Accounting Prof Offers Adverse Opinion

Accounting Prof reaction to ejection for obnoxious fan behavior

Accountants have a nice job.  They work inside during lousy winter weather, and they get paid big bucks for their opinion.  It’s a very big deal.

George Washington University accounting professor Robert Kasmir, a big-time supporter of GW athletics, was attending a men’s basketball game on Saturday, March 5, 2011.  His GW Colonials team was playing the University of Dayton Flyers (and won, 60-58).  During the second half of the game, he offered an opinion on a referee’s foul call on a GW player.  There is no recording of what he actually said, but it might have gone something like this:

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

I have audited the refereeing job of X during the men’s basketball game between the GW Colonials and the UD Flyers on May 5, 2011.

I conducted my audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the Smith Center. These standards require that I plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the foul calls and other judgments of rules infractions are free of material misstatement.

In my opinion, the most recent foul call on GW sophomore forward David Pellom is the worst call in the history of NCAA basketball.  Not only that, but you are the worst referee I have ever seen and you aren’t worth the $1,600 dollars  GW is paying you to call the game.

Signed,

Robert Kasmir

Where upon said referee ejected Kasmir from the game, and a sports department official helped him leave.

I’ve seen horrible fan behavior that didn’t earn an ejection, so I can only imagine that Kasmir’s behavior was off the charts.  A press account noted Kasmir’s obnoxious behavior, and a GW Athletic Department release described his behavior as bad sportsmanship.  Apparently he was trying to teach some nearby students how to cuss out a ref.  Does that mean the opposite of a clean opinion must be laced with foul (or dirty) words?

He should have offered the above opinion.  Or, he should have stuck with something like,  “You can’t tell your debits from your credits,” or “Your accounts don’t balance.”

For more on the story, read this blog post from the GW student newspaper.

Still, this isn’t as bad as Ernst & Young’s blown call on the Lehman Brothers financial statements.

Debit and credit – – David Albrecht