There are a lot of frustrating things that go on in everyday life. Bad drivers, bad pay, and whatever else might bother you. It’s for those things that we try to find ways to relax after getting home. Some of us do this by watching our favorite sports teams. Sometimes though, we sports fans are even more annoyed by the games we love than the annoying parts of our day.
The most annoying part of watching sports, to me, is referees who habitually make bad calls. I cannot communicate to you how irritating this is to me without at least four separate articles of profanity and a few beverages worth of time.
I realize that they have the hardest job in the sport. They have to be near the action of the game at all times while trying not to get in the way. During that, they have to watch everyone who’s in the action while also making sure those who are out of the action aren’t acting afoul. I can see how that could be a very difficult thing to manage.
What I can’t comprehend is how these refs who are supposed to be the best in their field could be so bad at their job. Take, for instance, the Red Wing’s game from last Thursday. Both teams had their penalties, and a good amount of them were punished. There were multiple times I saw penalties that weren’t punished and no warnings were given. There were even a few penalties for embellishment that absolutely shouldn’t have happened.
Another great example of poor reffing is in Spanish and Italian soccer.
During games, you’ll often see players tripping over invisible legs to attempt to draw calls from the ref. Some players have gotten so good at it, they succeed several times per game drawing bad calls from good refs during pivotal points. A good example of this would be last year’s World Cup Final between Spain and the Netherlands. Spanish players were diving all game and lo and behold, they won.
So while I understand these guys have difficult jobs, I think they should work harder to make more informed decisions. Every referee has several side officials capable of helping monitor the action. They should be utilized more regularly.
This is my hope anyway. These games are stressing me out.
