NCAA tournament referees to review buzzer shots (ESPN

Thought this was interesting.

www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/25948083/n...-review-buzzer-shots

What's interesting is the motive. They already review them when it's close and when it can impact the outcome. As a result, reviewing shots at the halftime buzzer is pretty common, and the same goes with close shot-clock violation questions.

This seems to be directing the refs to review end-of-game shots that don't have an impact on the outcome. So when a kid sinks a half court prayer when his team is down 10, and a ruling on the floor stands, they'll now be looking at these (meaningless) situations. The motive: gambling. These shots can impact the spread.

To me, this is dumb, and I'd actually advocate for the opposite. Let the call on the floor stand, and let the gamblers deal with the risk. I've always thought betting with a spread on basketball is a dumb idea. As I've said a million times, a 20 point spread can be cut to single digits if a coach puts in his bench and both teams' scrubs screw it up. Likewise, a tight 2 point game can turn into a 10 point spread in the last minute if the winning team makes a couple shots and makes free throws.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. College basketball just has enough of an image problem right now without giving the impression that we're now catering to the desires of gamblers.

Oh good grief. I read this later in the evening yesterday, and I was POSITIVE I misread the article.

Nope. Reviewing a meaningless score, so gamblers don’t get screwed?

You are correct, NotO.....it’s a GAMBLE!!!!! Risky. Yee gawds.

(My cold must be leaving my body, allowing the crankiness to return!)

How ridiculous. That's why it's called gambling