For more than 25 years now, college basketball referee Karl Hess has been officiating ACC games. But on Monday, he worked what will likely be the final ACC game of his career because of something that he said to a fan during the game.
According to an ESPN report, Hess was just fired by the ACC for calling the fan an "Egyptian ass" during a game between Louisville and Wake Forest. The fan turned out to be Mit Shah, an Atlanta hotel magnate who used to sit on the Wake Forest board of trustees. Shah tweeted about his exchange with Hess a short time after it happened:
And while Hess later claimed that he was just joking around with Shah—who is of Indian descent—the ACC decided to pull the plug on his job today after looking into the comments Hess made. Hess responded by taking responsibility for his actions and trying to explain himself.
"It's a sad day and is devastating. But I'm responsible," Hess told ESPN. "I wasn't trying to deliberately hurt anyone. That's not my character. I goof around a lot, and there was no intent to hurt anyone."
At this time, the ACC has not released a statement explaining Hess' firing. Hess also referees games for the Big East, SEC, and Big 12, but it's unclear whether or not they will use him moving forward.
[via ESPN]
Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.
