John Mathias

Legend. His impact on officiating will be felt --- basically forever. May he rest in peace.

UNI has announced that Kyle Green will be their next head men’s basketball coach. Green has spent a total of 16 seasons on UNI’s staff. The father of Panther legend AJ Green, Kyle has been an Iowa State assistant since 2021. @SoundOFF13

I've stopped reading Gulf war headlines. Here's what I track instead. We run an India-focused equity fund. 85% of India's crude comes from imports. Half of that normally passes through Hormuz. So yes — this crisis is personal. But the information environment right now is garbage. Trump says the war ends tomorrow. Iran says Hormuz is shut forever. One analyst says $150 oil, another says $60. You can't build a portfolio view on this. So I've narrowed it down to 4 signals. These are priced by people with real money on the line. They don't lie. 1. Ship insurance premiums through Hormuz This is the single best signal. Lloyd's underwriters have billions at stake on every pricing call. Before the war, insuring a tanker through Hormuz cost 0.25% of the ship's value. Today it's 3.5–10% — and almost nobody is buying. A $100M tanker that cost $250K to insure now costs up to $10M. When this drops below 2%, the people with the most to lose are telling you it's getting safer. No press conference can replicate that. 2. How many ships are actually crossing Every ship carries a GPS tracker (AIS). You can count exactly how many cross Hormuz each day. Before: 100+. Now: 8. That's a 92% collapse. You can't spin a ship being somewhere it isn't. Iran is letting some Chinese and Indian ships through, but it's a trickle. When this number crosses 30–40, trade is resuming. You can track this free on the WTO Hormuz Trade Tracker. 3. Paper oil vs real oil This one most people miss entirely. Brent crude (the headline price) is at $112. But Dubai physical — what Asian buyers actually pay for delivered oil — is at $126. That's a $14 gap. It exists because Trump's comments keep pushing paper prices down. Traders call it jawboning. But the refiners buying cargo aren't getting any discount. If you're looking at Brent to assess India's oil bill, you're looking at the wrong number. 4. The mid-April cliff Multiple emergency measures expire around the same time. The 400 million barrel SPR release runs dry ~April 15. The US waiver letting India buy Russian crude expires. Formosa Plastics has declared force majeure from April 1. Right now these stopgaps are keeping the supply gap at ~5 mb/d. Without them, BCA Research estimates it doubles to 10 mb/d — the largest crude disruption ever. If Hormuz doesn't reopen by mid-April, we're in uncharted territory. Bottom line: track the insurance premium, the ship count, the paper-physical spread, and the April timeline. Everything else is noise.

@OffyUnfiltered It’s a fair question, but to be honest a little odd coming from an anonymous account, albeit with some interesting information and insight. You also comment on several sports. It’s rare to be a high level official in more than one or two.

Since when did Terry become a basketball expert? This is totally absurd.

@SethDavisHoops 30-year high school official here. This kind of behavior isn't good for the game, and certainly isn't good for recruiting and retaining officials at the lower level. I would prefer to see bench decorum cleaned up and repeat offenders sanctioned.

Hoping this is the last time it needs to be addressed, but there seems to be confusion as to what the rules are regarding contact between a coach and official. Many seem to assume that any contact between a coach and official by rule must result in a technical. This is not true. This is what's in the rulebook, specifically rule 10.2.h which says an unsporting Class A technical should be assessed to a coach or player who "disrespectfully contacts an official or makes a threat of physical intimidation or harm to include pushing, shoving, spitting, or attempting to make physical contact with an official." The phrases "disrespectfully" and "physical intimidation or harm" are by definition subjective. So it's up to the official in that situation to decide whether he is being disrespected or intimidated. The ref in this situation did not believe he was. Seeing as how the "contact" came right after Mullins' game winning shot, it's reasonable to interpret that Hurley was pumped about the shot and not trying to intimidate or threaten the official. That is my interpretation as well. Reasonable (and especially unreasonable lol) minds can differ, but to assert that the referee did not follow the rules in this situation is factually inaccurate. Thank you for you attention to this matter.

@OffyUnfiltered Terry may not be in the know on this, but it's refreshing to see officiating leaders stand up for the integrity of the avocation.

Can confirm through our sources this is NOT TRUE in the slightest. Terry has ZERO IDEA what he is talking about.

We’ve obtained some preliminary information through @NFLOfficiating sources about what compensation for replacement officials would be: -$40,000 signing bonus. -Earnings up to $50,000 while visiting team training camps in July and Aug. -Approx. $4,000 per game. Now—wait and see.

Pete Hegseth’s broker looked to buy defence fund before Iran attack ft.trib.al/DKXRnPP

When you leave a place better than you found it and you leave on good, transparent terms … there’s no reason to duck your head and runaway. In a world full of Will Wades, be a Ben Jacobson 🫡

@RefObserver17 99% of the people saying “no big deal” wouldn’t be caught dead with a whistle and stripes at a junior high game.

If Roger says it was nothing, then who am I to say it's something. I'm just saying what my eyes see, and I don't like it. That said, the massive officiating shortage is in large part because not many people want to get into a business and get yelled and screamed at all game.

This is so Ben Jacobson. Almost no one has a press conference on the way out the door. He is one of THE classiest guys in the business. #FatherHarry

@RefObserver17 Always lost in these discussions is that others are watching. Permitting this kind of behavior without penalty contributes to the already difficult task of recruiting and retaining officials at the lower levels.

This needs to be penalized. What is wrong with him?

@CedarValleyNow Per sources: Multiple UNI assistants are set to follow Ben Jacobson to Utah State, however, UNI leadership is meeting with Seth Tuttle today regarding the head coaching position.

He does this because he knows Roger won't T him up and change the outcome of the game. This is where conference and national leaders (if there are any) need to step in.

Under no circumstances should behavior like this go unpenalized, regardless of the sport or game situation. Not unexpected by this coach. Deeply disappointed the official didn't do his job.

Coach Jake is the best thing to have happened to UNI this century! Thanks for all the memories.

@RefObserver17 Is it acceptable to delay the call until someone clears a rebound to resume play other than through alternate possession if overturned?

Lumping goaltending and basket interference in the same thought here. Really difficult call to make. In March Madness games, with stakes so high, if it's close, I would lean towards making a call.

Goaltending is one of the hardest calls to make in College Basketball. Keep in mind Gene initially said he agreed with no call. Not making excuses but keep in mind, really difficult call to make. Because you need a call on floor to initiate review... if it's close, call it imo 👍

Well, they’ve been near several in the past and likely will be again. Tough game to officiate. Didn’t impact the outcome. Amazing season for Iowa.

That’s not the way to spice things up.

Thank you to Tom Davis, Jeff Moe and Michael Morgan for giving me some time yesterday. They talked about their ‘87 Hawkeye team that played in Elite Eight and their excitement for this Iowa team. Give it a read. thegazette.com/sports/college…