Dave Libbey

[titanczar]

Sorry if this has been posted somewhere else. But Dave Libbey, one of the worst refs in the nation, has been hired by the WCC as Coordinator of Officials. Which means he will be in charge of hiring, evaluating, and firing all WCC refs.

So expect Libbey to hire refs who will kiss his ass and suck up to him, even though they wouldn't know a traveling violation.

The WCC also hired Violet Palmer as the WBB coordinator of officials. She is a terrible ref and I could care less that she is/was a NBA ref.

Once step forward, moving the WCC tourney to Vegas, two steps back, hiring two terrible refs as coordinators of officials.

[LIONS90045]

Thanks titanczar
Information most fans don't know about - at least me - I hope this doesn't impact our Championship season next year.

[titanczar]

Of course you guys would know much more than me, but the WCC refs are very good. I don't see the bad calls that always happen in the BW.

With Libbey in charge, I hope the good refs in the WCC don't get pushed out for his cronies.

[LIONS90045]

I'm in your corner Dave - thanks for posting! Info has been a bit slow lately.

[longtimelionfan]

Dave Libbey has a huge ego but he knows the rules and is a good referee overall, particularly for the visiting team. I've watched Dave referee games for 20+ years and he knows the game. He has refereed numerous Final Fours and more than one NCAA Championship Game. You don't get that honor by not knowing what you are doing and being so perceived on a national level. Dave's problem was his ego and the fact that he had a chip on his shoulder if he felt he was being bullied or talked backed to by a coach or player. If you are a visiting team you generally needn't worry about being "hometowned" down the stretch. In fact, Dave seemed to enjoy making the tough, unpopular call including late in the game. He also will search for a chance to give a technical foul if he gets too much "lip" from a coach or player. Dave usually warns first; but if the player or coach gets a warning they'd better heed it as there is a better than 50/50% chance that player or coach will soon get banged with a technical as Dave will be looking to T the warned up.

I actually think this is a good choice overall as Dave will have the same low tolerance for poor officiating and I see this as a move for the WCC to improve its perception/respect among the "insiders" around the nation and to get teams to come into the WCC arenas as non-WCC teams will fell less likely that they will be the victim of "homer" calls. In addition, it may also buy some respect from the NCAA Tourney Cmte at selection time for other WCC bubble teams.

[ironlions]

Some of the worst WCC officiating I saw was our home game against St. Mary's....that was just ugly. Even Libby would have been better than the ass hats refs that let some of the dirty tactics in that game pass.

Libby loves to draw attention to himself by making dramatic and mostly horrendous calls.

[mesapilot1]

I don't care for Libbey's officiating. Yes, he does know the rules but his ego decides many games in which a superior referee would allow the players decide it not the ref. It was great when he officiated and you were the visiting team because if there was any marginal calls he would go out of his way to call it for the visitors. He ruined the AZ vrs ASU game with less than 10 seconds left last year on TV(CBS or reg. FOX) and did not deny it after it showed his call was awful on replay's. He has made many,many mistakes through the years, I'm just hoping he will be a better administrator,sigh. I'm trying to remain positive that he is the one guy that has the guts to clean out the ref's that are not up to par.

The best thing about this guy is maybe he has enough contact's in the business that he can weed out the bad ref's and bring in new guys for the WCC this year.
Then there is the greatest benefit, he will not be on the court letting his ego and arrogance decide games during WCC Play.

A side note is that the Portland Coach Reveno twitter'ed that he thought he was a good hire when he found out. (But , if you were a coach would you really want to say anything close to bad about the head of ref's before the season even started???)

Sorry about being so negative, I'm waiting to find out how Davis and all your new talent is doing..........

I just couldn't resist on Libbey though, here's to hoping hes finally found his true calling in life

[oldestlion]

All any team has to do is be 10 points ahead of its opponent with 10 seconds left and they don't have to worry about any ref's decisions. We are particularly critical (and I have been described as being more vocal than most) because we lose so much and get the bad calls. There is no doubt that winning teams get the best calls or no calls. Watch our bad calls decrease when we win more games.

I agree about the St. Mary's game. Dave should review that tape as he evaluates potential refs for the upcoming season.

[titanczar]

Libbey is the classic case of somebody who moved up because of who he knows, not what he knows.

Do you know who evaluates the refs? Many of Libbey's friends and cronies. That is how he got those Final Four assignments.

Does anybody remember the 01 or 02 Final Four, Duke vs Maryland? One of the worst officiated games ever. Yep, Libbey was on that crew.