Throwing Towels

[miltownsports]

I have seen alot of refrences to students throwing towels during the game.  I recorded the game and i dont remember seeing this...i only recorded it 1/2 an hour longer than it was supposed to so the last .9 seconds i cant watch..is that when it happened?

[rocky_warrior]

I only saw it on TV after Wesley hit the first FT with 0.1 left, and even then I only saw a couple things flying.  So yes, you probably missed it at the end of the game, but I think it happened more often than that, and the cameras never caught it.

[WashDCWarrior]

There were actually three different times when things were thrown on the court.  One was a single shirt or towel (I was in the upper level so couldn't really tell) that was immediately picked up by a fan and went largely unnoticed.

The major incident was about midway through the first half after a couple of calls went MU's way.  A timeout was called and fans probably threw a dozen or so shirts and towels onto the court.  During the timeout, they shot t-shirts into the stands which were also thrown back onto the court. (good planning)  They made a formal announcement on the PA about throwing stuff.

The final incident was after DJ hit the free throws to seal the game and Pitt was attempting the full court pass.  There were a couple items on the court which was a little scary, because the players didn't see them, but luckily nothing happened.

One reason you may have had trouble seeing them on tv, was that they were that same gold color as the student's t-shirts and blended in with the hard wood pretty well.

[spiral97]

wow.. didn't realize it happened more than once.. hmm.. I am surprised the refs didn't call a T the second time..

then again, I am glad they didn't.. otherwise we'd be hearing how the only reason MU won was because of the (two) T('s).

[WashDCWarrior]

wow.. didn't realize it happened more than once.. hmm.. I am surprised the refs didn't call a T the second time..

Don't think the refs saw the first time.  The fan who ran out and grabbed the shirt probably did Pitt a big favor.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Tim Higgins was standing along the sideline w/ his back to the camera during the free throws.  He seemed like a lot of them were aimed at him.    Or that is just what the camera caught.

Of course, I am one of only a handful that remembered to extend my recording time on my DVR, so I dare you to prove me wrong. 

[State]

Does Higgins ref every single MU game???

It seems like his name is alway brought up. 

Anyone have any idea how refs scheduling works?

Also, how much do they make?  Is it a full time job?  Seems like the pay would have to be pretty decent, seeing these guys travel the country to get harrased.

[rocky_warrior]

Of course, I am one of only a handful that remembered to extend my recording time on my DVR, so I dare you to prove me wrong. 

I always extend my MU recordings for an extra 1/2 hour, but for this one, I saw it was going to go over that, and was luckily at home to change it to record an extra hour on the fly.  Whew...

[Sir Lawrence]

Found an old (2004) article on Higgins:

(link:  http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20040126-120053-5303r.htm )

Three decades later, Higgins' part-time gig pays considerably better. Big East officials make $800 a game, plus coach airfare, a $150 per diem and $60 for car rental. That means Higgins, who estimates he works approximately 60 games a season, grosses approximately $50,000 a year whistling while he works.
    While that's a solid income, virtually every college official also holds down a full-time job. Higgins is vice president of sales for Kamco, a Brooklyn company that sells contractor's supplies and heavy machinery.

So you figure he's probably making about a grand a game now, plus his per diem. 

[spiral97]

so one way to get higgins to stop ref'ing is to increase his sales to the point where he is too busy with his fulltime job or gets paid too much at his fulltime job to make ref'ing worth it.. interesting!  anybody looking to buy contractor's supplies or heavy machinery?

[rocky_warrior]

From what I've heard, Higgins is retiring after this year anyway.  Can't find official confirmation though.

But, here is a rather nice article about him.