The Official Official Thread & Poll

[Texsox]

[Felix]

I have to go with basketball because of the direct impact the officials have to a teams points scored. And, I'm a Gopher fan, and for whatever reason, refs hate our basketball team which is already bad enough without refs screwing us/not giving us any breaks (my conspiracy theory is that the cold weather pisses the refs off, so they hate us for that)

[Buehrle>Wood]

Anyone who watches CBB should know this.

[IlliniKrush]

I went with basketball as well.

 

Though the most judgment calls are made in baseball, the vast majority of them are ball/strike judgments, most of which are not controversial. Additionally, most of them are 'correct' and don't have as much of an impact on the final score. A lot more baseball calls are black and white, in theory.

 

In hockey the penalties, while also a complete judgment call, are usually pretty apparent and there are usually only a few calls each game that could have gone the other way, only resulting in a power play (or absence of a power play), and teams only score on those 15% of the time, roughly. A lot of calls in hockey, also black and white (offsides, icing).

 

Football you could 'call holding on every play.' But besides that and pass interference or what not, there isn't a lot of things that aren't black and white in football (and they have the use of instant replay on many really big calls. If there was no replay, i might go with football on this).

 

Basketball there COULD be fouls called every single possession, and there seems to be so much disagreement on calls or no calls from fans, coaches, and players alike. A lot of foul calls aren't exactly by the book calls, it's a lot of judgment. Good or bad refs, they definitely impact the game every time down the floor, in theory. Their calls result in free throws, possessions, or easy buckets depending on what happened.

 

Even if the refs in college basketball (or otherwise) were amazing at their job, they still have the most impact on the final score based on the nature of the game, IMO.

[watchtower41]

Anyone who watches CBB should know this.

 

 

or the NBA for that matter, I still can't be convinced that it has not been fixed ever since the Jordan era.

[IlliniKrush]

Interesting article on how much CBB refs work.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/6495276...CP&GT1=9131

[CanOfCorn]

Chose baseball because even though Umps are usually right on balls/strikes, you have to know who is calling the game before you even get out there.

 

Does the ump call high strikes? Wide strikes? Inconsistent? That messes with your head before you even step into the box.

[Texsox]

Interesting article on how much CBB refs work.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/6495276...CP&GT1=9131

 

Great article, I had no idea how many games they worked

[Rowand44]

Basketball by far and away.

[Texsox]

Does anyone think the refs favor their favorite team?

[Rowand44]

Does anyone think the refs favor their favorite team?

LOL, you know the answer to that.

[IlliniKrush]

Great article, I had no idea how many games they worked

If I were a ref making that much money, i'd figure out a way to ref 2 games in a night

 

And Welmer makes some good points.

[Felix]

Does anyone think the refs favor their favorite team?

I know the refs in the Minnesota/Wisconsin game were wearing red under their "uniforms", and in the Minnesota/Michigan they were wearing blue. Either that or their pockets were lined with hundred dollar bills provided by Wisconsin and Michigan.

Edited February 23, 2007 by Felix

[Balta1701]

Does anyone think the refs favor their favorite team?

There are clearly some refs who do and some refs who don't. You usually just only notice the ones who don't.

[Steve9347]

um. baseball. every pitch is in the hands of the umps.

[WilliamTell]

Chose baseball because even though Umps are usually right on balls/strikes, you have to know who is calling the game before you even get out there.

 

Does the ump call high strikes? Wide strikes? Inconsistent? That messes with your head before you even step into the box.

 

That's a good argument

 

I know the refs in the Minnesota/Wisconsin game were wearing red under their "uniforms", and in the Minnesota/Michigan they were wearing blue. Either that or their pockets were lined with hundred dollar bills provided by Wisconsin and Michigan.

 

You must be an angry Gopher fan.

[Felix]

That's a good argument

You must be an angry Gopher fan.

Merely one who watches the games. I know certain members of the Gopher organization agree, and it sucks after seeing it game after game.

[Rex Hudler]

There are clearly some refs who do and some refs who don't. You usually just only notice the ones who don't.

 

Clearly?

 

If that is the case, then you must know the favorite teams of all the referees. So tell us, which is the favorite team of the following referees:

 

Steve Welmer

Ted Valentine

Ed Hightower

Mike Sanzere

Bruce Benedict

Verne Harris

Ted Hillary

Doug Sirmons

Jim Burr

Donnee Gray

J.D. Collins

John Moore

Paul Janssen

Winston Stith

Jamie Luckie

Tim Nestor

Gary Maxwell

 

That list ought to keep you busy for a little while. Well, not too long if it is CLEAR they favor their favorites.

Edited February 25, 2007 by Rex Hudler

[greasywheels121]

I watch more baseball than I do basketball, with the amount of games there are. However, I definitely know more ref's names than I do umpires' names.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Clearly?

 

If that is the case, then you must know the favorite teams of all the referees. So tell us, which is the favorite team of the following referees:

 

Steve Welmer

Ted Valentine

Ed Hightower

Mike Sanzere

Bruce Benedict

Verne Harris

Ted Hillary

Doug Sirmons

Jim Burr

Donnee Gray

J.D. Collins

John Moore

Paul Janssen

Winston Stith

Jamie Luckie

Tim Nestor

Gary Maxwell

 

That list ought to keep you busy for a little while. Well, not too long if it is CLEAR they favor their favorites.

 

I'm pretty sure he was not speaking of specific teams with these referees so a list would be pointless. Just some that like home cookin'.

[Rex Hudler]

I'm pretty sure he was not speaking of specific teams with these referees so a list would be pointless. Just some that like home cookin'.

 

Thanks for playing, but his post was a direct reply to the question "Does anyone think the refs favor their favorite team?". If that's what he meant, he is certainly welcome to defend himself, but that is certainly not how he made his post.

 

Anyone that has ever officiated at a reasonably high level knows officials do not make calls to help certain teams. In most situations, the game/play is happening to fast to be able to see what is happening and make a call as quickly as necessary and allow the color of the uniforms players are wearing to be involved in that decision making process.

 

That said, officials are human and they can be affected by certain things. There is no doubt, even at higher levels, crowds can raise the energy in an atmosphere which can affect the decision making process. Fatigue, coaches screaming in their ears, players with attitudes, the pace of the game, etc. can all affect a specific decision. But officials that continuously work college basketball games, year in and year out, are not making calls to favor a specific team. There is no way they would last. The same goes for other sports at high levels.

[Mplssoxfan]

Blaming officials for a loss is weak at best, neurotic at worst. It's certaintly true that many officials work way too many games, though.

[Felix]

Blaming officials for a loss is weak at best, neurotic at worst. It's certaintly true that many officials work way too many games, though.

A teams loss is never completely the fault of the refs, however it can often be helped (and in certain cases more than others) by calls, or lack thereof, that effect the momentum a team is having. But yea, you can't never solely put the loss on the refs.

[Texsox]

I love it when fans point to more fouls assessed towards their team, penalty yards, etc. and call it referee's being unfair. Couldn't be their team committed more infractions?

[ZoomSlowik]

I gotta say basketball for several reasons (some of which have been mentioned):

 

1) A large percentage of the calls are subjective.

 

2) Many of them lead directly to points for the other team through free throws.

 

3) Foul calls can have a drastic effect on how much certain players are on the court. Unless a pitcher is throwing a ton of balls (which is usually more tied to performance than the calls), that's not the case in other sports.

 

4) What is being called has a drastic effect on the style of play. For instance, if the refs are calling basically everything, a physical team like Wisconsin or SIU has to be more careful and likely has a reduced chance of winning, and vice-versa if nothing is being called. Unless an umpire has an absurdly large/small strike zone that isn't really an issue, and even then it has to be slanted one way to have a major effect.