Double Dose #2

After seeing a lot of success with my first Double Dose Of Oops, I decided to do another for this week: ACC Tourney style.

The officials who worked the first game of the tourney, Jamie Lucky, Mike Eades, and Bernie Clinton, decided to take it upon themselves and wear "KH" stickers on their shoes after referee, Karl Hess, announced he would not be working any of the ACC Tourney (probably the best decision he's ever made).

Hess came under fire for ejecting Chris Corchiani and Tom Gugliotta from a Feb. 18 NC State game. He was later "reprimanded" by the ACC. As a result, Hess felt his working at the tourney would be a distraction to the teams so he chose to work at the Big East Tourney instead.

Okay, how can the ACC actually not know the refs were going to wear this sticker? From reading multiple articles, it seems as though the ACC didn't even know the refs were going to wear the stickers as they quickly told other refs to remove them. It's a good thing they did because the next game was NC State and Boston College, which would have reminded fans about what happened that day.

The second oops goes to the refs themselves. I think a Yahoo! Sports article put it best: "Solidarity is always appreciated, but refs are supposed to exude a sense of impartiality. Though Lucky, Eades and Clinton weren't working an NC State game, they've contributed to a sense that all refs are against State. The action isn't as bad as the implication." The article goes onto pose the question of what would happen if a professional sports ref pulled a stunt like that? I'm sure they would be punished accordingly, which is something the ACC seems to have a hard time doing!