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A women’s college basketball game between Hartford and UMBC featured perhaps the most ridiculous call ever made by an official. But it’s not what you think.
In the fourth quarter, after a Hartford player missed a three-pointer, the two teams struggled to secure the rebound and several players tumbled to the ground. The referee closest to the Hartford bench decided to call a travel on UMBC and awarded the Hawks the ball. Pretty standard stuff, still.
Except for the fact that the ref who called the travel didn’t do the usual circular hand movement to show the call. Instead, he decided to randomly break out into a rubber leg dance to signify the violation.
I have played and watched basketball for many years, along with having officiated some games here and there. While I’m certainly no expert, I can say that I’ve never once seen a referee call a travel in that way, and the game announcers appear to be just as baffled by it as I was.
The only thing I can think of is that the official was attempting to show that the UMBC player went to the ground with the ball in her hands which caused the travel, but there are about 10,000 other ways to signify that.
Regardless, I can say with confidence that it is the most flexible travel call in the history of basketball.
(Via Campus Rush)
