Indiana fans remain unhinged about their loss on Wednesday night. They're now certain that Larry Scirotto is rotten, evil, and corrupt and want him fired. Over 700 have already signed.
https://www.change.org/p/fire-ncaa-referee-larry-scirotto?source_location=petitions_browse
The petition's author uses, as evidence, the fact that Scirotto "was removed from his role as Chief of Police of the City of Fort Lauderdale in March of 2022. Mr. Scirotto was fired after an investigation for racial discrimination and discriminatory hiring practices...his track record proves he doesn’t uphold the values of equity and consistent decision making regarding race. This is in direct conflict with the values the NCAA upholds and promotes...If the NCAA values equity, it should terminate Larry Scirotto."
This implies that Scirotto is some racist white cop, playing out his biases and vendettas as a supposedly-objective arbiter of basketball games. Of course you can't have a racist (even if only alleged) white cop officiating basketball games!
A cursory news search, however, disputes this. Scirotto himself is mixed-race (white mother and Black father), was apparently hired by Fort Lauderdale to help with its diversity efforts, and was fired after complaints by four officers who believed they had been passed over for promotions in favor of minority candidates. I don't know anything about the merits of their case or how Ft. Lauderdale's promotion process works, but of the 15 members Scirotto promoted in his eight months as chief, nine were white. The NAACP stands by Scirotto.
The original petitioner doesn't mention an alleged Northwestern affiliation. But some of the petition's signers echoed the "Northwestern alum bias" point, which they no doubt discovered via the Indiana message boards. "He should have automatically excuse [sic.] himself from any game where he might have a conflict of interest." "How is he officiating games of his alma mater?" And of course, the obligatory, "**** this guy."
As a graduate of a 10-week certificate program at the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, Larry Scirotto is about as much of a Northwestern alum as I am a University of Illinois alum. I've earned about 20 certificates (none granting actual degree credit) from University of Illinois' Fire Service Institute; I took most of those classes in Chicago, a handful in the suburbs, and only one in Champaign. Similarly, Northwestern "hosts" these courses all over the country. There are 15 upcoming courses listed...in Arizona, in Texas, in Maryland, in Pennsylvania (which, I assume, is where Scirotto took his courses, since he was a Pittsburgh cop). One in Lake Zurich, one in Carol Stream, and one in Moline. None in Evanston at all.
As fans, we tend to be biased towards our own viewpoint, at least on close calls that could go either way. I don't think Boo's final shot was even a close call...he lowered his shoulder but didn't extend his arm, and Tre Galloway was already losing his footing before contact was made. Of course, an Indiana fan would see it the other way.
When the evidence is clear, we usually admit that we're wrong. Only the most rabid IU fan would say "TJD didn't goaltend!", and that bad non-call led to a transition three, so a five-point swing. Similarly, I think Boo got away with one on the non-called travel that led to the double-technical, which led to a four-point swing in itself (although I thought Boo was fouled on that drive, which caused him to travel...and that the officials either didn't see either, or chose to ignore both). So these two non-calls that our respective teams "got away with" netted Indiana 1 point overall, in a game that Northwestern won by 2.
Regardless, trying to get Scirotto fired is pretty petty, especially since it seems as if, unlike most college officials, his livelihood comes from officiating since his Ft. Lauderdale firing. Not "Death-threats-against-Chris-Coyte-after-Benny-Snell's-ejection" petty, but petty nonetheless.
https://www.change.org/p/fire-ncaa-referee-larry-scirotto?source_location=petitions_browse
The petition's author uses, as evidence, the fact that Scirotto "was removed from his role as Chief of Police of the City of Fort Lauderdale in March of 2022. Mr. Scirotto was fired after an investigation for racial discrimination and discriminatory hiring practices...his track record proves he doesn’t uphold the values of equity and consistent decision making regarding race. This is in direct conflict with the values the NCAA upholds and promotes...If the NCAA values equity, it should terminate Larry Scirotto."
This implies that Scirotto is some racist white cop, playing out his biases and vendettas as a supposedly-objective arbiter of basketball games. Of course you can't have a racist (even if only alleged) white cop officiating basketball games!
A cursory news search, however, disputes this. Scirotto himself is mixed-race (white mother and Black father), was apparently hired by Fort Lauderdale to help with its diversity efforts, and was fired after complaints by four officers who believed they had been passed over for promotions in favor of minority candidates. I don't know anything about the merits of their case or how Ft. Lauderdale's promotion process works, but of the 15 members Scirotto promoted in his eight months as chief, nine were white. The NAACP stands by Scirotto.
The original petitioner doesn't mention an alleged Northwestern affiliation. But some of the petition's signers echoed the "Northwestern alum bias" point, which they no doubt discovered via the Indiana message boards. "He should have automatically excuse [sic.] himself from any game where he might have a conflict of interest." "How is he officiating games of his alma mater?" And of course, the obligatory, "**** this guy."
As a graduate of a 10-week certificate program at the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, Larry Scirotto is about as much of a Northwestern alum as I am a University of Illinois alum. I've earned about 20 certificates (none granting actual degree credit) from University of Illinois' Fire Service Institute; I took most of those classes in Chicago, a handful in the suburbs, and only one in Champaign. Similarly, Northwestern "hosts" these courses all over the country. There are 15 upcoming courses listed...in Arizona, in Texas, in Maryland, in Pennsylvania (which, I assume, is where Scirotto took his courses, since he was a Pittsburgh cop). One in Lake Zurich, one in Carol Stream, and one in Moline. None in Evanston at all.
As fans, we tend to be biased towards our own viewpoint, at least on close calls that could go either way. I don't think Boo's final shot was even a close call...he lowered his shoulder but didn't extend his arm, and Tre Galloway was already losing his footing before contact was made. Of course, an Indiana fan would see it the other way.
When the evidence is clear, we usually admit that we're wrong. Only the most rabid IU fan would say "TJD didn't goaltend!", and that bad non-call led to a transition three, so a five-point swing. Similarly, I think Boo got away with one on the non-called travel that led to the double-technical, which led to a four-point swing in itself (although I thought Boo was fouled on that drive, which caused him to travel...and that the officials either didn't see either, or chose to ignore both). So these two non-calls that our respective teams "got away with" netted Indiana 1 point overall, in a game that Northwestern won by 2.
Regardless, trying to get Scirotto fired is pretty petty, especially since it seems as if, unlike most college officials, his livelihood comes from officiating since his Ft. Lauderdale firing. Not "Death-threats-against-Chris-Coyte-after-Benny-Snell's-ejection" petty, but petty nonetheless.
