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The Most Boring 41 Minutes In Sports
Published: 5/25/2009 3:34 PM
Last Modified: 5/25/2009 3:34 PM

Here's the way you watch an NBA playoff game, live.

You turn the set on with seven minutes to go in regulation.

Nothing that happens in the first 41 minutes matters in the least.

That's because the NBA officiating is the worst in the history of athletics. Clean blocks are considered grounds for banishment. Little pinkie brushes are whistled. Karate chops are ignored.

To foul out of a game, LeBron James would have to stomp, tackle, elbow, trip and gouge somebody. Nine times. If an opponent looks at him crossways, he gets two free throws.

Some NBA refs are old. Some of those who aren't are punks.

After watching a game or two, you might think that NBA players are the biggest complainers ever. But the truth is, they're right, the refs miss virtually every call.

Shielding zebras in all sports is unconstitutional.

This is America.

Why don't we have the right to question the incompetent?

Maybe if they had to meet the press, their calls would be better.

Who will win the NBA championship?

The team that gets the best calls from the zebras in the officiating zoo.






Reader Comments 12 Total
Ignatz (4 years ago)
All too true. Playoffs are similar to Stanley Cup finals minus skates, sticks and a puck. Pretty much anything goes.
wilson (4 years ago)
Can't the same be said for college basketball? You only need to watch the last 7 minutes...or maybe even the last 5.
dcood (4 years ago)
Did you ever think the refs in that league are 'instructed' by the league to keep people happy and that means not fouling out the likes of Kobe or LeBron. It's not as if this is some new revelation... Robert Parish walked everytime he touched the ball. How many times did Bird ever foul out?? Jordan got a free half-step...Nothing new here Pick.
LaffALot (4 years ago)
The David Stern conspiracy continues….

Prez Obama & the liberals are arguing over the usage of torture? Try watching the Nothing But Boring Basketball Association.
Gene M (4 years ago)
People . . . set your beer on the table, point your remote at the TV and punch the "power" button. The screen will go dark and silent. No more anguish. Soon the blood pressure returns to normal. Then, go to the simulcast and place a small wager. This advice may save your life. Thank me later.
But What Do I Know? (4 years ago)
Picker - Those comments will cost you two shots and possession.
The Picker (4 years ago)
Tattoo: Nice nickname, what happened, was Gilligan taken?

Wilson: It seems a little different in college, as what happens early can actually have something to do with the outcome. In the NBA playoffs, the rabid zebras have a way of seeming to balance the books. Kobe versus LeBron equals billions. The mood and point swings in college don't seem as huge do they?

Dcood: You're right, it's nothing new. But to see LeBron get two shots when a defender yells at him is a bit much.

BWDIK: That's funny. Please stay close.

Here's something of a pick: Denver has no chance, as its cheap shots have gone too far. Pushing and tripping Kobe is seedy. True, the LA Fakers are soft as mush, Gasol is a pastel Euro; but the refs will take over and put the Fakers in the mega-buck finals.
OutPickMyNose (4 years ago)
Nit Picker/Tattoo:

I take it your a fan of NBA refs?

Time to go back to the drawing board and come up with some new material.

Good arguments by the way on the last blog. Can't wait to see what you comment about next!
Lance-a-lot (4 years ago)
Deep thoughts, by Jack Handy.
tulsandn (4 years ago)
I get disappointed when I read stories and comments about the NBA from people who have never even been to a game live much less watched one on TV or even knows what it's like to play a game of basketball....

Sure the refs screw it up all too often, sure the game looks so easy that anyone could dunk & shoot threes' and play decent defense....

Over 20 years' ago when Bird & Magic played the game, the Tulsa World editor Bill Conners wrote a story about how the first 46 minutes meant nothing and all games should only last two(2) minutes....

Basketball is a great game that when played & coached properly those guys in the striped shirts can destroy with missed or ignored calls or even worse, called in favor for their friends or home town....Hence the term "home-cooking"....

Bad calls, injuries, stupidity are all things that you have to overcome and you don't see all that in SEVEN(7) minutes !!!!

My dad played basketball his entire life but I couldn't be around him during the playoffs because of his seriously assinine comments about the color of the game....He always called it "n-word(sic) ball"....

Basketball is a sport and if you don't like it, fine, be what you are and make your worthless comments....My dad did....and he drove me away....from him....
Gene M (4 years ago)
Tattoo, thank you.
The Picker (4 years ago)
Gene, you and Gilligan teaming up, who would have thought it.

Tulsa ndn: Nobody said basketball was a bad game. What I said was NBA officiating is making the pro game a travesty. Giving LeBron two shots with half a second left when the defender was trying to run out the door, that call could have had billions riding on it.
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Out Pick The Picker

The Picker began entertaining – and infuriating – sports fans in 1993. Each week during football season, he writes about his picks of college and NFL games in his Thursday Sports column. He's never afraid of sharing his opinions about the game and the personalities who play it. Readers have a chance to go against him each season in the Outpick the Picker contest. He welcomes the competition.

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