BY RODERICK BOONE
As I'm sitting at home authoring a story on the Hofstra men's lacrosse team's huge 8-7 OT win over then-No. 1 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, I had the UCLA-Cal game on. So I hear Brent Musburger and Steve Lavin screaming at the top of their lungs. I turn around and start watching the game and, seconds later, see two blown calls that allowed UCLA to pull off its second unbelievable win in a matter of days.
Josh Shipp's shot definitely went over the backboard. When it dropped in I was stunned and yelled out a "Wow!" I was not only shocked that it went in, but the fact it was allowed. I was having Anthony Carter flashbacks. Remember when he did something similar to that while playing for the Miami Heat in the 2000 playoffs against the Knicks? That was an illegal shot then and so was Shipp's.
On Thursday, the Bruins got the benefit of the doubt as well. I was watching that game live, too. Stanford's Lawrence Hill was whistled for a foul with 2.5 seconds left in regulation despite cleanly blocking a shot by Darren Collison. Collison made two free throws to tie the score and UCLA wound up winning in OT. You didn't need HD to see it (although it was spectacularly obvious in high def) was a clean block and a bad call.
So how do you explain UCLA getting favorable calls twice in three days? Is it March Madness, horrific officiating, or Lady Luck riding on the Bruins' shoulders? Or is a bit of all three of those things?
Gotta love March.