Tennessee Tech found that out the hard way Tuesday night when its home opener against non-conference foe Appalachian State was postponed because neither side provided officials. Typically it's the home team's responsibility to supply the referees, but because this was the return game from an ESPN Bracketbusters game last season, it was visiting Appalachian State that dropped the ball.
"We apologize to Tennessee Tech and its fans," Appalachian State athletic director Charlie Cobb said in a statement. "It is unusual for a visiting team to provide game officials, but we have played in BracketBusters before and this miscommunication should not have occured."
Tennessee Tech officials worked with the Ohio Valley Conference director of officials to find an alternate crew but none were available on such short notice. Appalachian State spent Tuesday night in Cookeville, Tenn. in order to be available for a potential makeup game on Wednesday, but the Mountaineers official site says that the game has officially been cancelled because the teams "were unable to agree on a mutual date to make up the contest."
The biggest losers in all this of course are the Tennessee Tech fans who showed up to watch the game Tuesday night. The school held dizzy bat races and gave away free Pepsi and popcorn as it tried futilely to find referees and then offered fans a refund on their tickets Tuesday night once it became clear the game wouldn't be played.
While the refund was the least the schools could do for fans, how great would it have been if they simply decided to play without referees?
Calling your own fouls works fine on the playground or during open gym. It surely would have made an otherwise innocuous pre-Thanksgiving non-conference game a little more intriguing.
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