Referee Ted Valentine Says He Might Retire Because Everybody is Mad at Him

Ted Valentine is a college basketball referee of some notoriety. He is among a small handful of refs who regularly get accused of making themselves one of the stars of the game, and “TV Teddy” recently did so in a most controversial manner.

Valentine has gotten a lot of criticism for this move, led by ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, and now, according to The Athletic, Valentine is so fed up with it he’s thinking about taking his whistle and going home.

"“I’m thinking about retiring,” Valentine said. “I’ve had enough of people blowing up stuff. I think I’ve had a stellar career, and I think it’s time to get ready to walk away.”"

And so it appears that Ted Valentine is throwing some kind of a fit.

It is true he has had a distinguished career, working many Final Fours. And it’s true that turning his back on Joel Berry was, while weird and disrespectful, not that big of a deal.

Bilas has since reiterated his respect for Valentine and pointed out that he didn’t consider this episode a capital offense. But his tweet riled up the internet, nonetheless, and Valentine is still salty about it.

"“I am thinking about walking away from the whole thing because of all the social media,” he said. “First you’re guilty, then you have to prove yourself innocent. I’m just tired of it. I’m a better person, I’m a better referee, I’m tired of being cut on. I really am. So I’m taking this weekend to evaluate, what is it that I want to do? Do I want to go back? Can I put up with this? I’m going to take it one day at a time and see how it goes.”"

Prediction: Valentine does not retire.