The ref this, the ref that...get over it!  This was posted last year, and it
make a hell of a lot of sense.
 
Karl
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LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT A HOCKEY REFEREE
 
Let's take a look at the hockey official who is alleged to be responsible for
the inability of players to score goals and teams to win games. He is the
living barrier who mysteriously transforms victory to defeat.  What are his
qualifications and is there anything to be said in his defense?
 
In the first place, the IDEAL referee must be an apt student, who is letter
perfect in the laws of hockey and their interpretation. Unlike judges in our
courts, he must see the crime, identify the offense and hand out the
sentence - not later in the day, tomorrow or next month, but all within seconds.
 
Next, the IDEAL referee must be a good skater and physically sound. A player
can get frequent relief but officials must be on the ice for the entire game.
Moreover, hockey officials are expected to act as peace officers and prevent
crime by restraining angry players who are intent upon beating up their
opponents.
 
An IDEAL referee, and there is no such person, should have the speed of a
sprinter, the endurance of a marathoner, the tact of a diplomat, the mind of
a professor and the unruffled demeanor of a supreme court judge. It would
also help if he had 20-20 vision and was stone deaf.
 
Fans, players, coaches and management alike expect too much of officials.
Few players ever think their sentence was deserved; coaches shriek in anguish
at a borderline off-side call; and fans view with alarm every decision that
goes against their favorites. Yet in contrast, a judge has his judgment
appealed and his decision repealed without loss of prestige. No less than
perfection is expected from the versatile hockey official.
 
It is an old but valid argument that referees don't make the rules; they are
merely agents charged with the responsibility of enforcing the laws as
provided by the rule book. The fact that players trip, charge, spear, or
highstick is not the referee's fault any more than a police officer is
responsible for the actions of offenders who break society's laws.
 
Few men are so constituted that they can suffer silently while they are
publicly criticized. While it is unlikely that hockey's governing bodies
will do much to ease the referee's life while the sport is enjoying a prolific
boom, it does seem that there should be less official criticism of referees
and linesmen.
 
For instance, it isn't fair to second guess them with slow motion film. The
man on the ice has to call the play instantly; he can't wait for the crowd
to tell him and he can't see what goes on behind his back. Neither can he
ponder over border line incidents in his private chambers or delay a decision
momentarily while awaiting the instant replay. He just has to do the best he
can based on his years of experience. He doesn't expect to be popular; but
he has a right to be recognized as the representative of the law makers and to
be spared from public humiliation and criticism from those who are
themselves involved in the development of the sport.
 
Certainly, hockey cannot exist without officials; so we had better learn to
live with them and, who knows, we might even learn to like them.
 
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