Refree John Higgins told the Omaha World-Herald that he felt he and his officiating team had done a good in the Elite Eight game between Kentucky and North Carolina.
Higgins said he was surprised at all the harassment he received from disgruntled Kentucky fans and his job is “to be fair to both teams, be professional and demand sportsmanship.”
Here’s an excerpt:
“I knew the eyes and cameras would be on me because of the national exposure and situation,” Higgins said. “I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to quit because of this — it’s too much pressure, it’s too hard.’ We got through it, and I thought we did a good job. I’ve got seven months to think about next year.”
That was Higgins’ final game until next season. But there will be no vacation. He has a company to put back together.
Business at Weatherguard Inc., has become somewhat more normal since phone calls with a Kentucky area code were blocked. Little business got done last week after around 25,000 contacts were made through social media after Higgins officiated the Kentucky-North Carolina game, which the Wildcats lost by two points.
He’s still dealing with the fallout from those thousands of negative emails and phone calls and the reviews on Weatherguard’s Facebook page that dropped its rating from 4.8 to 1.2. It’s back up to 3.0, but that’s still not good when weighed against the competition, Higgins said.
He’s also got the unseen victims to take care of — his wife and family, some of whom wanted him to stop officiating after 28 years, and his employees. They were nervous and a little shaky, Higgins said, driving around the Omaha area in company trucks after everything they’d heard.
False reports were even filed with the Better Business Bureau, using names such as Adolph Rupp, the legendary former Kentucky coach, and Calipari John, a reversal of the current Kentucky coach’s name.
Higgins still isn’t sure exactly why the calls and emails started. Calipari did mention the officiating right away after the loss.
Higgins left that game thinking he and his two fellow officials had done a good job, but he said no one is ever perfect, and that includes officials, coaches and players.
That’s why he’s graded by his supervisors after every game. His performance has been good enough that he was given his eighth Final Four.
“My job is to be fair to both teams, be professional and demand sportsmanship,” he said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do as officials. That’s what I try to do every time I get out.”
