Be careful what you say after a close loss in North Dakota, we have learned.
The University of North Dakota has suspended play-by-play announcer Paul Ralston for two games after he used the term 'choke job' in an interview with men's basketball coach Brian Jones after the nickname-free North Dakotans (a completely different story) chok... er... spit up a late lead in a loss to Northern Arizona over the weekend.
North Dakota lost a lead late in regulation and then lost the game in overtime.
The UND athletic director declined an interview request about the matter, but the school has said that one of its associate athletic directors will handle the play-by-play while Ralston sits out. Problem solved!
North Dakota, by the way, missed five free throws in the final four minutes of regulation to set up Northern Arizona's comeback. And it had 21 turnovers too. No, they didn't give away the game, they "just didn't value the basketball," in the words of Coach Jones.
Here's the Grand Forks Herald story about Ralston's suspension.
