Referee Kennedy caught on hot mic telling coaches he’s ‘stalling’ for TV
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By Ben Golliver
Referee Billy Kennedy was caught on a hot mic telling Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni that he was “stalling” the game so that the television broadcast could air more commercials.
The unusual sequence took place with 5:09 remaining in the fourth quarter with the Spurs leading 103-91 at the AT&T Center.
“You called a full and then you wanted a 20,” Kennedy explained to D’Antoni. “You didn’t have one. You called one in the third quarter. TV went to a 20, thought it was going to be a 20. So what I’m doing right now is I’m stalling, I’m stalling for commercial time. That’s why I’m doing this right now. I need your help. … I can’t let your teams go to the huddle, you know what I’m saying?”
The broadcast then cut to a commercial break.
The confusion apparently resulted from D’Antoni asking for his second 20-second timeout of the second half early in the fourth quarter. By NBA rules, each team is only allowed one 20-second timeout per half, though, and the Lakers had already used their 20-second timeout in the third quarter. As such, the Lakers were assessed a full timeout, but the television broadcast didn’t air the number of commercials befitting the longer break. Kennedy’s plan, then, was to stage the meeting with the coaches so that the broadcast could make up the extra ad time. Because the “stalling” wasn’t an official stoppage of play, Kennedy needed to make sure both D’Antoni and Popovich left their teams on the court and didn’t use the dead time strategizing in a sideline huddle.
The Spurs went on to win 108-105. Tony Parker finished with 24 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals. Manu Ginobili added 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Kobe Bryant finished with a game-high 27 points, five assists and four rebounds in a losing effort. The Spurs improved to 28-10; the Lakers dropped to 15-20.
It's not directly related to sports, but it's the same principle. There was a video posted on Youtube that used some footage from the Twilight movies to show how women are being treated. It was completely legal under the "fair use" clause of the copyright law. Lionsgate (the movie's parent company) demanded it be taken down. It was, but upon appeal they dropped the demand. Then it was taken down again, this time because the kid that put it together wouldn't let Lionsgate run ads over the top of it. They admitted it was perfectly legal usage, but they wanted the ad revenue and the kid wouldn't let them run ads over his video. Go figure. Like Deepthroat told Woodward and Bernstein, "follow the money."
So he was doing his job? Non-story.
I wouldn't be surprised if I heard a ref tell 2 coaches "hey, the network needs a game 6 from this series, so I'm going to swallow my whistle for a while and I need your help ... you know what I'm saying?"
Are you trying to tell me that the professional sports leagues tailor the game to suit the networks???? Are you sure that you have your facts correct??? That the 'integrity of the game' might be sacrificed just to please the monied interests???
As the other comments have said: Who cares? Is this news? Cha-ching.
@Rickapolis
Yes..you're just figuring this out? You cant be that naive.
@OwG Are you familiar with the word "sarcasm"?
cha-ching cha-ching...$$$$$ its all about the benjamins
Referee following network orders. How is this news?
In other news, who cares.