Official(s) headache for Zags

Earlier this season I wrote that Gonzaga could not be put in the category of a major school, but was in fact the archetype midmajor – in the stream of an elite program starting with Dan Fitzgerald, Jeff Brown and each of his teammates.

The casing point was the game in Seattle against Missouri last year, with their referees. That was not bargaining from a position of a ‘major’ power. I have to wonder after watching the last few minutes of Thursday’s loss against the Tigers which conference did the officials Dick Cartmell, Mike Eggers and Randy Burkhart come from?

It isn’t that the Zags deserved to win; they certainly did not. Tired as they were and as badly as they played, I thought they would have won without the biased officiating in the last few minutes. I usually don’t see that style of refereeing until the WCC season.

The coaches don’t need to criticize Ronny Turiaf or any of the players for their shots. Just give them a fair playing floor, some rest and a reasonable schedule. It might be easier to understand if the coaches had played some major D-I basketball themselves.

James Allen

Spokane