Rules are a funny beast. Any one rule can go years as part of a sport, be called multiple times a game, and never create controversy. But one close call involving it in a sport's marquee game or tournament can thrust it to the front of the league's conscience and lead to immediate and substantial change.
Think about goal-line technology in soccer. Did everyone in the world know it was needed? Of course. But it took two plays on the highest level - Thierry Henry's handball that kept Ireland out of the World Cup and England's goal against Germany that was waved off at the 2010 World Cup - before FIFA started finally acting on it. Sometimes, sports associations just need it literally waved in their faces.
This year's NCAA tournament has had that effect on charge or block calls in the lane. While it has long been arguably the most difficult judgment call to make in all of sports, it didn't decide enough games for it to get the attention it deserved.
But that has all changed this year. First there was the Aaron Craft charge call. With Iowa State up one and on the verge of a shocking upset of Ohio State, Will Clyburn of the Cyclones drove the lane. Craft shifted into place, but arguably wasn't set, and arguably wasn't outside of the under the rim arch that you cannot take a charge within. The call favored Craft, and the Buckeyes took possession. If the call had gone the other way, Clyburn would have gone to the line, and Craft may have never had the chance to win it with a buzzer-beating three.
Charges once again took center stage this weekend in the game between Michigan and Syracuse. With time running out and Michigan clinging to a two-point lead, the Orange's Brandon Triche drove the lane. Jordan Morgan shifted across the lane, and, according to the referee, just barely set himself in time to take the charge. The play all but sealed the game, and the Wolverines moved on to the championship game.
The most concerning part of these scenarios is that the calls are about as close to 50-50 as you can get. I've watched both over and over, in slow motion and in real time, and come away with a different opinion on the call each time. From one angle, Craft's foot looks to be clearly on the line, while from another it's much less conclusive. One replay shows Morgan well-set, but another seems to show his feet still moving. The fact that the referees get only one chance to see it in real time while watching other things as well makes it all but impossible.
So what can be done to fix this? Well, one suggestion is allowing referees to go to the monitor for calls in the final two minutes. These calls may have no more leverage than one with 10 minutes left, but they sure do feel that way. The issue here is that even with replay, these calls can be almost impossible to get right. Still, even if it's only conclusive one in 10 times, at least that's something.
The other option is to change the rule to either favor blocks or favor charges. The latter would create a lower-scoring, perimeter-scoring sport that would make every game feel like Wisconsin was playing. The former would lead to defenses almost being helpless to stop players driving, leading to either high-scoring, high-foul totals, or both. It'd be a fundamental change, but could achieve multiple goals of the NCAA.
Here at Rules of the Game, we always support taking the game as much out of the referee's judgment as possible. The officials in both games were put in impossible situations, and did their best. It's now up to the NCAA to remedy that.
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Ethan Sturm is a senior majoring in biopsychology. He can be reached at Ethan.Sturm@tufts.edu or @esturm90.
