Stu Jackson: Refereeing "Mistakes Were Made"

It's no secret that the NBA has a problem with its officials. Actually, the NFL does, too, but people love that sport too much for it to matter.

Or maybe the difference is that, without any real replay safety net, the NBA refs' authority is absolute. Their snap judgments become law, and there's very little anyone can do about it. But sometimes, all those hurt by their actions get a small moral victory. On Wednesday, the boys in stripes robbed the Sixers of several precious end-game seconds; they went on to lose to the Bulls by a single free throw. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Stu Jackson called Billy Hunter the following day...to semi-apologize:

I had a nice conversation with Stu Jackson, and we were right," King said last night before the Sixers' game against Utah. "At least they acknowledged that mistakes were made, and that's all you want. You want them to acknowledge that."

Of course, this didn't change anything, and plenty of times these screw-ups don't get acknowledged. So if anything, this seems like a well-timed political move that us mere mortals can't understand.

Also, there's a big difference between a game marred by bias, and one decided by a single mistake. Namely, teams have no excuse for things even getting to that point.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-16-2007 @ 2:35PM

John said...

Stu Jackson says mistakes were made. He's absolutely correct; and the biggest one of his life was suspending Stoudemire from tonights game.
His boss, Stern, didn'thave the gonads to do it himself & take the heat so he had Jackson do it.
Stu Jackson should be fored from having any affiliation with the NBA.
Who knows, Jackson & Stern may (probably do) have big money bets (Vegas) on the Spurs winning the series.
Either way the suspension of Mr. Stoudemire was totally uncalled for & Jackson should be ashamed of himself; he's nothing but a lap-dog for Stern. Both men need to leave the NBA because they're unfit to be in charge.

5-16-2007 @ 3:43PM

My comment has nothing to do with 3/17/artice above.
I, John, just thought it justified to mention what a disgrace Stu Jackson is to the NBA (& how he is/was unfair to the Suns).

5-16-2007 @ 3:51PM

Transitory9 said...

AOL Sports has no customer service report whatsoever so don't waste your time registering with this site.
My name (user ID) is supposed to appear as Transitory9 NOT John as in the 2 previous comments by me regerding Stu Jackson.
They're (AOL) incapable of fixing this so I've asked them to unsubscibe me & they can't even do that.
I guess I''have to take legal action against AOL.

5-30-2007 @ 7:26PM

dwight butler said...

Stoudemire was suspended so Stu jackson ad david stern could help the Spurs get to the finals. They are now cheating for the spurs to beat Utah. They say hey had to suspend Stoudemire because of the rules, but rasheed wallace of the detroit pistons breaks the "no taunt rule" every night, but the officials are afraid of Rasheed.