EDITORIAL : BAD CALL, NCAA; WOMEN'S BASKETBALL DESERVES MORE RESPECT, BETTER OFFICIATING.THE National Collegiate Athletic Association National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Organization that administers U.S. intercollegiate athletics. It was formed in 1906 but did not acquire significant powers to enforce its rules until 1942. Headquartered at Indianapolis, Ind. admits it blew the call in the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. game Sunday night in Alabama, but it claims NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association rules prevent it from correcting the mistake. So the rules can be bad. The rules can be broken. But nothing can be done. To which we say, try this: Change the rules. Women's sports have progressed rapidly on all levels - except the official one. We say it's time for the NCAA to accord women athletes the same respect as men. The NCAA needs to rewrite its policies and get rid of the amateurish conditions that were present in the Alabama situation. The NCAA said Monday that referees in the Division I women's basketball tournament game between the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , and the University of Alabama The University of Alabama (also known as Alabama, UA or colloquially as 'Bama) is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship campus of the University of Alabama System. on Sunday made mistakes that cost the Bruins a second-round win. Specifically, they did not call an illegal inbounds in·bounds adj. 1. Basketball Involving putting the ball into play by passing it from out of bounds to a teammate on the court. 2. Sports Within the designated boundaries. pass or rule that the game clock, with 0.8 seconds remaining, started late. Those two bad calls enabled Alabama to score at the buzzer and win 75-74 over the Bruins. If ever there was a homer's call by the refs, it was this one. And that is a big problem. Adding to that home-court advantage was the timekeeper, 77-year-old Doc Blanchard, who has worked Alabama games for 50 years. Maybe he didn't start the clock on purpose? Because of farces like this in men's sports, tournament games were played in neutral cities with neutral officials in charge beginning in 1989. Officials argue that women's sports, although they have come a long way, would not draw the same large crowds if played in neutral cities. Perhaps that's true, although it's not been tested. But there is a simple solution that would make the game more fair and cost little extra. In championship playoff games, timekeepers and scorekeepers who make official decisions should be neutral. That is the rule change the NCAA should implement immediately, in the interest of fair play. |
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