Golden Nuggets: Will the Ed Rush Fiasco Force Larry Scott to Address Serious Concerns About Pac-12 Officiating?

We always joke about the poor quality of the officiating in the Pac-12, but yesterday a new scandal emerged--something we wish would have been a mere April Fool's joke. Will this force Larry Scott to complete his task of overhauling Pac-12 officiating?

One day before Sean Miller received a technical foul in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, director of officials Ed Rush offered referees cash or a vacation if they either issued Miller a foul or ejected him.

The conference confirmed today in a statement that Rush "offered game officials inappropriate incentives for being stricter with Pac-12 coaches."

Rush, the league’s officiating coordinator for 11 months, told the league it was a joke.

CBSSports.com reported Miller was the target of the offer. The web site reported earlier today Rush offered officials $5,000 or a trip to Cancun if they gave Miller a technical or ejection.

One day later, Miller received a technical foul with about four minutes left in the UCLA game, and the Wildcats lost by two points.

This sounds serious. Surely the Pac-12 will strike down with great vengeance and furious anger...

In a statement, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said the league "concluded that, while Rush made inappropriate comments that he now regrets during internal meetings that referenced rewards, he made the comments in jest and the officials in the room realized they were not serious offers."

Scott said that the league has "discussed the matter with Rush, taken steps to ensure it does not happen again, and communicated our finders to all our officials."

If that statement from the Pac-12 is any indication, the answer to our question is a resounding "NO."

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Basketball

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• Layshia graced the front page of ESPN this morning in an article on her exceptional leadership of the team.

Swimming

• The men's team didn't complete the three-peat, although they did finish second overall at the NCAA Championships.

Golf

• The women's team sits at 8th after day two of The Farms Invitational.

Crew

• The second-ranked women's team swept Northeastern to complete a perfect 13-0 weekend.

Lacrosse

• Cal walloped Stetson 19-2.

Baseball

• Cal lost 4-3 to Stanford in a nonconference game.