the nba as wwf?

no. not because they create larger than life characters. because they seem similarly scripted. did you see the block of lebron's three-pointer by dwight howard that was called a foul? in the days to come we will learn that the nba has admitted it was a bad call. it is something that will be in the referee's evaluation...blah, blah, blah. and we're all supposed to forget that a referee saw a foul that never occurred.

it is my feeling that until fans revolt by boycotting all things nba, the farce that is nba officiating, the farce that is fuzzy rules like ilgauskas taking three steps in the key to the basket and not getting called for travelling or the phantom foul by howard, (his sixth of the game,) will go on making fools of that very fan base.


have you ever officiated a basketball game? it is not as hard as you think. you're in there watching the action, watching the ball, seeing the movements and then there it is. hand to arm contact or whatever it is. you see it and you blow the whistle. it's not that difficult.

nba hoops is farcical to a great degree. whatever exactly is going on with the rules and the officiating is debatable. what is not debatable is the fact that something is happening that is not above board.


maybe the wwf's scripting is more obvious and everyone is in on it. maybe in the nba only the league and the refs are in on it, and the networks tacitly endorse the program by glossing over the most obvious examples of mischief and coloring the rest as respectable.

the rules and how games are called in the nba needs to be overhauled.

• after this year's finals the league should announce the dismissal of david stern and a plan to redefine several of its key rules.
• specifically as it affects the charging and blocking calls, the defender must be set in his position but he is also entitled to space. when collisions occur fault should be assigned to the player who invades the space of the other player and/or is the initiator of any contact.
• the rules should be the rules without respect for person.

none of this will happen because nba fans prefer to go on like wwf fans, thinking it's all real or thinking they are somehow cool for enjoying the ruse. this emperor has been decked out in the latest fashions of self delusion.