Yeah, Right, Whatever

I'm not an expert when it comes to basketball... I know there are 5 players per team on the court at any one time, there is a free throw line and 3 point line, you have to bounce the ball a lot, and I stink at it. Is there anything I missed?

Oh, yeah... they have these things called technical fouls. According to Wikipedia, a T is "an infraction of the rules concerning unsportsmanlike non-contact behaviour." (A good example is Bobby Knight and his chair-tossing.)

So... why in the world would I, Little Miss Anti-Basketball, bring up technical fouls? Well, HDD sent me a link to a story... and I couldn't believe it. But... since it had to do with officiating, I gave it a second look. (Sorry, Dad... you're the only ref I usually trust... some are good... many are... not.)

COACH WHO EARNED HIS COURTESY CAR

And earned the right to run over a certain Conference USA officiating crew with it: Houston's Tom Penders. You probably heard that Penders drew a T last Saturday for having the gall to collapse on the sidelines during the Cougars' loss to UAB -- and that officials upheld the T even after they discovered that, gee, Penders wasn't lampooning a call, but was being wheeled out on a stretcher. Thankfully, Penders feels well enough now to laugh about the incident.

"It's a good thing I didn't die," he told the Houston Chronicle. "They [the Blazers] would have gotten two more free throws and possession."

I did a little more digging and found this:

Conference USA said yesterday that officials "exercised poor judgment" when they upheld a technical foul called on Houston coach Tom Penders after he collapsed Saturday during a game against UAB.
... Penders, 60, dropped to his knees, then fell face-down as UAB's Wen Mukubu drove to the basket and was fouled by Oliver Lafayette with 52 seconds left in the half and UAB leading 46-44. Officials called a technical foul on Penders, apparently thinking he was reacting to the foul call. But the game stopped, and the crowd hushed when Penders didn't get up.

The well-traveled Penders, who had stints at Columbia and Fordham, has cardiomyopathy, a congenital heart condition, and had a defibrillator implanted in his chest in 1997. Houston officials attributed the incident to Penders' heart condition and dehydration.

Officials refused to reverse the technical after Penders received medical attention, and UAB's Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson made both free throws.

Wow. I hadn't realized that passing out was unsportsmanlike conduct. Well, now we know. G*d forbid someone has something serious happen on the sideline... they might have to forfeit the game.

I'm glad that Conference USA is reviewing this and will send down some sort of sanctions. Maybe a little first aid training, while they're at it... that way the Zebras will know the difference between a temper tantrum and a heart attack.