Joey Crawford roundup.

Sampling the reactions to the Joey Crawford/Tim Duncan controversy and the subsequent suspension of Crawford from the NBA.

Television

• Pardon the Interruption: Both Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon agreed that the suspension was too harsh.

Wilbon: “You know when you told me this this afternoon … I was stunned. And
I was at the game. …”

Kornheiser: “Tim Duncan, for cursing, got 25 Gs worth of a fine, Joey Crawford lost his employment. … I thought, and you thought as well, that at some point David Stern would talk to Joey Crawford and talk to Tim Duncan and say ‘look, we can’t have this, we gotta go forward, we cannot have you ref the Spurs in the playoffs … but I never in a thousand years [expected the suspension].”

• Around the Horn: Out of panelists Woody Paige, Michael Smith, Tim Cowlishaw and Jay Mariotti, only Mariotti thought the punishment was appropriate.
• NBA Coast to Coast: Greg Anthony, Allan Houston and Tim Legler each agreed that the punishment seemed harsh.

Blogosphere

AOL Fanhouse:

“With the playoffs set to start this weekend, this was really the only decision for David Stern to make here. Dallas and San Antonio are both likely to advance deep into the playoffs, and it would be ridiculous to have Crawford working any of their games after his actions last Sunday.

It’s nice to finally see the league take action against a veteran official who frequently chooses to make himself a bigger story than the game he’s officiating.“

The Starting Five:

“Of course, the bigger issue, and there is one, is renegade officiating in general. Well, ?renegade? if you believe it?s not pre-organized; regardless of whether you are a person who believes that sometimes refs act as if they are above the game, or whether you are a person who believes those refs are acting as part of a deeper conspiracy, the point is we have all seen bad refereeing. Anyone that has ever played sports of any kind, at any level (professional, amateur or recreational), has had a run-in at some point with a referee who was power-tripping, or worse. But this is becoming a very big issue in major sports right now.”

Awful Officiating:

“David Stern was really left with no choice. He did what he had to do. …” On Duncan’s fine: “I guess it’s standard anytime a player curses out an official to fine them, but I think under these circumstances the NBA should have cut Duncan a break.”