CSNbbs

He went off about the officials big time...Jim Mora/Bobby Knight style.

Quote:Georgetown coach Craig Esherick will not be suspended for his long, trembling tirade against officials following the Hoyas' victory over West Virginia.

Georgetown visits Seton Hall on Tuesday, and Esherick said he expected to be suspended for that game after blasting the treatment of forward Mike Sweetney in Georgetown's 84-82 overtime win over West Virginia on Sunday.

In a long, loud rant -- with his voice quivering -- Esherick offered to "pay the way to Washington, D.C., of any official if they want to sit down and watch a game with me and (what) Mike Sweetney has to put up with.''

Esherick also said he'd "pay a referee to sit in the post'' and take the beating that Sweetney takes.

"See how his back likes it; see how his arms like it,'' Esherick said. "Just because Mike is 6-8, 260, doesn't mean he doesn't hurt when he gets fouled and doesn't mean it's not a foul. It is a foul, and Mike should go to the foul line 50 times if it's a foul.''

Sweetney got in quick foul trouble in recent games against Virginia and Duke, Georgetown's only two losses of the season.

I saw it. A little pissed at the sportscenter guys mocking him afterwards, but I don't expect anyone to see Esherick's point unless, like me, they've witnessed or listened to nearly every Hoyas game this season. Feel free to argue with me in the Georgetown forum if you disagree.

There's an article in the Washington Post, too.

But hey, we came back in OT to beat WV, hell yeah to that.

I actually admire it -- sticking up for his player.

I played in different basketball leagues in the past and was the tallest player on the court at times -- that caused me to be a focal point for the defense often, and resulting in my getting hacked non-stop in some games.

So, from firsthand experience, I can say that it's really frustrating to get fouled all game long with nothing called... but to get called the minute you touch another player. If you're the biggest guy out there, everything you do is magnified for the officials to see. But, you also get fouled so much that they tend to let a lot of it go -- and just call the major stuff. That was really frustrating for me, especially when I was playing church league games with very amateur refs.

I can only imagine that it has been frustrating for Sweetney, too. It will help him a lot to know that his coach has gone to bat for him....

-JD

thanks JD, I'm glad you see it :)