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Matt Snyder

Professor Quinn

3/18/11

English 2950

Referees have been such a big topic in the sports world. Through the years of sports,

rules have changed and a lot of people think that the rules are taking the game away from how it

should be played. The only sport that the rules have not affected the game is golf. If you take a

look back to when the game of sports first originated they had very few rules and the game was

really successful. But now the presidents of the sports changed the rules quite a bit from when

the game first started, but they are trying to make the game as perfect as possible without players

being able to cheat around the rules. They are trying to make players skills to be that much better

these days and they have to because the level of skill from players is phenomenal these days.

With the rules getting stricter, this leaves more mistakes from the referees, making the game to

be inconsistent every time it is played. This leads me to my topic of referees being inconsistent

with their calls.

So my question is, are referees consistent with their calls game after game and do they

call them on how they are supposed to be called, or should they not be as stricted? Ever since I

was young and played hockey the refs have just been terrible and call the game quit unfair

sometimes and this affected the outcome of the game. I am not playing hockey anymore but I

have started to ref hockey games not only because I love hockey but to see what else the sport

offers. It seems like every month the game changes not only in the “big leagues” but with the

young kids as well. Reffing a game is a lot harder than people think it is but that is not an excuse

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to call bad calls in a game. If you signed up and are willing to play a big role in the game then

you better do a good job. This is why there is a need to study this topic because in order for the

game to be the correct score in the end, the refs need to be consistent. If the president keeps

changing the rules then the referees need to get better in sticking to the rules and not let anything

go one way. If a ref is going to be lenient in his calls then he needs to be lenient for both teams.

But to me when you change the rules it makes it harder for refs to call the game consistent

because it is really hard to call everything in a game. A lot of fans do not like how the games are

being called now a day and they like how the games use to be called with very little penalties,

flags, fouls etc. So there definitely needs to be more study from the referees and the presidents as

well. This study will be more useful because this will allow the game to be more consistent and

the score of the game will be more accurate. For umpires in baseball this is their only job

because they get paid enough to just focus on umpiring games. But with hockey they do not get

paid enough for that to be their only job and to just focus on the game itself. I think this affects

how referees in hockey call the game. If this was their only job then they would be more

consistent and would only have to focus on the rules of the game. I think this will be a great topic

to do research on and to see why the rules have changed since the game first started. Also, it will

allow me to research more about referees and if they should be calling the games better than how

they are now. This will give me a chance to be able to express how I feel on this topic and how

my opinion relates to millions of other fans as well. So in these next few pages I will give

examples and talk about what referees are doing wrong in the world of sports.

In baseball the umpires are the biggest debate of how the sport should be played. The

umpires determine how good the players are because the game is literally in their hands. The

umpire behind the plate controls how good the pitcher really is because he gets to call the balls

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and strikes. This is why this is their only job because the president of baseball wants the umpires

to be as precise as possible. Last season the Detroit Tigers were ready to celebrate when Indians

shortstop Jason Donald grounded to first base with two outs in the ninth. Brandon Inge the

Tigers third baseman was jumping for joy. Don Kelly and Austin Jackson were running in from

the outfield to join in the celebration that was sure. Gerald Laird and the rest of the Detroit

dugout was ready to storm the field and jump on the pitcher Armando Galarraga. One call from

first base umpire Jim Joyce changed history. It was tough for the Tigers to believe. For Joyce

who made the call that he was safe broke up perfection in Detroit's one hit 3-0 win over

Cleveland it was heartbreaking for the Tigers and Armando. As the television replays showed, it

was a mistake an honest mistake, as Joyce explained. "It was the biggest call of my career," an

emotional call Joyce told the reporters, "and I kicked it. I just cost that kid a perfect game."

Austin Jackson's over the shoulder catch seven pitches earlier for the first out of the ninth inning

was the toughest play of the night, the toughest obstacle between Galarraga and history. Mike

Redmond's routine ground ball for the second out put Galarraga on history's doorstep. Joyce, a

22 year veteran umpire, watched the quick play and went with what he felt he saw. "I really

thought he beat the ball," Joyce said. "At that time, I thought he beat the ball." Replays showed

Galarraga's right foot on the bag with the ball in his glove and Donald still lunging for the bag.

The Tigers felt like they had seen it that way from their point of view, whether on the infield or

from the third-base dugout. Replays backed up their story. "You guys like me all watched the TV

and saw the replays," Galarraga said, "and for any pitcher in any league anywhere, that was a

perfect game. When you watch the replays, it was totally an out. There's no way he can call that

safe. That's what made me sad. I can't help it. I really can't help it." As you can see this call has

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caused many questions about referees and umpires calling the game how it is supposed to be

called. This one call changes history for the entire team.

The next call did not affect the game in any way but was a blown call on the suspension

the player should have gotten from what he did. It was the sucker-punch that shocked the hockey

world and a country passionate about the sport. Vancouver Canucks all-star Todd Bertuzzi

blindsided Colorado Avalanche rookie Steve Moore with a punch from behind, Moore fell to the

ice, and was hospitalized with three broken vertebrae in his neck and a concussion. Debate went

across North America about the role of rough plays in hockey. The NHL suspended Bertuzzi

indefinitely and did not reinstate him until Aug. 8, 2005 "I want to take this opportunity to thank

Canucks fans and the city of Vancouver for all of your kind wishes," Bertuzzi said. "Your

support, coupled with that of my teammates, Canucks ownership, management and staff and my

agent Pat Morris have been a great help in these very difficult times." Bertuzzi remained under

suspension throughout the 310-day NHL lockout he also forfeited $501,926.39 US in salary and

hundreds of thousands more in endorsements. Criminal charges filed against Bertuzzi in

Vancouver resulted in a guilty plea and a sentence of one year's probation plus 80 hours of

community service. Todd apologized many of times but a sorry was not enough to keep everyone

from disliking him. People thought that he was a terrible person from this play and some people

still hold this against him. But the big argument about the call is that should he have been kicked

out of the NHL forever or to suspend him for a little bit and fine him. Many people think that the

board of the national hockey league screwed up because they only suspended him for a little

while and then allowed him to come back to the league. To me this was a terrible decision

because he ended a skilled player’s career so they should’ve ended his career. This was the

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ugliest and dirtiest play of all time in any sport. Once again the refs and the board blew another

decision in how they should call the game.

Another call that was a big issue with the refs in sports is the US vs. Slovenia soccer

game in the world cup. The United States was robbed. Fans and players of the national team

were going crazy a World Cup win turned into a draw because of a questionable call by referee

Koman Coulibaly in the 86th minute, erasing what appeared to be a perfectly good goal by

Maurice Edu against Slovenia. The ref's decision also cost the United States a chance of soccer

history, in 80 years, no team had ever rallied from a two-goal deficit at halftime to win a World

Cup game. The referee even refused to explain what the foul was for after the game. "I'm a little

gutted to be honest," Donovan said. "I don't know how they stole that last goal from us...I'm not

sure what the call was. He (the referee) wouldn't tell us what the call was." Replays showed that

Edu was not offside, and while there was pushing and shoving in the box, it was coming from

both teams. The incident left American players outraged, with Captain Carlos Bocanegra having

to escort Jozy Altidore to the sidelines after the game ended. Players of the American team

pleaded their case to the fourth official, Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh, who was having none of it.

Even U.S. coach Bob Bradley was left speechless. "I still don't know why the goal was

disallowed," Bradley said. "Nobody knows at this moment. If the goal was disallowed for

offside, it’s simply a blown call, the kind that can happen at speed. If it was disallowed for a foul

in the box, then it’s a certified bad call, and cannot go unpunished by FIFA’s refereeing

oversight committee. The Americans, of course, did not lose two points because of the game they

lost two points thanks to the referees. Three big mistakes were made in the match on both sides

and all three led to goals. The Americans went down 2-0 at the half from a great goal by

Slovenia and coughed up the second when Slovenia caught the US defense flat to beat the goalie.

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Slovenia was shown to be weak as well and coughed the ball up to Donovan for the American’s

first goal in the 48th minute. That sparked the comeback which at least was enough to save a

point and keep American hopes of advancing in the tournament. The Americans outplayed

Slovenia the whole game but wasn’t rewarded on the scoreboard. All in all American fans were

furious after the game and deserved to be. They will feel that it was a game they had won only to

draw because of officials.

In conclusion, the topic of referees calling bad calls and blowing the game is something

that the committee needs to fix. Game after game calls are being blown by supposedly

professional officials who are getting paid great money to simply call a precise game. But these

officials cannot come through with accurate calls. So what should be done? After talking about

three huge plays that were called wrong and ruined history, something needs to be done. All in

all if the sports world wants to become more precise and accurate with everything something

needs to happen with the officiating.

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Works Cited

1. "Do Referees Have Too Much Power? « Soccer Report Extra." Soccer Report Extra. Web. 27 Mar.

2011. <http://www.soccerreportextra.com/general/do-referees-have-too-much-power/>.

2. "Missed Call Ends Galarraga's Perfect Bid." Web. 7 April 2011. <http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article>

3. "Awful Big East Officiating; Really, Really, Really Bad Rick Bozich." The Courier-Journal Blogs.

Web. 27 Mar. 2011. <http://blogs.courier-journal.com/rickbozich/2011/03/09/awful-big-east-

officiating-really-really-really-bad/>.

4. "Why NBA Officiating Is Terrible | Bleacher Report." Bleacher Report Entertaining Sports News,

Photos and Slideshows. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/351604-nba-

officiating-is-terrible>.

5. "Detroit Tigers' Armando Galarraga Loses Perfect Game in Ninth, Umpire Jim Joyce Admits He

Blew Call - New York Daily News." Featured Articles From The New York Daily News. Web.

27 Mar. 2011. <http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-06-02/sports/27066166_1_jim-joyce-

umpire-phillies>.