A couple of comments on the officiating question (now that I've caught
up on my unread hockey-l mail):
 
- JimL (who reads but almost never posts to hockey-l) thinks I'm one of
  the more biased fans at the games... I think thats because I really
  am a "fan"... and just naturally (as Mike pointed out) watch the
  Badgers play closer than the other way... but I really do want more
  consistant officiating, (and when I see it, usually comment about the
  missed calls both ways) and am pretty sure that I've never seen the
  kind of consistant (game to game, ref to ref) bias by refs that
  others sometimes complain about.
 
- I like a slightly tighter called game than some do, but most of all,
  a consistant game (which I think is what everyone wants).
 
- I really like the "wash-out" signal for dives (and other no-calls?)
  It looks like not all the refs are using it, but those of us
  who know what it is can see that the ref isn't lost out there,
  he made a decision.
 
- I've seen too many games where there comes a point where a really
  good official (Buzzy, believe it or not, WCHA fans) wold make the
  right call to cool things down, and (more often), an official who
  doesn't have quite that feel for the game (*and therefore *didn't*
  make the call when it was needed*) lets things go too long... and
  ends up calling penalties every shift for the rest of the night,
  trying to "keep" (really regain) control of the game.
 
- At the Badger Hockey Showdown, watching the first games (Wisconsin
  played in the second game both nights) each day was kinda fun -- the
  people watching were generally interested in hockey (not just
  Wisconsin), and (since we were sitting in the 4th row) we had a good
  close look at the play, and really had no biases either way. One of
  the refs (sorry, don't know who) really looked like he had no idea
  what was going on. I mean, he just didn't look alert at all, not just
  that he was letting things go.
 
- The 2 ref system has improved things, in my opinion.  Also, the
  new face off rules seem to help (most of the time).
 
  --david
 
 
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david parter                            university of wisconsin -- madison
[log in to unmask]                           computer sciences department