Foul officiating robs us of chance to see real Oden, Hibbert

Forty minutes of basketball later, I still have no idea if Ohio State is better than Georgetown.

I know what the scoreboard says: Ohio State 67, Georgetown 60.

But I don't know that Ohio State is seven points better, or any better, than Georgetown. Neither do you. Nobody knows, because this game was taken from us by the people who were entrusted with controlling the action but instead reduced both teams -- and therefore this national semifinal -- to chaos.

The officials killed this Final Four game. Completely killed it.

Eighteen seconds in, a zebra called a touch foul on Georgetown center Roy Hibbert.

Fifty seconds in, another zebra called a bizarre illegal screen on Ohio State center Greg Oden. Less than two minutes later, the third zebra rang up Oden's second foul. This time Oden was deemed to have charged into Georgetown's Jeff Green, who flopped like a beached basking shark.

Zebras are stupid, stupid animals, you know.

Oden's not stupid. He's a smart, polite, humble kid who doesn't complain and afterward accepted blame for "being excited." But here's what he said as he walked past stunned OSU coach Thad Matta: "Bull----, man."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

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