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We all know that, for Penn State basketball, all publicity is good publicity as long as that publicity doesn't stem from, like, a player eating an armoire filled with speed and fighting the entire state of Ohio. That has kind of been the case lately (the publicity thing, not the eating an armoire full of speed thing) in regards to the bullshit foul call against Jordan Dickerson in Penn State's loss to Maryland over the weekend. You don't need to be reminded, but here's what happened:
Seriously! Look at that garbage! Under no circumstance is that a foul on Dickerson, because Maryland's warm body whose name I'm not even going to look up hooked his arm around Dickerson's, pulled him down and sold it as "this gargantuan human fell on me." If this was the NBA, he'd get a fine for such tomfoolery.
Anyway, Pat Chambers -- who has seen a lot of horrendous calls go against Penn State over the last four years that you can argue have costed him several wins -- decided to do everything in his power to get fined after the game when he criticized the officials. He got a lot of stuff in there, some of it was probably off base (for example, I don't believe in the concept of "getting calls" based on seniority or whether your team is on the road or at home like Chambers apparently does, but whatever) but one thing he said was absolutely true: the call against Dickerson swung the game for the Terrapins.
Here's Chambers' full angry quote:
Full Chambers quote on officiating pic.twitter.com/AUJcG353JY
— Nate Bauer (@NateBauerBWI) February 15, 2015
This led to some national attention, because let's face it, coaches aren't supposed to go off on refs like that, nor are they supposed to go off on refs like that when they coach at a school as bad as Penn State. But here's the thing, a lot of these people think Chambers was right! And some of these people -- mostly the ones whose names don't rhyme with "Ran Jock Itch" -- are really smart!
Good reasons behind rules disallowing coaches/players criticizing officials publicly: http://t.co/3sVG1a8rDH But, Pat Chambers was RIGHT.
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) February 15, 2015
Good for Penn State Hoops Coach Pat Chambers going after the officials..dirty little secret n NCAA hoops favoritism 2 established programs
— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) February 15, 2015
favoritism to "legendary" coaches.discrepancy n pay between leagues..ridiculous..used 2 tell Knight "stand up" guarantee 2 travels on opp
— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) February 15, 2015
Only way for Chambers to get even playing field is to make it public ..he works 2 hard to get jobbed..
— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) February 15, 2015
I applaud Pat Chambers for standing up for team and staff. I've watched enough games. #PennState is not treated same as other #B1G teams.
— Richard Scarcella (@nittanyrich) February 15, 2015
Wow. Who's the official who made this call? Needs to get to Pearle immediately. Pat Chambers honestly has a point. http://t.co/JqMWZAdvdd
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) February 15, 2015
College basketball officiating is horrid. RT @SInow Penn State coach Pat Chambers blasts officials after loss http://t.co/r5lALLLWnX
— Maria M. Cornelius (@mmcornelius) February 15, 2015
@NateBauerBWI @tsnmike It's no secret who I pull for, that was a brutal call. PSU has played SO many coon flip games. I like Pat a lot.
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) February 15, 2015
Blaming the officials after a loss is usually the sign of someone being so far in over their head that they can't accept blame for a loss, but Chambers does have a legitimate point here, one that is backed up by a lot of people who know what they're talking about. Including a Maryland alum in Scott Van Pelt (who to be fair, is an angel).
So, time for the bold part: What did you think about Pat Chambers' angry rant on Saturday night? Was he right? Wrong? Was this a good or a bad thing for the program? Would this have been an angrier rant if this happened against a school that is a rival of Penn State and not Maryland? Do you expect the officiating to change for the better or worse now?