Yes, Dave. That was the beauty of it. The calls and non-calls were consistent. I get irritated sometimes, mostly with NBA and not college, when what's a foul on one play is ignored on another. Over the course of a game, it may even out and maybe even favor the team that was screwed earlier. But what I've seen happen occasionally is Team A gets off to a good start and seems to be well on its way of taking control of the game. Then, as if to make sure that Team B isn't run out of the building, there's a period of 6-8 minutes when every time a Team A player touches an opponent, it's a foul. Team B becomes emboldened, because they know they can do this and that and not get called on it, and thus create turnovers that lead to easy baskets. Meanwhile, Team A becomes tentative, focusing more on the refs than doing their jobs. Within minutes, Team B, which was sluggish at the start, has a 15-point lead. By the time the calls start to even out, Team A has a 25-point hurdle to jump.
Once in a while, the Team A plays through the imbalance. And if they stick to doing their jobs, eventually the balance of calls will shift and Team A goes on to win the game or at least keep it close. More often, though, Team A becomes discombobulated and forgets to play basketball.
It doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen. I don't see it much at the college level.
_________________________
And when he cut open the shark, there was a leg.
- Missy, "Uncle Bob's Leg" (unedited)