It's pretty apparent that purposely ignoring a foul or a rules violation does more to determine the outcome of the game than enforcing the rules.

If a player travels on the final play of the game, and the proper call is made, it was the player, not the official, who determined the outcome of the game. Conversely, if an official ignores the violation and the player scores the winning bucket, it was the official who determined the outcome.

It's as simple as that.

Coaches, and their situational ethics, don't help the situation.

If their team gets beat on a tough call down the stretch lean heavily on the "not that call at that time" crutch. If a call goes their way in the next game, the same coach will be praising the officials for having the courage to make a tough call at crunch time.

For the record, replays showed both calls in the final 2.2 of the Butler game were the correct calls. Amazingly, some fans see that as beside the point. If an official makes the correct call, he or she has no bearing on the rightful outcome.

It really is a simple thing, if something is a violation in the first second of the game, that same action should be ruled a violation in the final second.