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During the game between the Georgetown Hoyas and the Duke Blue Devils, in the 2K Empire Classic, quite a few people noticed that the game was lacking in the referee department. Be sure to read the recap and skim the comments of the game thread for important insights into the foul disparity. However, the observations about the blind zebras extended beyond just Hoyas supporters and reached sports fans all over.
Sure, some of these folks are Ewing-fans or Duke-haters, but it doesn’t make any of the tweets less true. When members of the national media echo your sentiments about what kept Georgetown from beating the number-one team, the loss stings a little less.
Of course, turnovers and rebounds might be the focus if we ignore that Georgetown’s minute-share was not optimal. However, calling phantom offensive fouls against top players clearly limited their playing time. Inopportune fouls killed momentum and hindered Ewing’s desired pace. Ewing was fully justified in his anger. We’re all justified in our anger.
Patrick Ewing damn near lost it on his own assistant pic.twitter.com/cPBbr0psbc
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) November 23, 2019
Here are some of the best tweets:
Anyone watching Georgetown Duke. Focus on the officials which will do anything to appease coach K. They are so intimidated by him they give him every call! Patrick Ewing should go after these refs @espn it happens all the time
— Joe Hassett (@sonarhassett) November 23, 2019
I wish John Thompson would come out with the towel and jump in on this. Refs are getting silly.
— Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) November 23, 2019
Duke-Georgetown.
Turned the ball over too much, got crushed on the boards, clearly the refs put them on their heels coming out of halftime... stuck with it though
— George Barnette (@BracketvilleUSA) November 23, 2019
Thank you refs, I love to watch you guys.
— Thompson’s Towel (@ThompsonsTowel) November 23, 2019
Totally don't want to watch Duke and Georgetown go at it
Patrick Ewing almost just went on the court to kill a ref, safed by an assistant coach. Then Ewing had to tell the assistant to move. Wild.
— Brad Carson (@BradCarson) November 23, 2019
Well he was right. Why don't refs get taxed when they make horrible mistakes like this? This was a game changer!
— Charles C. Primas (@cprim72) November 23, 2019
https://t.co/A3mYRsSY8a via @ESPN App https://t.co/KrU8camqHs
Can’t blame Ewing for an outburst.. these refs have been awful all night. Dukes been fortunate in that regard so far tonight.
— Duke Opinions (@DukeOpinions) November 23, 2019
In the past I've been dismissive of Maryland fans whining about Duke games but that was a tough half to watch.
— Bobby Bancroft (@BobbyBancroft) November 23, 2019
In ranking the worst calls:
1. Loose ball on McClung
2. McClung charge
3. Mosely charge
Now Mosely was able to draw a charge on the other end so it evens out I guess
Terrible. Even as a Duke fan, the terrible call followed by a T to Ewing was game changing for GTown. Just wasn’t fun to watch the refs blow a whistle every 15 secs.
— Cody Ray (@codyray_21) November 23, 2019
Georgetown and Duke are tied at 33 at the half. The Hoyas played really good early on to take the lead but then the refs got the entire team in foul trouble. @Ncaa REMOVE THESE REFS.
— Jonathon Warriner (@Bracketologist3) November 23, 2019
You'll never believe this, but the refs are giving Duke much deference with the calls.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) November 23, 2019
I don’t like complaining about referees but the referees in duke vs georgetown are very very bad
— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir) November 23, 2019
Every trip down the floor Coach K is having a conversation w/ the refs. I'm not one of those "hate Duke over everything" guys but it's ridiculous. Geez. #HOYASZN
— MTCWithMook ️ ✒️ (@MTCwithMook) November 23, 2019
Resilient my ass. #DukeBasketball was gifted that game with bad onesided officiating. Ewing got a taste of what we in the #ACC deal with on the regular, the referee double standard.@Bluehornsandgo1#DUKEvsGTWN #collegebasketball
— Professor Beard (@beard_professor) November 23, 2019
https://t.co/Du6KtpQYSu
Anyone watching Georgetown Duke. Focus on the officials which will do anything to appease coach K. They are so intimidated by him they give him every call! Patrick Ewing should go after these refs @espn it happens all the time
— Joe Hassett (@sonarhassett) November 23, 2019
Patrick Ewing very rarely lost his cool as a player.. but when he did move out that mans way #Duke #Hoyas #Refs pic.twitter.com/YBTuvRQuig
— IB (@incarceratedbob) November 23, 2019
I mean Ewing doesn’t just undo 30 years of anger management for no reason...
— Philadelphia Hoyas (@PhillyHoyas) November 23, 2019
Patrick Ewing and his Georgetown Hoyas getting squeezed by the refs is unfortunate but expected. Hopefully he stays cool bc Stephen A will have a 10 minute rant if he doesn't. #FirstTake #collegehoops #ncaa
— Some Random Person (@SomeRandom4u) November 23, 2019
Telling my kids these were the refs in the Duke-Gtown game last night pic.twitter.com/GUeT4mfEZN
— Harrison Nugent (@_harrisonnugent) November 23, 2019
I may have just shouted the refs should be executed I would like to apologize to the four year old boy sitting next to me
— Hoyastradamus (@hoyabreakdown) November 23, 2019
Lol one refs raises his hand in the air for a blocking charge, the other says charge. And it's a charge.
— Big East Coast Bias (@becb_sbn) November 23, 2019
Corrupt referees tonight:
— Peter the Satisfactory (@manvillehoya) November 23, 2019
Brian Dorsey, Paul Szelc, Robert Riley.
Say their names. They are a disgrace.
The refs are doing everything they possibly can to prevent Georgetown from beating Duke right now. This is pathetic.
— College Basketball Tidbits (@CBB_Tidbits) November 23, 2019
Wow. Patrick Ewing had every right to give the refs a piece of his mind. That was a terrible call.
— Steven Barnhart (@HWHoopsCentral) November 23, 2019
Refs In is Duke/Georgetown game think they are getting paid by the whistle. ♂️
— Mike (@mikeward3232) November 23, 2019
No shame in the loss. The Stripes came out and dominated from the start. They executed brilliantly and really wouldn’t let us get it going on either end.
— Hoya Vey (@HoyaVey) November 23, 2019
"I'm not going to cry about the whistles, we were up 12 in the first half. Omer Yurtseven had his second foul, we took him out, but we were still winning. Then it just went bottoms up. The momentum went their way." - #Hoyas HC Patrick Ewing pic.twitter.com/tUYRBLF0ho
— Eugene Rapay (@erapay5) November 23, 2019
Duke fan yells, "Wake up guys, you're not going to win just because what's on the front of your jersey!"
— Big East Coast Bias (@becb_sbn) November 23, 2019
Refs: "Hold my beer"
2018 Omer Yurtseven.
— Ben Swain (@TheBenSwain) November 23, 2019
2020 Omer Yurtseven. pic.twitter.com/Qm2wS0eA79
Georgetown breathes on Duke and a foul gets called. Georgetown has someone bleeding and Duke is shooting free-throws. Story of the game.
— William E. Goat (@Timbo_Slice2020) November 23, 2019
I'm not a Georgetown fan by any stretch but this was foul #29 on Georgetown. Complete garbage. Even the announcers said BS. They eventually over turned this foul and called it a cylinder foul on Duke. These officials are crap. #Georgetown #DUKEvsGTWN pic.twitter.com/imRR1U7o0u
— Tom Edmondson (@Edmo06) November 23, 2019
Reffing is never the sole reason for a team losing a game.
— Hoyas247 (@Hoyas247) November 23, 2019
But it’s come pretty close to that tonight here for the Hoyas.
This is beyond compare.
Think this will go down as a good loss for Georgetown. They did everything wrong, were screwed by refs, and still played the #1 team close. #2KEmpireClassic
— Holden Walter-Warner (@hwalterwarner) November 23, 2019
officiating was real real bad. Dakich's utter rambling for 2+ hours was the most egregious violation of all.
— S Bousquet (@ffnuevodia) November 23, 2019
All in all, a good, hard fought game between Duke and Georgetown.
— James Szuba (@JamesSzuba) November 23, 2019
Could’ve been a really really good game if the refs weren’t interested in getting to Syracuse-Ohio State 2012 Elite 8 level with the whistle.
Horrendous call vs Georgetown in game vs the Ref’s favorite Duke Squad! Sad that officiating dictates basketball anymore; 28 fouls on Georgetown 17 on Duke! Disgusting crap!
— Trump's Gal (@TeamTrump22) November 23, 2019
I don’t think Georgetown was playing particularly physical, but people are free to disagree.
I love the wording. “Not letting Georgetown be physical” could be written, “the refs are calling fouls as they occur.” https://t.co/nswf1LPYyf
— ILoveDurham (@ILoveDurham01) November 23, 2019
“I think that’s a bad call”
— Barstool Blue Devils (@BarstoolBDevils) November 23, 2019
“You can review cylinder foul calls” pic.twitter.com/soPiq9CTgV
Tre just got clotheslined and I don’t know if I’ve ever held my breath harder
— Duke Basketball (@BlueDevils) November 23, 2019
That’s a fuckin charge lmao these refs have been AWFUL
— Duke (@DukeFansZone) November 23, 2019
Good call ref. pic.twitter.com/qjCAkT8W28
— Zion O | Tre Jones Stan (@DukeNBA) November 23, 2019
Personally, I’m with Pat.
I mean Ewing doesn’t just undo 30 years of anger management for no reason...
— Philadelphia Hoyas (@PhillyHoyas) November 23, 2019