George Hicker and Jim Burr say Hi!
Former Syracuse University player is ejected by referee in the second half
Sunday, January 14, 2007
By Mike Waters
Staff writer
(George) Hicker still stunned by ejection in Dome
The first thing George Hicker did was call his mother and father.
Hicker, 60 years old and the father of two adopted teenage boys, called his folks immediately after getting ejected from Syracuse University's basketball game against Villanova on Saturday in the Carrier Dome.
"They're in their 90s. I knew they might be watching the game," Hicker said Monday from his parents' home in Franklinville, about 60 miles south of Buffalo.
Hicker's parents were watching the game, but the television coverage revealed little about Hicker's ejection.
Hicker, who now lives in California, was at the Dome as part of the university's tribute to the 1966 squad, which earned only the second NCAA Tournament bid in school history. Hicker was a starter on that team along with Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and Orange great Dave Bing.
With 5:31 remaining in the game, referee Jim Burr ordered Carrier Dome security personnel to remove Hicker from his second-row baseline seat.
Hicker said Monday that he had voiced his objection to some of Burr's calls but insisted that he never used a profanity.
"I didn't use any vulgarity or profanity," Hicker said. "I was with my wife (Kathy) and our two boys."
Hicker said he shouted, "You've been making these kind of calls for 20 years."
"He said, 'You say it again and you're gone,' so I said it again," Hicker recalled. "That's all I said. I still can't believe he threw me out for that."
Burr declined to comment after the game.
When faced with an unruly fan, according to NCAA rules, Burr could have issued a technical foul against Syracuse or ordered the ejection.
A Big East Conference official said Monday that commissioner Mike Tranghese and director of officials Art Hyland would not comment on the matter. No fan has been ejected by a referee in the Carrier Dome in recent memory.
Hicker said he is upset because the ejection showed him in a bad light - one that made him uncomfortable even as strangers cheered his removal and friends ribbed him about it later that night.
"I'm walking back to the hotel after the game and every car going by is honking its horn and cheering," Hicker said. "But the thing is that's not a good example to set for my boys or a whole crowd at the Dome. It's a situation I don't feel like I created."
Hicker repeatedly expressed concern for his sons, whom the Hickers adopted from Russia. The adoptions were finalized about four months ago after years of governmental red tape.
Questioned again about his language, Hicker said he did not curse at Burr.
"I'm the head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Los Angeles," Hicker said. "I don't talk like that. When people talk like that, I leave because I don't like that kind of talk."
Hicker played at Syracuse from 1965 to 1968. He led Syracuse in scoring as a junior, averaging 18.6 points in the 1966-67 season. His jump shot was known as the Hicker Flicker.
A major donor to the university, Hicker watched the game right behind SU athletic director Daryl Gross. Gross refused to comment after the game. Hicker said Gross didn't say anything to Burr or try to intervene on his behalf.
"It wouldn't be good for him to get involved," Hicker said. "It wouldn't be good for Jim (Boeheim) to get involved."
After leaving the baseline area, Hicker went into the Executive Club's private box in the Dome's 200 level. At one point, he even waved to Gross.
"The police just tried to get me to move to another seat, but I said I'd leave the area," Hicker said. "And then I went up to the box."
A corollary of "Little League Parents", these guys have to learn there public time is done. But since he's a member of the Fellowship, he must have been doing what God wanted.