Herrion’s laughable flop deserves scrutiny

A flop so shameful, Vlade Divac would turn his head in disgust. Acting so putrid, Channing Tatum looks like an Oscar-winner in comparison. A dive so obvious, soccer coaches across the globe will use it for instruction.

I'm attempting to, as well as I can under the limits of the English language, describe Marshall basketball coach Tom Herrion's reaction to a sequence during Saturday's game against UCF.

It all started when Herrion, inside the boundary of play, stood up from a crouch. As he was standing, Herrion was bumped and apparently elbowed by UCF guard Isaiah Sykes, who was running to get back on offense. Immediately after contact, Herrion fell back on his players as if struck by a heart attack, kneeled to the ground, crawled toward the nearest official and clutched his chest. Failing to get the official's attention, Herrion started to stand up, only to fall back on the floor as the ref looked his way.

I wish I was joking.

What separates this from a laughing matter and makes it a crime is how it was handled. Officials reviewed the tape for more than 10 minutes, coming to the conclusion that Sykes made contact with Herrion incidentally, nevertheless resulting in a flagrant foul.

The Marshall shooter knocked down one of two free throws, and UCF lost the game by, you guessed it, one point.

But despite how juvenile, desperate and downright embarrassing Herrion's actions were, you can't blame the loss on his flop.

Good teams don't do that.

The Knights had too many chances to prove to Marshall that they were the better team and to seal the victory down the stretch. But instead, they failed to finish and made Herrion's embarrassing antics a factor, which is a shame.

Should Conference USA review the tape and come down with some sort of punishment on Herrion?

Probably.

Should Marshall fans be ashamed of their coach for his lack of self-respect?

Definitely.

But should UCF blame their first conference loss on his buffoonery?

Absolutely not.

With articles being published by the likes of Deadspin and CBS Sports, it's good that Herrion's idiocy has hit the Internet and is attracting national attention. The national exposure will show the situation for what it is and hopefully offer a sobering reality to some Marshall fans, but UCF should not be looking for any pity.

Good teams don't look for pity. Good teams pick themselves up and prepare for the next game, and that's all you can hope for out of the Knights.