That’s Why We Like Bob Ryan

Here’s the maddening process. Three refs run to the scorer’s table to see a replay of the foul Boston’s Rajon Rondo put on the Bulls’ Brad Miller (pictured after the foul). They knew Rondo had fouled. They just didn’t know if it was flagrant. By this time Miller is bleeding from the mouth. If this were the NHL, it might be an easier decision. Is it two shots AND possession or just two shots? It’s called “just a foul, no intent, with Rondo just going for the ball,” even though replays show Rondo closing from the rear, is nowhere near the ball, the foul is basically what Dick the Bruiser would have called a “cross face,” and the ball out on Miller’s fingertips, on his extended arm, is about three feet from where Rondo could have reached. It’s not so much that it was a bad call. It’s the collusion that goes with it. Stu Jackson the guy in charge of such things for the league, would later say “there was no wind up…there was no follow through.”

Mark Wunderlich, Joe DeRosa and Sean Corbin, the refs on the scene who had worked a pretty poor game, don’t want to be the guy that pulls a win away from Celtics in Boston Garden. Stu Jackson and David Stern aren’t going to do anything but avoid saying “tough luck.” People are actually going to rationalize the call. They are going to tell you what you see.

Complete clowns like Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, appearing on Jim Rome’s “Rome Is Burning,” are “certain it is not a flagrant.” Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe is certain that it is. That’s why we like Bob Ryan, despite his spotty performances on PTI and ATH.

This is about the essence of what came out of the Tim Donaghy episode. Referees were supposed to be better, but many calls reside in that grey area, so everybody runs for cover. Except Bob Ryan.