed it, the infamous Tim Donaghy said working with the 69-year-old Bavetta was “like pursuing a graduate degree in advanced game manipulation” in a tell-all that the league is currently trying to keep from being published. If Donaghy thinks you blow at calling games, then you really, really suck.

Donaghy claimed Bavetta has been the driving force behind several of the NBA’s most controversial games in recent years, including a pair that extended the Lakers’ playoff lives in elimination games against the Blazers and Kings in 2000 and 2002. However, perhaps the greatest of Donaghy’s revelations about Bavetta comes here (excerpt courtesy of Deadspin):

“Bavetta actually paid an American Airlines employee to watch all the games he worked and write down everything the TV commentators said about him. No matter how late the game was over, he’d wake her up for a full report. He loved the attention.”

That, of course, doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering Bavetta’s little display of stupidity and affection with fellow attention whore Charles Barkley at All-Star Weekend a few years back. Yeah, we see you guys…nobody cares.

Anyway, Bavetta calling it quits would certainly help. Can we get Steve Javie to hang ‘em up next?

Unless you live under a rock, or just don’t follow college football at all, you’ve heard something about the referees in the South Eastern Conference. If you haven’t, just ask Bobby Petrino, Lane Kiffin, or Urban Meyer, they have all had something to say, and heard from the SEC about speaking out about SEC Officials (FYI incase you didn’t know, its in the rulebook you cant publicly criticize officials). Urban Meyer, the latest of the three was fined $30,000 for his public tongue-lashing of the officials. This past month, there has been a couple of calls that you could say were questionable (what am I saying, even the refs after reviewing the play that night were going WTF?), but in my most humble of opinions mistakes will be made. Such a big deal was made out of these based on the fact that they were basically game changing calls on high profile games (except for Kiffin’s case… he was just made the wrong call and wanted an excuse for it that didn’t blame him). These calls, and the fact that they were on two back to back weeks caused the suspension of one SEC crews. I myself completely disagreed with the calls and was actually heated about it (I feel Florida is over rated and should have lost that game) and at one point felt that the refs in question should be fired, if not forced to resign. After putting some more time and thought into it (and reading a little into the response from the referees who made the call) I realized that asking them to hang up their stripes was a little over the top. Digging much deeper into it, I found that I really blame the SEC and the NCAA for how the referee setup works. First off, there should be no set of crews, there should only be pools of referees. I’m ok if you want to split it into 2 pools (veterans and novices) but there should not be a set crew of people who always work with each other. This gives too much for a crew to be paid off or for a crew to have favorite teams. Secondly, I don’t think there should be conference referees. The rules of college football are the same in California as they are in Alabama, so there’s no reason a referee from Washington should have any problem officiating a football game being played in Georgia. Now that I’ve given the SEC crew a little rope, lets see what they do with it now. With so many teams in the SEC controlling a shot at the national title, there’s no room for error. Its hard enough playing the game alone, much less someone calling a penalty that really isn’t there. I wish good luck to the teams, but even more to the refs. This looks like a lose-lose season to them.

A 10-Yard “Seriously?” flag: On the ownership of the Cleveland Browns. Newly-hired GM George Kokinis fired—and allegedly escorted from the building. Long-loyal Browns fans planning a sit-out at the start of the upcoming Monday Night game against the Ravens. A 30-year-old player announcing his retirement at the end of the season (my all-time favorite Raven, now Brown, Jamal Lewis). The release of 2 of the team’s few offensive weapons (Kellen Winslow, Jr. and Braylon Edwards), 1 before and 1 during the season. And let’s not forget the staph infections some of the players acquired the last few years. The progressive mismanagement by the ownership of this team is an insult to the Cleveland community, the fans, and the players. I know that Browns fans have no love for the Ravens or us Ravens fans, but I’m going to say this anyway: the Browns fans don’t deserve this treatment nor does the city of Cleveland. Here’s hoping that the muddled situation with the Browns clears; it certainly can’t get much murkier.

Image from bleacherreport.com

A 15-Yard “Get the fark outta here! ” flag: On Brett Favre, the most selfish player in the NFL today. In his quest for revenge on the team that he feels wronged him, Favre signed on with their division rivals, with not an ounce of concern for the Packer fans who spent hard-earned money for years to support him. While it is obvious that Favre can still perform, it is also obvious that he’s as much to blame for the Packers severing ties with him as anyone. Maybe the Packers were sick and tired of Favre’s annual “Will I Retire” or “Won’t I Retire” song and dance and decided to move on. This wasn’t completely a situation in which a team simply wanted to rid itself of an aging player; the Packers management also wanted to rid themselves of a drama king. Favre and the Vikings have beaten the Packers twice now, and ESPN has given Favre all the attention and airtime he could have ever dreamed of. I for one can’t wait for the playoffs so that we all can see the King of Drama dethroned.

And for the most egregious,

the Mike Carey* “Malice in his heart” ejection: Once again on NFL referees around the league this season. They seem hell-bent on making themselves known and that’s not a good thing. In Sunday’s Ravens/Broncos game, a ref, standing right behind Derrick Mason *missed* Broncos CB Alphonso Smith grab so much of Mason’s jersey that he almost took it off. As announcer Dan Dierdorf said on air, “If this was CSI, the police would find fibers from Derrick Mason’s jersey under Alphonso Smith’s fingernails.” No call on Smith for the blatanly egregious penalty, but of course there was a call on Mason for removing and throwing his helmet in frustration. Mason should not have removed his helmet on the field true enough, but the inconsistency in penalties called this season is in fact THAT frustrating.

*For the unfamiliar, NFL referee Mike Carey ejected the Ravens’ Terrell Suggs from a 2005 game vs the Detroit Lions. When asked about the ejection after the game, Carey said that Suggs had approached him with “malice in his heart.”

The last few lectures have covered algorithms for which the best reference remains the original research paper describing the algorithm. Here are the relevant pointers, collected. If I have forgotten to add a reference for a result recently covered in class, please notify me and I’ll update this post.

• The multi-pass exact median algorithm is due to Munro and Paterson.
• The approximate median algorithm for randomly ordered streams is due to Guha and McGregor.
• The quantiles algorithm is due to Greenwald and Khanna.
• The one-pass algorithm for empirical entropy is due to Chakrabarti, Cormode and McGregor.
• State-of-the-art results for spanner construction were obtained by Elkin.

For future work (including homework problems), do not be scared to dig into these papers, if you need to understand one of these algorithms at a deeper level than we managed to cover in class.

Turns out Donaghy isn't the only dirtbag amongst NBA refs

Remember Tim Donaghy, the NBA ref that was banished from the league and sent to jail for betting on games? Well, when he wasn’t busy getting beaten up, he was writing a book that exposed his former co-workers for the massive fraud they too are. His tell-all, “Blowing the Whistle”, was set to be published next month before the NBA threatened to sue. Nevertheless, the P.I.s at Deadspin got an advanced copy of the book and published some excerpts yesterday.

Included in Donaghy’s book are accounts of how NBA refs took bets to see who would be the first to call a foul, with the first having to tip the ballboy, who doubled as their locker room attendant. That, he says, often led to games going two or three minutes off the tip without a whistle, since nobody wanted to pay up. Yeah, that makes sense, you know, because the games are actually about the referees, not the players (Actually they’re not. Note to NBA refs: You’re nobody.) He also talks of how they’d team up to call technical fouls on the league’s “bad boys” for the slightest show of protest, and gives an account of how they all agreed to screw over Allen Iverson in a 2007 game because A.I. said he thought Steve Javie (a fellow ref) had it in for him when Donaghy admitted he actually did.

The most interesting excerpts have to do with everyone’s favourite old man, Dick Bavetta. On the hilarious side, he claims Bavetta is so obsessed with hearing his name on TV that he hired someone to take note of every mention and calls her after each game for a recap. On the other hand, Donaghy claims working with Bavetta was “like pursuing a graduate degree in advanced game manipulation”. He gives a few examples of Bavetta handing a couple key playoff games to the Lakers, namely Game 7 of the 2000 Western Finals against the Blazers and Game 6 of the 2002 Western Finals against the Kings. According to Donaghy, before the latter, Bavetta said, “If we give the benefit of the calls to the team that’s down in the series, nobody’s going to complain. The series will be even at three apiece, and then the better team can win Game 7.”

Anyway, plenty more excerpts in Deadspin’s story, so check it out. And I thought MLB umpires were bums…

Sorry i’ve been out of it this week. I’ve been trying to keep up with my studies so i’m a little backed up on here.
I just thought i’d kick things off with one of the funnier videos i’ve seen in a while. Refs always seem overly dramatic as it is, so this dude takes it to ridiculous measures so it’s like an outrageous performance. I’m pretty sure he’s acting, but it’s still…graceful…

It reminds me of South Park from last night. It was similar except dealing with professional wrastlers. Silly shit…

Peace, and unnecessarily dramatic love.

The Tanzania Football Federation bans four premier league referees for life after finding them guilty of corruption…. From BBC News. Full story

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Things have been getting really weird in the NBA preseason already. With this confusing stuff going on with this NBA lockout and all that with replacement refs and stuff, the coaches are really making a scene and all of this. Seriously!

We got all sorts of coaches getting fined for criticizing referees. It’s just crazy! Recently, Stan Van Gundy has been fined $35,000 for his criticizing. Van Gundy made his comments about the refs, and the NBA slaps him with a fine. It’s really getting weird, I swear.

And then here we are with Larry Brown, getting fined $60,000 for his scuffle with the refs! Man, what the hell is going on here! Brown was being very stupid in the preseason game, and was ejected during the freaking third quarter. What’s the big idea? Just let the calls go.

Next, we get Grizzlies’ Lionel Hollins fined $25,000 for his comments. But then Hollins, in which I think it’s an excuse, says he didn’t really mean the comments because he didn’t like how Memphis was playing. Wow.

So note to all the NBA players and coaches, don’t say anything negative about the refs. Or money is going to be the problem. Getting slapped with a fine isn’t the answer. So all I can say is this: Just chill.