Officials, referees, and umpires

[Nomrombom]

People judge the ref ALL THE TIME. There is constant hate for the ref, abuse, foul language, and insults. The ref is always in the wrong.

 

I can tell you (as a referee myself) that yes, you are sometimes right. We do make bad calls all the time. Every game, there will be multiple wrong/missed calls.

 

But do people think we don't try our hardest? I don't know about other referees, but I strive to make the best possible call whenever I can. Of course I'll be wrong sometimes - we're human too. But in general we do get the calls right. We've trained for a long time (my total hours in referee classes = 24) and we (usually) have experience (I've refereed over 150 games). We are looking to keep the players safe, first and foremost. Second is to make the right call. We are NOT trying to screw you over.

 

Something interesting to keep in mind is that when watching a game in real life, the referee can and will take in to account the behavior of the spectators and coaches, and adjust their calls accordingly.

 

 

 

Anyway, what do you guys think about all this? Am I right? Or am I wrong (as always ;-))?

[K4ylan]

You're right, a lot of people blame the ref because they think a call is unfair, but most of the time it is balanced out. Besides, it's not like the ref is expected to be perfect right? At least in some sports (American Football) you can challenge the ref's call, but other sports you cannot (Basketball)

 

Btw, there is a subsection for sports-related topics.

[Utopia]

As a referee myself, I think you're right. I do often make wrong calls, but it's mostly due to the speed of the game. I know (or at least I like to think I do) what I'm doing and what calls to make.

 

What sport(s) do you ref?

[Zierro]

I understand that refs are human and will inevitably make mistakes, but they are also subject to bias, emotion, bribery, and so forth. I'm no a sports fanatic, but some of the calls (and lack of calls) I've seen should have gotten the ref fired, plain and simple. Namely the ones revolving around fouls.

[obfuscator]

Moved to S&f.

 

Yeah, I think refs and such usually do a pretty good job. People are just determined to nitpick. Really like any situation with authority.

[Nomrombom]

As a referee myself, I think you're right. I do often make wrong calls, but it's mostly due to the speed of the game. I know (or at least I like to think I do) what I'm doing and what calls to make.

 

What sport(s) do you ref?

 

Soccer to you and me, football to the UKers =P~

[Zierro]

Moved to S&f.

 

Yeah, I think refs and such usually do a pretty good job. People are just determined to nitpick. Really like any situation with authority.

 

And they damn well should be an overly-critical rowdy bunch of nitpickers, otherwise there's no standard for how we allow authority to run things.

[Nomrombom]

Moved to S&f.

 

Yeah, I think refs and such usually do a pretty good job. People are just determined to nitpick. Really like any situation with authority.

 

And they damn well should be an overly-critical rowdy bunch of nitpickers, otherwise there's no standard for how we allow authority to run things.

 

Well sure, but when it's like 12 year old kids, do you really need to fight every call?

[Utopia]

As a referee myself, I think you're right. I do often make wrong calls, but it's mostly due to the speed of the game. I know (or at least I like to think I do) what I'm doing and what calls to make.

 

What sport(s) do you ref?

 

Soccer to you and me, football to the UKers =P~

 

Well same here. :thumbup:

 

Probably going to be my last season doing it, the pay isn't the greatest and I like my other part-time job better. Reffing is also very stressful. <_<

[Zierro]

Moved to S&f.

 

Yeah, I think refs and such usually do a pretty good job. People are just determined to nitpick. Really like any situation with authority.

 

And they damn well should be an overly-critical rowdy bunch of nitpickers, otherwise there's no standard for how we allow authority to run things.

 

Well sure, but when it's like 12 year old kids, do you really need to fight every call?

 

Haha, my response was more about the authority thing. In a voluntary children's sports game, it isn't such a big deal. But in government, authority is a whole new ballpark - it's essential that everybody gets the opportunity to judge the system that judges everybody, makes life altering choices for everybody, protects everybody, and so on... for everybody. The tug-o-war effect is the very thing that keeps systems like that alive.

[Nomrombom]

As a referee myself, I think you're right. I do often make wrong calls, but it's mostly due to the speed of the game. I know (or at least I like to think I do) what I'm doing and what calls to make.

 

What sport(s) do you ref?

 

Soccer to you and me, football to the UKers =P~

 

Well same here. :thumbup:

 

Probably going to be my last season doing it, the pay isn't the greatest and I like my other part-time job better. Reffing is also very stressful. <_<

 

How's it stressful? You can tell people to shut up and they have to.

 

And my pay is good at least... U12 nets 25$ for one one hour game.

[Ginger_Warrior]

Like George Riley, the newsreader on Gabby Logan's 5Live show, I find myself awkwardly saying 'I don't want to bring it back to rugby, but...'

 

He was recently invited by the FA to referee an academy game. Being primarily a rugby league journalist and an amateur footballer himself, he reflected on this experience and made a blog: Why football should follow rugby league. He talks about how 'fouls' in football aren't actually significant enough to the outcome of a game to deter players from committing them (indeed, the term 'cynical foul' implies they're actually rewarded, not punished), and how rugby league referees command more respect from players by talking more, to the point where players see them as colleagues as opposed to someone they need to 'win over' during a match.

 

It's an interesting read as both a football and a rugby league fan. Furthermore I agree with the point about video technology; to me it's the prime example of how football thinks it's above its own station as a sport, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary--an attitude sadly reflected with the recent FIFA corruption scandals.

[obfuscator]

Video replay works great in hockey. Pretty much all serious calls (goal or injury) are called correctly because of video review. I can think of...one call last year that was wrong out of 30 teams playing 82 games a season each? And even then it wasn't video reviewed.

[All_Is_Great]

Which one was that? :lol:

 

One thing I don't get is the umpires in baseball. How they always make a big deal with the manager then does the "get outa here!" thing. What's the point :?:

[MirageOfDeath]

I've umpired a few Little League games in the past. Had some awkward moments when I was officiating a game my brother was playing in. I was trying to be as unbiased as possible, as I should be, but I made a couple of bad calls against his team. I didn't mean to but I guess it was sort of a "reverse bias" by trying too hard to be impartial. :s Anyway, the experience has given me respect towards officials and I usually give them the benefit of the doubt when they make a mistake... unless it makes my team lose of course. :P

[doomy]

I'm sure a lot of NZ'ers would point you to the last rugby world cup with this topic.

I would say sports such as rugby there is so much going on at once its gotta be a difficult job to ref, but these guys are professionals you probaly should expect them to more often then not make the right calls.

 

Cricket is interesting, the new review system (sort of like what tennis has) has been implmented now which I like as one bad umpiring decision can cost a lot, and to be honest the umpire really doesn't have long to see what happens considering in international matches the bowlers can bowl upwards of 145km/h. Reminds me of in our matches when there aren't enough umpires around the batting team has to do the umpiring, I gave one guy out (one of our coaches to make things worse) when he clamed to have hit the ball, terrible feeling that but its so hard to pick up on those sorts of things :/

[unkn0wnwarrior]

I only have any real problems with baseball umpires. They are far too inconsistent with the strike zone and are not often in position to make the right call. But I know they can't get everything right.

 

And hockey officials bug me when they get in the way of the puck, but they can't really help it.

[Majikfreak]

I agree, people are always trying to blame someone, the best advice i give is just to not let it get to your head. I play sports frequently, and have on a couple of occasions, got a technical Foul (basketball), and once even ejected, but the thing is it's all in the heat of the moment, when everyone's tempers are flaring, it's common for people to crack under pressure and explode. :)

[Nomrombom]

I agree, people are always trying to blame someone, the best advice i give is just to not let it get to your head. I play sports frequently, and have on a couple of occasions, got a technical Foul (basketball), and once even ejected, but the thing is it's all in the heat of the moment, when everyone's tempers are flaring, it's common for people to crack under pressure and explode. :)

 

 

Why don't more people get showered in guts then?

[obfuscator]

Which one was that? :lol:

 

One thing I don't get is the umpires in baseball. How they always make a big deal with the manager then does the "get outa here!" thing. What's the point :?:

Colton orr running a goalie over and then scoring lol. Forget who the leafs were playing...maybe florida?

[RussetAlpha]

I HATE girl refs. Every soccer game I've had with a girl ref, she does terrible..

 

I've also had a lot of bais refs (Oh, you know the opposing team? That's great. "We're going to lose..")

 

I remember one game where a lot of my teammates got injured and had to sub. Catch is, a lot of calls were in favor of the other team. The ref's really didn't care about our safety.

 

I could really go on and on and on about refs who, well, can't ref. Expecially the ones who are blind to fouls that are bright as day. <_<

[Nomrombom]

Generally, what you think of as ignorance or bias is really just a ref who realizes that it is a contact sport.

[transcript80]

It all depends on the sport, I guess.

 

When I see players shouting at the referee in a soccer match, I cringe. The man is almost assaulted! For professional games (primary/secondary leagues, draw any line) I think there should be challenges available as there are in Tennis, Hockey and american football. As for your amateur matches, one could start off with getting "independant" refs.

 

As a handball referee myself (10 years experience), I never ref matches for the club I play for (except junior league, kids <16years old). As soon as someone has comments on my judgments, that's a 2 minute time penalty for them. Any name calling whatsoever (also questions of me needing glasses, or having impaired vision) results in a red card, + a suspension.

 

It's all a matter of keeping it tight, and the sports union backing you up with additional penalties for players who seriously cross the line. I think that is what lacks in soccer (lower leagues) mostly.

 

I'm not saying I make every call right. On the contrary. But I always tell the players that I have to monitor 14 players in the field, by myself, and that 2 teams (20+ people) together watch me. Also, the amount of errors the players make is far higher than the amounts I make while judging them.

 

Also, I do this as a volunteer (only receive minor expenses). I refue to get my joy in reffign spoiled by some hillbillies that think they can say/do whatever they want.