Pilots vs. BYU Saturday @ 7:30 – TV on ESPNU

writerpilot wrote:
3) Not going to defend Tanner, as he deserved to get thrown out after throwing a punch. However, the incident personified the typical WCC officiating response of allowing things to get way out of hand before taking action. "Oh look those guys are throwing elbows going for the ball...Now they are on the ground throwing punches...now there are a bunch of guys piling on top of them...hmm the benches have cleared and the coach is having to hold the Portland guy back...I suppose I should probably blow my whistle now."

I was waiting for someone to blame the officials. They won't mind; they get blamed all the time for other people's mistakes. What I saw was one guy blow the whistle for the foul at the beginning, then the crew come in quickly to try to calm things down because they saw a bunch of guys coming together, then they "allowed" a player to misbehave. It actually looked like things were actually settling down until Riley decided he wasn't done.

In the end the players make the choices.

PurpleGeezer wrote: Next summer I don't want to see pictures of them rolling tractor tires. They don't keep stats for that. How about we see shots of players taking 2,000 shots a day?

Agreed! More substance and progress!

I know this might be an unpopular thing to say... But, I think it is a testament to the level of interest of BYU fans and of other WCC schools fans that BYU away games aren't anywhere near sellouts at schools other than Gonzaga and St. Mary's. Regardless of the fact that UP fans were outnumbered (always going to be the case... 3,200 vs 32,000 you do the math on Alumni), there were only 3,000-ish fans period.

Can't blame the Blazers for playing the Clippers at the same time either.

In regards to the BYU-dubbed "Rileygate:" I think a T should have been awarded to whomever the BYU player was in addition to Tanner's ejection, because they were both talking smack to each other. Something must have been said to provoke such action. As someone who has refereed more violent sports before... Fights usually aren't one-sided affairs.

I'm done talking about that now... It's done.

Re Tanner Riley:

@CoachReveno wrote:Altercation in game was correctly ruled a fight by officials invoking 1 gm suspension. Program, University, WCC evaluating proper response.

Sounds like there could be more disciplinary reaction coming?

Watching the replay, did anyone else notice Tanner's response to Rev when trying to calm him down? I hope Rev doesn't let that just go by, especially from a junior.

Does anyone have an update on what UP's position will be regarding Tanner and his future for the season?
I dont condone Tanners actions, he should have had the sense to handle the situation differently but after watching the replay and taking a look on the BYU board to their reaction one thing should be noted.
When Tanner knocked the ball away from Zylstra he was slapped across the face by the opposing player. It happened in front of the sideline referee but there was no call. At the least one can argue that he wasnt unprovoked. If the ref had made a call after Tanner was hit then I wonder if this situation was preventable?
I cant help but think that if Tanner would have just walked off the court, taken his ejection in stride and NOT had said to Rev what he did, then UP might just endure the one game suspension and leave it at that.
Now in taking everything in context what will the schools position be?

With that said I hope the coach, AD, and administration takes a look at the tape and sees what Zylstra did and realize that like most altercations there are two sides to every story.

Section 7. Suspensions for Fighting
Art. 1. Any team member or bench personnel who participates in a fight (regardless of whether he or she is a player at the time) shall be assessed a flagrant 2 technical foul. No free throws shall be attempted by either team when there are double flagrant fouls that are offsetting.
Art. 2. The first time an individual participates in a fight during the season (including exhibition games), the individual shall be suspended from participating in the team’s next regular-season game (not an exhibition contest), including tournament competition.
Art. 3. When an individual participates in a second fight during the same season, that individual shall be suspended for the remainder of the season, including tournament competition.

Considering the imperative "shall" is used and it was mostly rolling around and no actual punch was thrown, I doubt it goes beyond that. I remember many years ago a player got put out for the season by a punch to the eye and it didn't go beyond that.

PurpleGeezer wrote:Considering the imperative "shall" is used and it was mostly rolling around and no actual punch was thrown, I doubt it goes beyond that. I remember many years ago a player got put out for the season by a punch to the eye and it didn't go beyond that.

For the "fight", I would agree. For the behavior post-fight, I am thinking bigger penalties to come. And given Tanner's arc during the year, going from a starter, to getting in with 0.2 seconds left against USF, I wonder where he is mentally regarding his status on the team.

I'd like to think the process will involve as much teaching as punishment. It's been a tough year for the kid. I'm not sure we are at the stage of giving up on him.

But he is going to do some modification to be any good for the team.