I can’t be the only one who’s noticed…

I’ll be the first to admit I’m no sports expert. But to demonstrate some school spirit (and because I was here over Christmas), I went to the Columbia men’s basketball game on January 17 and the Columbia women’s basketball game on January 20. Both home games (because I’m too lazy to travel) and both sets of refs (because I spent most of the game trying to figure out the rules) were extremely exciting for a newcomer, and I watched everything with interest.

For anyone unaware of Columbia basketball updates, the men’s team lost against Yale, and the women’s team won their game against Princeton. So at first glance, it seems pretty normal. What gets me though is the way it all went down. The men lost by only a few points, and it was extremely close. The amount of free throws given in the last 10 minutes of the second half (I’ve learned a lot in two games) was insane. With 40 seconds on the clock, they were still fouling left, right, and center. But I noticed that there were a few fouls throughout the game that seemed a little slanted.

I put it to you then: are the refs biased when it comes to Columbia home games?

Now, I know the audience is, trust me. As a gentle Englishwoman, I was shocked to see the prompts that come on the big screen for the fans to demolish the other team’s confidence, but I’ve been assured that’s par for the course at a home game. What seems more out of place is the free throws being given to Columbia when it seems more like the Columbia players fouled.

For anyone who was at the men’s game, I grant that this could just be my untrained eye and, of course, the refs know what they’re doing. There are THREE of them, of course. It would just be silly to think they don’t.

BUT for anyone at the women’s game, I know we all saw the mess that occurred in the second quarter (maybe?) when a Princeton player was left ON THE FLOOR underneath the right basket after the ball was stolen and dribbled across the court to the other basket. Trust me, I have no love for the opposing teams, but it did not go unnoticed that she was holding her head and took a good 30 seconds to get back up.

Out of the THREE refs, no one even noticed until the play was over! Now, I’m happy to give my head measurements for anyone who wants to make me a tinfoil hat, but that seems odd to me. I heard people right in the back where I was sitting (naturally) all ask and inquire about whether the player was okay. It felt like the entire stand had noticed this APART FROM THE THREE REFS!

So naturally, I think the clear option here is that the refs are blind, the play was foul, and PRINCETON NEEDS BETTER DEFENSE—THEY SUCK! (I think I’ve been infected by the sports buzz.) Obviously, there’s something going on between the refs to make sure Columbia doesn’t look too bad at these games.

Maybe it’s to keep the league scores somewhat high at Ivy v. Ivy games.

Maybe it’s to keep school spirit high at the first game of the semester.

Maybe it’s all a plot by Princeton to get me to question our brilliant home game refs who have never made a single bad call.

Either way, I’m grateful for the drama. It’s an interesting start to the semester, and it will definitely be encouraging me to attend more home games.

Tinfoil hat via Wikimedia Commons