Remember the Duke-IU game in the Final Four in '92? Ok, remember the
technical called by referee Tim Valentine? Ok, remember when Valentine threw
Knight out of a Big 10 game not too long ago? Illinois in '98? There is
bad blood between Knight and Valentine, but a columnist in Indiana takes it
further and suggests that Duke only won because Valentine shafted Indiana. Check
out this passage:
"Indiana is playing Duke, the defending national champion. Early on, it is Indiana playing like the champion en route to a 39-27 lead. At that point, the foul chart shows four on Indiana, nine on Duke. Indiana's Calbert Cheaney, Alan Henderson and Damon Bailey have yet to be called for a foul.
"Twelve minutes later, all three have four fouls and Duke is sailing along to victory. Over the game's final 28 minutes, 29 fouls are charged against Indiana, 11 on Duke.
Cheaney, Bailey, Henderson and Greg Graham all foul out. Duke winds up shooting 42 free throws to Indiana's 16."
There's probably no record other than videotape, but we're curious as to how
many of the 29 fouls charged to Indiana were called by Valentine. We're guessing not all 29 though.
As a rule, we don't really discuss officiating unless they blow a call at the end of a gam, like the Duke-UVa game a couple of years ago when the clock didn't start and Wojo ended up with foul shots to clinch. Anyway, while he's probably right about Knight and Valentine having a problem, it's a world class whine about the '91 game, so
check it out.