Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin was fined $25,000 for criticizing SEC referees after a 2020 loss to Auburn. Undeterred, Kiffin posted a Twitter message asking where he could find 25,000 pennies to ship to the SEC office.
When told it would require 2.5 million pennies to pay the fine. Kiffin turned comic. "Iโve had a lot of criticism," he said. "Even my son said I need some math education, some tutoring."
Sometimes the humanity-versus-refs stuff becomes more absurd than funny. Two months ago, the Big 12 suspended Texas Tech radio announcers Brian Jensen and John Harris one game for describing officiating during the Tech-Iowa State with terms such as "horrendous" and "horrible" and declaring that the Big 12 "should be embarrassed."
Isnโt that a bit much?
On Tuesday, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff simply reprimanded Arizona womenโs basketball coach Adia Barnes for suggesting the Wildcats got "homered" in Sundayโs overtime loss to Oregon.
"We are going to get homered in different places and that was clearly going on today," Barnes said.
Kliavkoff got it right. No harm, no fine. But there's more to the story.
Against Arizona, Ducks coach Kelly Graves has exhibited an Eddie Haskell-type personality โ soft and smiling during interview sessions and something less than smiling in times of stress. On Monday, he said that an alleged exchange of unpleasantries between he and Barnes was "blown out of proportion."
Or not.
Over the last few days, Graves has become something of a villainous figure to those who follow Arizona womenโs basketball. Can you imagine the juice that will flow when the Ducks play at McKale Center on Feb. 4? It probably wonโt be any less than what greeted the most loathed/feared coaches to step inside McKale, from UCLAโs Walt Hazzard to Dukeโs Mike Krzyzewski.
Get your tickets now.
Graves blew his cool at McKale Center last January when the Ducks lost 57-41. He got a technical foul after stomping and shouting to excess. He again blew his stack in the rematch in Eugene, drawing another "T" in Arizonaโs 79-59 victory, the most lopsided defeat of his Oregon days.
You could almost feel this rivalry building, coming into full view during Sundayโs controversial finish in Eugene. At least itโs now in the open, which is a testament to what Barnes has built at Arizona. Before last yearโs sweep over the Ducks, Graves surely viewed Arizona as a pushover, going 9-0 against Barnes, winning by such ridiculous margins of 33 and 29.
A similar relationship-melting incident occurred against Oregon State coach Scott Rueck, whose Beavers became a Final Four program over the last decade. When Arizona finally won at OSUโs Gill Coliseum two years ago, TV cameras captured Rueck yelling at Arizonaโs Dominique McBryde.
"They play football," Rueck said after the game, complaining of Barnesโ aggressive defense. "Itโs an absolute bloodbath when you play them."
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes was reprimanded โ but not fined โ for remarks she made about the officiating.
Now itโs game on. Both Graves and Rueck have resisted Arizonaโs climb, which is to be expected. I believe all of this ruckus is good for Pac-12 womenโs basketball. Now there are truly feuding rivals โ and crowd appeal โ which the womenโs game has often lacked.
Pac-12 menโs basketball has forever been immersed in feuds, technical fouls, reprimands and ejections.
ASU basketball coach Bobby Hurley has been reprimanded by the Pac-12 for saying "the refs swallowed their whistles." Hurley was ejected from his first-ever ASU game at McKale Center, 2016, tossed for inappropriate behavior. Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak was ejected from a 2020 game at ASU and reprimanded later for saying "I want the proper calls made; that stuff was B.S."
That may be mild compared to what appears to be brewing between Barnes and Graves. Itโs approaching Lute vs. Tark territory. Donโt you love it?
By comparison, Arizona menโs basketball coach Tommy Lloyd has been Mr. Calm during his early days as a head coach. The odds against him getting a technical foul this season are, what, 100-to-1? Of course, he hasnโt yet coached in the bedlam of a tight finish in a UA-UCLA game, but his practical response was: "Why should I be letting the other team put up a couple points on the board for free?"
"Honestly, I really respect the officials," Lloyd said. "There are a lot of missed coaching assignments and a lot of missed playing assignments, too."
Most Tโs and most coach-vs.-coach showdowns are more fun than fine-worthy. Letโs hope that is what becomes of the Barnes-Graves dustup.
But you never know. In a bitter 1982 late-season loss at Purdue, referee Jim Bain's no-call in the final ticks preserved the Boilermakersโ 66-65 lead, Lute Olson was infuriated. On his postgame radio show, he encouraged Iowa fans to contact the Big Ten office to complain.
Ultimately, several anonymous, over-the-edge Iowa fans made death threats toward Bain. The Big Ten never scheduled Bain to work another Iowa game, even though he was selected to officiate five Final Fours in his career.
That was one time it went too far.
Forty years later, the T's, ejections and reprimands continue. The relationship between referees and coaches โ and coaches vs. coaches โ is never going to be lovey-dovey, but if inspires more interest in the game, what's wrong with that?
