OPINION: MIAA misses chance to do right

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By Michael Ashford (Contact)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Congratulations, MIAA conference officials, you had the chance to right a wrong, to show some guts and reverse an injustice, and you cowered away from the challenge like a weak puppy.

Commissioner Jim Johnson’s decision not to act on what can only be described as a complete and utter screw-job is laughable, and yet, disturbing as well.

Of course, I am talking about the now-infamous, game-winning, half-court heave from Andrew Davison that should have given Emporia State a 69-66 victory over Northwest Missouri State last Thursday. It should have given the Hornets the victory, but it didn’t. That’s because referee Tom Svehla, after initially calling the shot good, overruled the call after video review.

ESU went on to lose in double overtime, but the game never should have gone past regulation.

The decision to overturn the call was a farce, a scam perpetrated by a referee who went beyond the rules of the game, and in doing so, robbed Emporia State of a win.

The conference’s rules on video replay — and I’m paraphrasing here — state that a referee is to go through three avenues in making a ruling on a shot attempt. First, if the clock and the shot both are visible on tape, the review will be determined by the time remaining. If that is not the case, then the red LED lights behind the backboard are to be used as a guide.

Lastly, if neither the clock nor the lights are visible with the shot on tape, the sound of the game horn must be used.

This is where Svehla detoured from the rules and roguishly created his own.

Despite reports that he was warned by another official that he could not do so, Svehla used a stopwatch on a cell phone to determine if time ran out before the shot.

I’ll repeat that.

He used a stopwatch on a cell phone.

A college basketball game cannot be decided by a stopwatch on a cell phone.

I’ve seen the video. While it appears Davison got the shot off before the horn sounds, I cannot say with absolute certainty that he did.

But that is precisely why the shot should have remained good.

The video evidence simply is not there to overturn the call. The video I saw did not present irrefutable proof that the shot was either before or after the horn sounded (the time and the lights are not visible on the tape). As the rules state, Davison’s shot, which was originally called good, should have stood.

Of course, there is another rule that applies here. Once the game officials leave the court, the outcome of the game is considered final.

Johnson, in a statement released Monday, said, “If the conference were to take the action to declare the game completed at the end of regulation, that would be doing exactly what the referee did — inappropriately setting aside the rules of the game.”

A clever non-decision.

Calling the game complete at the end of regulation would have fixed an outcome already botched by an official who blatantly disregarded the rules of the game.

In this instance, two wrongs make a right.

I’m sure the league was worried about setting a bad precedent had it overturned the result. But I ask this: Since when is correcting a known mistake a bad thing? The goal here should be about getting the call right, not blindly following the rules. Svehla broke the rules to start this mess, and the MIAA should break the rules again to correct it.

Political correctness be damned, it is inherently wrong to allow Svehla’s decision to stand.

I write this as someone who has no rooting interest in this team. My job goes on with or without an ESU victory in this situation. But everyone who was there that night, fans of both schools and other unbiased media professionals, as well as those who have seen the tape, know the truth.

Svehla cheated Emporia State.

The league even has admitted Svehla is blamable for this mess, as he has been suspended for the rest of the season.

The MIAA should have finished the job and given the Hornets the victory Davison provided with one of the more remarkable game-winning shots I’ve seen.

ESU will now take its plea to overturn the game to the NCAA.

“We understand the position the conference office has taken,” ESU athletic director Kent Weiser said in a release late Monday afternoon. “The MIAA does not have the authority to overturn this and that is why we will continue our appeal to the national level.”

It’s doubtful, but hopefully the NCAA has the decency to do what’s right, something Johnson and the MIAA know nothing about.