Safety Ryan Clark got his wish: replacement Tyrone Carter took one to the house and Clark got to fly home with his teammates this time. Carter started in place of Clark as a precaution Monday night and made the big play that sparked the Steelers to their fifth straight win, taking the first of his two interceptions 48 yards for a touchdown in Pittsburgh's 28-10 win over the Denver Broncos.
Larry Brown became the first major target in the NBA's zero-tolerance policy toward criticizing its replacement referees. The Bobcats coach was hit with $60,000 in fines on Wednesday and the Charlotte organization was fined another $60,000 after Brown's ejection from an exhibition game. Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins was also fined $25,000 for criticism after a game Monday, as the…
The NBA's replacement referees were a non-issue in the preseason opener, just as the league wanted. The Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 103-87 on Thursday night in an exhibition game that featured 69 fouls and very little objection to any of them. Whether it was preseason indifference or players and coaches heeding to the league warning to be nice to the new officials, there wasn't much…
The NBA has told teams it's going ahead with replacement referees, days after the league thought a deal had been reached with locked-out officials. The league sent a memo Tuesday informing teams it had "no expectation of concluding a timely labor contract." The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, follows the latest failure in negotiations.
The NBA's president of basketball operations is confident replacement officials would perform well if they are needed when games begin. The players aren't so sure. The NBA and its referees union have failed to reach an agreement on a new contract, so the league will begin training replacements this week.
Because of his size, many teams will always try to be physical with Chris Paul. Yet the All-Star guard isn't worried about play getting out of hand if his games are being called by replacement officials. "No, no," Paul said Monday. "I don't worry about replacement referees. End of the day, you're reffing the game." The NBA and its referees union have failed to reach…