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How ’bout
a good word for the refs, umps and officials, too?!
[MAY
25, 2000] As
I wrote the column on coaches last week, in the back of my mind I
was thinking of the officials as well. I have always had a good
relationship with the refs, umps and officials. That does not mean
that I have always agreed with every call that they have made. In
fact, when they are having a bad night, I have been known to clue
them in from time to time. In like manner, when I was having a bad
night coaching, they would usually let me know about that, too. But
isn’t it amazing how many games the officials have lost? Or won?
They don’t get to log a single minute of playing time, yet the
fans cry foul and "you" lost the game for us. It’s never
that we had plenty of chances. It’s never that we didn’t execute
when our opportunities came. It’s never that the other team is
just better than we are or that they played a better game on a given
night. It’s always: the refs lost the game for us. This week the
LDN looks at refereeing, umpiring and officiating. These men and
women are critical to the existence and well-being of athletics, yet
they may be the most unsung group of participants in the world of
sports.
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Why
do they do it? What compels refs, umps and officials to put
themselves in harm’s way? I mean the coaches are lobbying for a
call throughout an entire game or match. The players can usually
only see a particular call going their way. And the fans are only
happy if every call goes their way. So, what is the draw to becoming
an enforcer of a particular sport’s rules and conduct? Is it the
spotlight? Is it the power and authority? Is it the money? Or are
there reasons that transcend the usual canned answers to these
rhetorical questions? In a future LDN article, I plan to interview
some area refs, umpires and officials to see if we can ever truly
ascertain why they do it. In this feature I hope to just give us all
some food for thought.
There
is little doubt that some do it because they love the spotlight.
Check out the way some umps demonstratively call balls and strikes
or a close play at first base. You would think that the reason
parents, grandparents and other assorted fans came to the game was
to see the ump perform. Unless the ump was as good as Leslie Nielson
was in "The Naked Gun," their entertainment value is next
to none! While you want to see quick, decisive calls, the last place
you want to see a showman is in an umpire’s uniform. Sometimes
basketball officials get caught up in the thrill of the moment when
the gym is rockin’. They then don’t just call the foul; they
point emphatically at the perpetrator. Or if the ball clips the
baseline, it’s not just out-of-bounds – they hop around like
Chief Illiniwek pointing the other way. Again, you don’t want to
see a lot of doubt in those men and women, but the patrons don’t
pay for a Billy Crystal-type of officiating show when they come to
see a game.
Furthermore,
no one wants to watch a game where the refs run up and down the
field sucking on their whistles and not making any calls and losing
control of the contest. It’s not a pretty sight when the officials
may have been rushed up or skipped a level, and then you see them
calling a ball game where they are overmatched.
Without
a doubt, I am sure that there are some men and women who do it for
the money. You can tell by their attitude, the way they come in and
the way they leave, and by the way they treat the coaches and
players. This whole issue could be the subject of another article,
but suffice it to say that when people do stoop to that level, it is
pretty sad. It is especially disheartening when you consider that
coaches’ jobs are on the line in the high school and college
ranks.
However,
I do not believe that any of these reasons constitute why most
officials do what they do. They make too big a commitment and too
many sacrifices for any of those reasons to fit. Even a one-semester
sport requires a lot of time and sacrifice.
I
think that most officials have several good reasons for doing what
they do. First of all, many of them are athletes, and officiating is
a good way to stay close to the sport(s) that they love. It is also
a good way to stay in shape. Refereeing and umpiring also create an
opportunity for officials to give something back to the sport.
Having good officials is one of the most critically important
elements of any sport. For many officials, sports have always played
a big part in their lives, and they owe athletics more than they
could ever repay. For some, refereeing is part of that payment. Some
enjoy the social aspects of sports. They like talking to the
coaches, scorekeepers, announcers, fans and players. There is also a
fellowship among officials that you seldom see in other groups.
Maybe it’s because of the war-like experiences that they go
through, but something gives them a camaraderie that I’m sure most
of them enjoy. These are all great reasons and I’m sure that there
are a dozen others that I’ve left untouched.
(To
top of second column)
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But
the biggest reason these men and women do it is because they love
the kids. They enjoy being around the young people. I have talked to
refs, umps and officials around the country, and they all seem to
like the players. Now maybe they wouldn’t if they had to live with
them or to watch them practice every day, but they categorically
state that they genuinely like the kids! Officials know that in
order to have fair and competitive contests, they must do a good job
reffing, umpiring and officiating. Don’t you wish that more fans
knew that this is the motivation for most officials? And if that’s
the case, would it or should it change our behavior at most athletic
events?
This
has been a difficult article for me to write. I have not always been
an exemplary fan, player or coach. A time or two, in the heat of
battle, I even lost my cool and took it out on the officials. I’m
sure that other coaches, players and fans have done the same thing.
That rationale not only does not make it right, but it does not
excuse our behavior either.
To
revisit an earlier point, if you think refs ref for the money, you
probably don’t know how little they’re actually getting paid. I’m
sure that there are many times that doubling the money wouldn’t
come close to covering the abuse that they’ve had to contend with.
Sooner or later, we will face the problem that we have all helped to
create – the shortage of officials. Apparently, that hit Big Ten
basketball first, about 20 years ago (see, there I go again…I can’t
even get off the officials backs’ long enough to get through an
article in their honor). Seriously, many sports are looking to drum
up as many new officials as they can get.
What
I’m saying is that we don’t always appreciate the officials that
we already have. We seem to be conditioned not to like them or
respect them. I do appreciate the ones who come out right from the
start of a game ready to take control. I respect those that are fair
and humane in how they conduct themselves on the field or on the
court. I once heard an official describe calling the perfect game…it
was done in such a way that no one even knew that he was there. I
love officials (hey, refs, am I back in your good graces yet?) that
think like that. They just want to execute their duties as
flawlessly as possible. Something that’s a penalty or an
infraction in the first minute of play is STILL a penalty or an
infraction in the last minute. A call on one end of the floor is the
same call for both teams at the other end of the court. I love
consistency. Umps, refs and officials who master that can get away
with a blown call or two here and there because their overall
consistency will compensate and ensure a fair and competitive game.
To
all officials that I have ever doubted, questioned, interrogated,
berated, embarrassed or humiliated, I ask for your forgiveness. My
will to win overtook my better judgment. In fact, I tip my cap to
you. Yours is the toughest job in the sports kingdom. To be fair and
impartial at all times means being fair and impartial when you don’t
like some cocky coach, player or team. It means being fair and
impartial when some poor team is being humiliated by another team or
coach who doesn’t have the common decency to call off the dogs.
You are expected to always make the exact correct call in every
split-second decision. No one else in the stands would want that
kind of pressure, but they don’t mind pointing out to you that you
are wrong every time your call goes against them. As I said, I
admire what you do. I could never do it. I have never had the desire
to do it. I think it is one of the hardest things to be good at in
all of sports.
We
are blessed to have a lot of good officials in our community and in
the surrounding area. For all that you men and women do, this LDN
article has been written in your honor. I implore our loyal readers
to speak a word of encouragement to a ref, an ump or an official the
next time you go to a game…because good officials are on the
endangered species list!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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