WORST Officiated Game in the HISTORY of Sports

Sorry it took me so long to post this...I have been brooding since storming out of the United Center last Thursday night after watching that travesty put on display by the NBA.

That was the WORST officiated game in the HISTORY of sports...not just NBA or even pro sports, but I'm including Olympic boxing, Little League games, et al....WHY is NOBODY talking about this? The Bulls should have been up 30 in the 4th quarter if not for the PUTRID officiating that kept bringing Miami back into the game each time the Bulls stretched out to a double-digit lead and then that run of lucky off-balanced shots those guys were able to throw in wouldn't have mattered. Instead everyone is talking about how LeBron is all of sudden clutch and how he might be better than Michael Jordan...GIVE ME A BREAK!

It started with the flagrant foul call on LeBron by Boozer...Bosh must have been working with LeBron on his acting skills because that was terrible! Bulls were up 11, flagrant allows Miami to shoot 4 FTs in the possession scoring 3 points; Korver gets called for a travel, then Joakim is called (actually called on Taj originally) for a ticky tack foul on a rebound, Taj gets T-d up for arguing a call they actually reversed netting the Heat 3 more FTs...that's 7 FTs in two possessions over 39 seconds (Bulls would shoot 6 FTs for the entire quarter!). Following a layup by Derrick where he was fouled THREE times on his way to the basket without a call, LeBron gets the benefit of another call for two more FTs...that's NINE FTs for the Heat in 1:12 taking a Bulls 11-point lead back down to 5.

And then what might have been the "play of the game" for me...the one where you just absolutely KNEW the fix was in...right after the Heat called timeout following Brewer's "nail in the coffin" 3-pointer gave the Bulls their 12-point lead with 3:53 left, Brewer knocked the ball away from LeBron back to half court, both guys trying to get the ball and what??? Foul call on Brewer 45 feet from the basket with about 5 seconds left on the shot clock with BOTH guys laying on the ground...two FTs for LeBron since the Heat were already in the bonus.

Here's the final numbers to review:
LeBron - 2
Bosh - 1
Wade - 4
Anthony - 3
Bibby - 1

Rose - 5
Boozer - 4
Deng - 5
Noah - 4
Bogans - 3

That's the number of fouls called on each team's starters...pretty significant difference, wouldn't you say? That's why Deng couldn't guard LeBron in the 4th quarter (because every time he breathed on LeBron, he was called for a foul)...not a big deal? Well with Luol guarding LeBron pretty much exclusively in the 1st half, LeBron scored 11...he had 17 in the second half...many of which came with the skinnier 2-guard Ronnie Brewer trying to guard him.

What happened to home court advantage? The Bulls were called for 28 personal fouls while Miami was called for only 18 (10-foul difference for two great defensive teams). Miami shoots 33 FTs on the road; 12 more than the Bulls and the Bulls lost by 3 lousy points. I'm sorry, but that is RIDICULOUS! It wasn't like Miami was going inside either...they had a meager 22 points in the paint (that includes FTs as a result of fouls inside the paint).

I stand by my story from last week...the NBA and ESPN/ABC just has too much invested in the Miami Heat for them not to be in the Finals. You say Miami is a much smaller market than Chicago...I say look at the ratings...when Miami plays, people watch...most people are rooting hard against Miami, but they still watch and THAT, my friends is how the NBA, ESPN, ABC, etc. make their money. So as they say...the fix was in, were you? I sure wasn't!

I for one will NOT be watching the NBA Finals...it's going to be a FT shooting contest anyway which is SOOOO boring...David Stern better wake up and do something about this officiating BS because it is ruining the game! The NBA could be so much fun to watch...they have arguably the best athletes in the world and yet the way they call flops and arms flailing around as fouls, it just doesn't have any flow any more...that makes for more commercials (cha-ching!) but sure doesn't make it fun to watch for the fans.