Lakers/Nuggets Game 2 Shows Why Zebra Poaching Isn't Always A Bad Thing

The team that really won yesterday’s game 2 matchup between L.A. and Denver doesn’t wear blue and white. Hell, they don’t even wear purple and gold.

The real victors yesterday wore black and white.

For far too long, we’ve allowed Zebras to be above criticism. If they make an idiot call that costs your team the game, then it's your teams fault that the game was within their opponent’s reach anyway. If a ref calls a sixth foul on a player, fouling him out, even if the latest foul call was made erroneously, it’s the player’s fault for having gotten up to five in the first place.

Enough.

When I say that the referees should be shot for their ineptitude yesterday, I don’t mean that as a figure of speech. They should literally be shot.

If you argue with a call the ref makes on court, regardless of how moronic the call may be, you’re liable to receive a technical foul. My question is, what’s the ref’s penalty for making the moronic call in the first place?

Even off the court, a player isn’t allowed to criticize a referee, lest he be fined for his blasphemy. So when do the refs get criticized for blowing games? In a bar? In a locker room? Amongst your buddies at home?

The answer is nowhere. They’re completely untouchable and that HAS to change.

Until it does, plays like the obvious flop on the part of Chauncey Billups that resulted in a foul call against Pau Gasol with 1:44 left on the clock in the fourth quarter and the Lakers already in the penalty will continue to happen and unfortunately, things only got worse from there.

The jump ball violation by JR which occurred shortly afterward happened to come during a very convenient time. Apparently, all of the Zebras temporarily lost their sight for that four second span in which he broke the circle prematurely. But don’t worry, they quickly regained their sight immediately afterward.

Unfortunately, the Zebras again lost their sight when Carmelo Anthony pushed Trevor Ariza to the floor after he gained control of the tip ball. When Ariza lost the ball because of the contact, the non-call that ensued basically put an end the game.

The truth of the matter is that the Denver Nuggets are an excellent basketball team and they are fully capable of beating the Lakers on any given night. My only problem as of now, is that they haven’t.

Yesterday wasn’t a win for them; it was proof of the faulty system that NBA officiating is built upon. Player/Coach accountability, zebra immunity.

For now, all we can do is hope that the Zebra’s incompetence hasn’t put an end to this series just yet.