TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie took a few minutes out of his day yesterday to tune into the Rutgers basketball game and cheer for the home team. He, along with Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, felt it was their "duty" to cheer for Rutgers as they took on No. 17 St. John's yesterday in the second round of the Big...
Gov. Chris Christie, pictured here posing with Rutgers fans in 2009, today blasted officials for their errors at the end of Wednesday's Big East Tournament loss.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie took a few minutes out of his day yesterday to tune into the Rutgers basketball game and cheer for the home team.
He, along with Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, felt it was their "duty" to cheer for Rutgers as they took on No. 17 St. John's yesterday in the second round of the Big East Tournament. In the high-stakes game, Rutgers lost 65-63 after referees didn't call a traveling violation on a St. John's player who then stepped out of bounds with time still remaining in game. The Big East conference immediately issued a statement acknowledging "two separate officiating errors" by Jim Burr, Earl Walton and Ramsey resident Tim Higgins.
"We could not believe the lack of discipline at the end of that game that the referees imposed," Christie said in an interview this morning on WOR 710 AM, adding that the officials "phoned it in." Burr sprinted off the court and into the tunnel to the locker room immediately after St. John's Justin Brownlee fired the ball into the stands. Television replays showed there were 1.7 seconds left on the clock when Browlee stepped out of bounds near midcourt.
Tim Higgins, one of the men who committed "two separate officiating errors" near the conclusion of Wednesday's Rutgers-St. John's Big East Tournament game, according to a statement released by the conference.Christie had high praise for Rutgers coach Mike Rice, who after the game admitted to making his own mistakes and added, "we have the greatest officials in America."
"That's a first class coach who was not out there cry babying, and he could have," Christie said.
In the interview on WOR this morning, Christie also said that he anticipates an announcement this spring on a deal currently in negotiations to revive the darkened Xanadu project at the Meadowlands.
Related coverage:
• Controversial ending characterizes Rutgers' 65-63 loss to St. John's in Big East Tournament