Yet Another Pet Peeve

Unless you are someone who has ever talked to me for more than 30 seconds, you probably don’t know that I can be a relatively opinionated individual.  And many of these opinions are about things that really bother me–pet peeves, if you will–so I figured I would start another running segment where I take the opportunity to get it out of my system.  I’m no psychiatrist, but writing this segment every once in a while may improve my life, whether or not anyone actually reads it.

I figured there was no better way to start this segment than by admitting my single biggest pet peeve in the world of sports–and it happened the other night to a team I love.

Today’s Pet Peeve: 
Giving up offensive rebounds on missed free throws

Admittedly, I have a tendency to speak in hyperbole, especially when talking about sports, but honestly, this is my biggest pet peeve in any sport (there is one in baseball that is close).  I know that I am not a basketball coach and that, in my playing days, I was a poor rebounder even for a skinny 2-guard, but all that I think I know about basketball leads me to believe that, barring a strange bounce off the rim or a ridiculous height or athletic advantage, the player with position should ALWAYS get the rebound.  And, on free throws, the actual defined rules of the game GRANT THE DEFENDER POSITION!  So, it has to be laziness or absent-mindedness or lack of effort, right?  Right?!?

THE SCENE:  Monday night…just shy of 9:00pm on the east coast…the beautiful city of Akron, Ohio…1 minute, 17 second to go in the second half…Akron Zips 61, Temple Owls 59…Temple’s press (weird thought) has forced multiple Akron turnovers over the last minute or so, in which the Owls are on a 12-2…(you all see what’s coming)…Temple’s Ryan Brooks fouls Akron 6th man, Steve McNees…he misses the first…misses the second, BUT Mike Bardo gets the offensive rebound, kicks it out, where Temple has to foul again.  Yada yada yada, Akron wins 67-65.

Granted, I was forced to watch the play-by-play on the computer (who doesn’t televise the great November Temple-Akron showdown?), so I didn’t actually see the play, but what are the chances that it took a crazy bounce OR that Mike Bardo (total game stats Monday night:  8 minutes played, 1 rebound) has a ridiculous height or athleticism advantage over a Temple big man?  Slim?  None?  Obviously, there’s no saying if Temple would have won the game had they grabbed that rebound, but anyone who knows anything about basketball knows that there is a huge difference between a 2-point deficit and a 4-point deficit in the final minute of a college game.  Infuriating!

Thanks for listening, friends…