Today's award goes to Basketball Ireland and its appeal committees for a decision so daft, it could only be Irish.
Limerick Sport Eagles beat Portlaoise Panthers 80-78 on 23 March.
But the second-tier game finished in controversial fashion, with the Eagles' winning points coming from free throws awarded on the final buzzer.
Portlaoise appealed on the grounds the free throws should not have been allowed as the clock had expired at the same time the foul was called.
They were initially told by the National League Committee (NLC) that the result would stand as a referee's decision cannot be retrospectively overturned.
However, they were given the option to appeal to the National Appeals Committee (NAC).
The NAC ruled the match should be replayed in its entirety, but Basketball Ireland has since said the option to appeal was "granted in error".
The NLC then ruled the fixture would not be replayed in full, but that the remaining 0.3 seconds should be played.
There's more at the link.
Replay less than a third of a second of the match??? Has Basketball Ireland gone quite insane? Did they, collectively or individually, kiss the Blarney Stone and get a completely incomprehensible gift of the gab out of it? Their decision strongly suggests something like that. Or did they imbibe rather too much of the uisce beatha, to the point that their decision was not so much about the spirit of the game as it was the spirits influencing the judges?
Imagine the man with the ball sneezes as the buzzer sounds. By the time his sneeze is over, so too will be the game!
How do you say "Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat" in Gaelic?
Peter
It's reasonable, if not rational. The injured party here is the NLC, which had its authority questioned, and which now gets the final say, restoring its bruised pride. That's Ireland.
ReplyDelete...the beggar, having only a single penny, was told by the grilled-meat vendor that the snack cost two pennies. The beggar found a crust of bread, which he then held above the grill long enough to infuse it with flavor. The vendor sued, claiming theft of product. The court agreed, and sentenced the beggar to drop his coin on the bench; and so the sound of the coin paid for the smell of the meat. Or so said the sometime priest.
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