Worst officiating call ever?
 

HOUSTON -- Conference USA said Monday that officials "exercised poor judgment" when they upheld a technical foul called on Houston coach Tom Penders after he collapsed Saturday during a game against UAB.

Penders passed out on the sideline late in the first half of Houston's 82-79 loss and was carried off the floor on a stretcher and given oxygen. He returned to coach the second half.

Penders dropped to his knees and then fell face-down as UAB's Wen Mukubu drove to the basket and was fouled by Oliver Lafayette with 52 seconds left in the half and UAB leading 46-44. Officials called a technical foul on Penders, apparently thinking he was reacting to the foul call. But the game stopped, and the crowd hushed when Penders didn't get up.

Penders, 60, has cardiomyopathy, a congenital heart condition, and had a defibrillator implanted in his chest in 1997. Houston officials attributed the incident to Penders' heart condition and dehydration.

Officials refused to reverse the technical after Penders received medical attention, and UAB's Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson made both free throws.

"Commissioner [Britton] Banowsky and I have reviewed the tape of the play in question, and it appears that the crew exercised poor judgment in sustaining the technical foul following the medical condition that arose for Coach Penders," C-USA assistant commissioner Chris Woolard said in a statement. "We have been in consultation this morning with Dale Kelley, our coordinator of officials, and appropriate action will be taken."

The conference will not release what sanctions, if any, it decides to impose, a spokesman said.

"I appreciate the conference office acting upon my request to review the matter and their willingness to hold officials accountable for their work," Houston athletic director Dave Maggard said.

Penders did not realize he had been called for a technical until after the game. When he found out, he said the call was "extremely poor judgment on the officials' part."

Only slightly worse than the Eric Crouch "Exorcist" non-call in 1999.

OMFG. Did they lift his wallet for the fine money, too?

1998.

Owned.

http://cjonline.com/images/111598/sptsksuochsledeLR.jpg

If it didn't get called, it must not have happened.

Touche.

Well, apparently it didn't happen in 1999.

ROFL

I'm suprised he still has a nose.....

I can't believe they didn't reverse the TF after they realized what had happened.

That's a pretty bad call. I was thinking this would be about the Iowa State Michigan State game to go to the Final 4 a few years back. ISU gets called for a charge, and MSU gets called for a blocking foul at the same time. Same guys. Probably cost ISU the game.

That's not even the best picture of it. There's another one out there where you can clearly see the ref right behind them. I swear his head rotated farther than what that pic shows.

Charge and block on the same play? :spock:

http://www.huskerpedia.com/images/grab.jpg
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/foo...ouch_ap_01.jpg
http://www.huskerpedia.com/images/twist2_si.jpg

That's pretty bad, but the worst to me has to be the '5th down' play against Missouri back in the 80's. Judgement calls can be debated as good or bad, but for an entire crew to give a team 5 downs is just inexcusable.

That's as bad as getting the coin flip wrong.

Colorado wins its only national championship (a bullshit "split" one anyways) because of the 5th down vs Mizzou

Nebraska wins the 1997 National title, after the "kicked ball" vs Mizzou

Heh.