Omaha Ref Higgins Inundated by Mad Kentucky Fans

[Mavric]

“I knew the eyes and cameras would be on me because of the national exposure and situation,” Higgins said. “I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to quit because of this — it’s too much pressure, it’s too hard.’ We got through it, and I thought we did a good job. I’ve got seven months to think about next year.”

 

That was Higgins’ final game until next season. But there will be no vacation. He has a company to put back together.

 

Business at Weatherguard Inc., has become somewhat more normal since phone calls with a Kentucky area code were blocked. Little business got done last week after around 25,000 contacts were made through social media after Higgins officiated the Kentucky-North Carolina game, which the Wildcats lost by two points.

 

He’s still dealing with the fallout from those thousands of negative emails and phone calls and the reviews on Weatherguard’s Facebook page that dropped its rating from 4.8 to 1.2. It’s back up to 3.0, but that’s still not good when weighed against the competition, Higgins said.

 

He’s also got the unseen victims to take care of — his wife and family, some of whom wanted him to stop officiating after 28 years, and his employees. They were nervous and a little shaky, Higgins said, driving around the Omaha area in company trucks after everything they’d heard.

 

False reports were even filed with the Better Business Bureau, using names such as Adolph Rupp, the legendary former Kentucky coach, and Calipari John, a reversal of the current Kentucky coach’s name.

 

OWH

[Mavric]

Sarpy County Sheriff’s detective Matt Barrall told the AP on Wednesday that he was on his fifth day investigating the threats made against Higgins; so far, he said he’s turned up between 200 and 300 emails and social media posts and 450 phone calls and voicemails—he said roughly 3,000 calls, 75 percent from Kentucky area codes, were made to Higgins’s office just 48 hours after the game. According to a Tuesday report from the Omaha World-Hearld, Higgins has since blocked all Kentucky area code phone numbers, which he says has helped since his phone number, home address, and business address were all circulated on social media.

 

Some of the communications fall under terroristic threats, which would potentially lead to offending fans being charged with a felony, but Barrell told the AP he wouldn’t discuss how many cases fell under that category until he finished reviewing all the messages. For the time being, Higgins’s local sheriff’s department has bumped up the number of patrol cars around his business office; the same measure is being taken by Omaha police around Higgins’s home.

 

Deadspin

[Mavric]

[Mavric]

Didn't catch the details but apparently Higgins is suing the Kentucky radio network that broadcast his name for damages.