Don't blame Portland
By now you have probably heard about the fiasco with the floor markings at the women's national college basketball tournament. It happened right here at the Moda Center arena in little old Portland, where half of the Sweet 16 round of games are being played. The three-point line at one end of the court was off. They played several games before anyone noticed, and even one game with the line in the wrong place after they noticed. They say they'll have it fixed for tonight's Portland finale, USC vs. UConn. Winner goes to the Final Four.
You may be able to see in the photo that the arc on the left side of the court was closer to the basket than the one on the right. The one on the right was correct. The error was as much as nine inches, depending on where along the line you stood.
Fortunately for Portland, it wasn't the fault of anybody around here. The floors for all the nationals this year, men's and women's, were made and marked by Connor Sports, a company on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They've got the red faces today.
And if this incident gives Portland a bit of a bad name, it can't hold a candle to what happened in Spokane, where one of the women's teams, Utah, was foolishly assigned housing in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, which is modern-day Ku Klux Klan country. The team was racially harassed and had to move. Disgusting!
Then there was the referee who officiated half of a first-round game in North Carolina before it was revealed that she had an undisclosed conflict of interest, having graduated from one of the colleges that were playing. She was removed, and another ref called the rest of the game in her stead. The disqualified official had called an entire game involving her alma mater earlier in the session.
Leaving aside these blunders, the actual play in the women's tournament has been stronger than ever, and there's been a lot of excitement. The suits in the league offices need to do better, but the athletes are right where they should be. Portland has been lucky to host some of them.
I was going to ask how it that possible, but does anybody do anything right the first time anymore? I kept getting the wrong wiper blade from Amazon, 3 times in a row and couldn't get the right one, till they got the wrong one returned 3 times. And the wrong one was a different brand.
ReplyDeleteShould be some good games tonight and a fun final four next week. Freeman Williams, Portland State, had a lock on most points scored at Division 1 for decades, but Caitlin Clark will likely keep it for a long, long time now.
I was at the Friday games, but sitting too low to have a good perspective. I'm surprised no players, coaches, referees, etc. didn't notice. The differing distances between the three point line and the free throw circle are pretty significant. But, I suppose that one would just assume the court markings were correct, and not really look closely at them. As a high school referee, I have never looked closely at the three point arc, and that's over thousands of games.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet some smart player noticed. I remember the refs used to let Bill Bradley handle the balls before the game to see if they were properly inflated. And I think I remember LeBron James noticing in warmups that a rim was not level, off by a couple of degrees.
DeleteTurns out, it was a spectator up in the cheap seats: https://www.wweek.com/sports/2024/04/01/how-a-portland-divorce-lawyer-spotted-the-irregular-three-point-lines-on-the-moda-center-court/
DeleteI thought that Coure _ _ was a place for the rich and famous? At least that is what I have heard. I don’t make it a point to hang out in Idaho, though they do have a nice freeway through Boise.
ReplyDeleteCoeur d'Alene is a beautiful part of the world, and the views go all the way up the panhandle to Canada. Magical place. Except for the Aryan Nation gang, who rule the roost. They're bad news.
DeletePortland hosted the event. If the clowns in the facility could not or did not see the discrepancy, then they are part of the problem!
DeleteI’m sure the NCAA exerts total control over the game flooring. The venue probably has no say in what’s painted on it. That being the case, nobody on the venue staff is responsible for it meeting NCAA standards.
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