Jim Burr has a history of poor performance

[Nebrasketballer]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/big-east-suspended-officials-tim-higgins-jim-burr-earl-walton-duties-sources-article-1.121381

The Big East suspends officials Jim Burr (l.), Tim Higgins (below) and Earl Walton (bottom) from their duties at the Big East Tournament for the remainder of the week, according to sources.

By exiting as quickly as they left the court, the three officials who were involved in those puzzling no-calls in the final moments of St. John's 65-63 victory over Rutgers on Wednesday have stopped the controversy from overshadowing the entire Big East Tournament.

The departure was not of their choosing.

Sources told the Daily News that Big East commissioner John Marinatto - after consulting with his supervisor of officials Art Hyland - felt the league had no choice but to suspend Tim Higgins, Jim Burr and Earl Walton from officiating duties for the remainder of the week. The firestorm erupted when St. John's Justin Brownlee picked off a Rutgers pass with 4.9 seconds left, traveled, stepped out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to go and then hurled the ball into the stands with time still remaining.

Hyland left the second game of the evening doubleheader Wednesday and went to the officials' hotel to inform them of the decision.

No one objected.

"They didn't want the incident to become bigger than the last three games of this tournament," a source said.

Higgins even offered to write a press release acknowledging his accountability, and Burr and Walton both offered to sign off on it.

But the league declined, and released a statement Thursday saying the three "voluntarily withdrew" for the rest of the tournament, choosing not to publicly flog the officials, possibly out of respect for time served or due to a long-standing relationship with Hyland.

By doing this, the Big East saved any permanent marks on these officials' records, but also opened the door for coaches, fans and administrators to question who's driving the league's bus.

One hypothesis: Would officials with less tenure and less-established ties have been shielded and given apparent absolution?

There is plenty of speculation as to why a crew that embarrassed the league on national TV was treated with kid gloves.

Marinatto sat with Burr and Walton in the stands at the afternoon session Thursday. Hyland was also there. All three declined to speak to the media, including ESPN, which had requested them before the nationally televised Connecticut-Pitt game.

Marinatto said he was appreciative of the way coach Mike Rice and Rutgers handled a difficult situation.

A commissioner's role is not to be the henchman for frustrated fans and Marinatto is much more like the original Big East commissioner Dave Gavitt, who preferred to settle problems internally rather than hold a public referendum.

Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti, who earlier in the day said on WFAN that he had yet to speak with Marinatto other than exchanging text messages, said late Thursday he had spoken to the commissioner twice since. He obviously also chose to take the high road.

"(Wednesday) night, there was so much chaos," Pernetti said. "To the conference's credit, Danny Gavitt (Big East assistant commissioner) and Art Hyland were down there immediately to give us an explanation.

"We don't really have an opinion on the penalty. So what happened after (Wednesday) night was really a league issue. But as Mike (Rice) said earlier today, and I share it, I very much appreciate the willingness of the officials to be accountable. And, although a lot of people are stinging today in our community, I feel pretty positive that those guys feel terrible about what happened."

It's unfortunate for college basketball that this became a major story line of the Big East Tournament. Although this was a mistake that exposed many of the imperfections of the game, it was not a conspiracy.

Still, improvements need to be made.

The real mistake would be not to take a closer look at how to improve the quality and performance of college basketball officials.

[Norm Peterson]

Tim Higgins too, huh?  Shocked.

[Jadler]

Higgins and Burr? Can't day I've had more beef with two officials since high school wrestling.