Arpaio's losing team tries to blame the referee

It's the strategy of every bad coach and every disgruntled fan: When you team loses, blame the referee.

That's what the lawyers for Sheriff Joe Arpaio are trying to do. Arpaio's attorneys filed a motion Friday calling for the removal of U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow from Arpaio's civil contempt case.

The reason, according to a report by the Arizona Republic's Megan Cassidy, is that Arpaio's attorney's say Snow has moved from being an independent arbiter into the role of investigating "issues involving his own family."

The real reason, I'd guess, is that Arpaio is getting his butt kicked.

The civil contempt hearing isn't going the sheriff's way -- at all. He's already admitted to having violated the judge's court order involving racial profiling by his department. And he's admitted as well that his attorneys had hired a private agent to investigate comments that Snow's wife allegedly made about the judge's intent to remove Arpaio from office.

All of this can, and should, spell real trouble for the sheriff.

The game is practically over. He's losing, big time.

For the sake of their client, Arpaio's attorney are blaming the ref.

For the sake of us all, the ref, hopefully, won't buy it.