Bloggystyle -- The Greatest

Well, we have a respite from NCAA basketball for a few more days. And unless Milwaukee pulls the major upset or Fort Sumpter pulls a Willis Reed on Friday, my interest in the tournament has already peaked.

Thankfully, Emperor Palpatine David Stern's National Basketball Association always finds a way to keep itself relevant just when the spotlight begins to shine brightest on another sport or league.



And this is the latest spat in the NBA. On its surface, the sight of Allen Iverson crying or whining is hardly a novelty. However, rumor has it that the referee, Marc Davis, threatened to kick AI's ass.

Iverson, upset about calls, challenged referee Marc Davis after the 94-88 loss on Saturday, and said Davis responded by saying he would "whup my ass."

Iverson had to be restrained by teammates, and a few minutes later was seen heading in the direction of the referees' dressing room before general manager Billy King interceded and calmed him down.

AI's gully factor aside, I'm sure there was some posse behind him. As the immortal Eric Wright would say, AI's only 165 "when he's wet and wearin boots." Marc Davis may be more Clark Kent than Superman, but AI's Lil Scrappy factor probably wouldn't be enough.

Regardless, Iverson seems to be taking it all in stride.

Iverson said Davis' response surprised him, but he didn't think the referee would be unfair down the road to him or the team.

"Regardless of what he said, I don't think he'd do anything in the future as far as making calls against me," Iverson said. "I think he respects the game more than that."

Well Allen, I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. It all started in 2000-2001, when the Milwaukee Bucks became Marc Davis's sworn enemy. See, being a Bucks fan isn't totally useless. Here's a simplistic AP recap of the Bucks' first run in with Marc Davis.

Abdur-Rahim made a layup with 48 seconds left and Milwaukee center Scott Williams, who was not on the court, was called for a technical foul while on the bench. Abdur-Rahim converted the ensuing free throw to tie it.

Williams was upset with the officiating, especially referee Mike Callahan.

"He should issue an apology to me for being damning to my team and damning to my career," Williams said. "The officiating was horrible and I'll take the fine."

Here's what actually happened :

Reeves passed to Mike Bibby, who was on the perimeter. At that point, Grizzlies guard Damon Jones called a timeout. Davis acknowledged the timeout and, according to those near or on the court, blew his whistle to stop play.

But play did not stop in the loud building. Bibby shot and missed, Abdur-Rahim grabbed the offensive rebound and scored to get the Grizzlies within a point.

But Marc Davis's antics didn't stop there.

The Bucks' bench went ballistic, claiming that time had been called before Abdur-Rahim scored. Davis issued a technical foul to Williams, who was not in the game.

"He blew the whistle," an upset Williams said later. "I was just saying, 'You blew the whistle. Why not call a timeout?' Then he gives me a technical foul for that in the last minute of the game.

"If he had any guts, he should issue an apology to me. It was damaging to the team, damaging to my career. That's ridiculous. The officiating was horrible. I'll take the fine."

Said Bucks coach George Karl, who was ejected after getting two technical fouls in Portland: "It was a rookie call, a tough call against us. He blew his whistle. I was right next to him, so I heard the whistle. He said he didn't blow the whistle. The whistle blew. I don't know if we stopped playing or what, but the offensive rebound was a big play.

"To call a technical foul on that, I don't even know if that was a CBA call. He blew a call and then he calls a technical that has an impact on the basketball game. Wow."

Scott Williams's crazy soliloquy aside (and that play officially meant Williams scored more points for the opposition than for us that season), Marc Davis has been fucking the Bucks ever since, especially in the Karl days.

Milwaukee was assessed four technical fouls in the fourth quarter and played the final 2:12 without coach George Karl, who was ejected by referee Marc Davis for arguing calls.

"I'm not criticizing the referees, other than saying it was a poorly officiated game," Karl said. "They took away three fast breaks from us in a row. I've never even had that happen to me in the CBA.

"Still, we've got to learn how to win a poorly officiated game."

Anthony Mason was hit with a technical by Davis, and Tim Thomas flopped to the ground in disbelief after getting his fifth foul with 2:52 left.

Karl got tossed, and Cassell received a technical in the final minute. Thomas, who scored 19 points, then fouled out and drew a technical foul and an ejection by Davis.

"I don't have anything to say, except those three guys (referees Davis, Joe Forte and Scott Foster) stink," Thomas said.

Davis was talking to players that game too.

"I got my technical saying, 'Everybody in the gym knows what the hell you're doing. Tell me why,' " Karl said. "You can print that. I'd like to know why the hell I got a technical for that. Because I heard more swear words coming out of Marc Davis' mouth in the game than out of my mouth. And last time I checked, referees weren't supposed to cuss at my players."

Marc Davis and George Karl had even more fun later that season, even in a Bucks victory.

Bucks coach George Karl complained about the officiating of Marc Davis, and late in the first quarter, Karl yelled, "Blow the whistle!" And Davis complied, giving Karl a technical.

Earlier, Karl fumed about two quick calls from Davis on Mark Pope, whom Karl had to take out. "That's a terrible call," Karl hollered. "Their guy does all the pushing and you call it on us? That's our best defender and best rebounder!"

In case you think the Marc Davis antics were restricted to Karl or 2001, the son of a bitch has been at it again this season.

The Milwaukee Bucks have filed a protest with the National Basketball Association over the two technical fouls called against forward Desmond Mason in the third quarter against Philadelphia Saturday at the Bradley Center.

Mason was ejected by referee Marc Davis during a timeout with 2 minutes 57 seconds left in the third quarter. Philadelphia led at the time, 69-63, and went on to win, 116-97.

hiladelphia guard Allen Iverson, who scored 54 points that night, had just made a jump shot and the Bucks took a timeout. Mason, who is a team captain and was guarding Iverson at the time, remained on the floor to tell Davis that he thought Iverson had pushed off on the shot and suggested that Davis make that call.

“I walked up to the referee and just asked him about a push-off (non-)call,” Mason said. “It was pretty much simple dialog. The first ‘tech’ was kind of unexpected so I asked him why he gave me the first ‘tech’ and he said I could walk away from him now. But I continued to say, ‘Why did you give me the “tech”?’ And then he ‘tech-ed’ me again and told me to go to the locker room. That was pretty much it.”

Mason said he didn’t curse or raise his voice to Davis. And, it certainly did not appear to be a heated exchange.

You'd think a guy like this would be barred from officiating a certain team's games. But as Allen Iverson is about to find out, The Man's league doesn't work like that.