In article <[log in to unmask]>, STEPHEN HENDRICKSON
<[log in to unmask]> says:
>
>Should they refs
>not call anything in OT?  You can't argue that in the ref's opinion they
>were fouls because many of them were obvious.
 
I believe you meant to say "you can't argue that in the refs' opinion
they weren't fouls because many of them wereobvious."
 
I don't understand the argument that officials should suddenly swallow
their whistles in overtime and "let the players play." If you're going
to call a hooking penalty in the first period, you should call it in
the third period and in overtime. The stage of the game shouldn't be a
factor at all. Any official who decides not to call anything near the
end of a close game, or even a blow-out, isn't cut out to be an
official in my book. When I umpire baseball games, I don't make (or not
make) calls based on whether the fans are going to yell bloody
murder. I've taken a lot of heat for it, but that goes with the
territory. Officials have to have guts to make decisions that are
going to met with violent disapproval. I did a game last summer for a
weak league in which had a final score of 40-0, and the game ended in
the third inning (out of seven). The team that lost was the pits.
Its pitcher walked everybody. Yes, I had parents screaming at me to
do something, but that's the way it was. I didn't want to be out there,
but a ball is a ball is a ball. Interestingly enough, the players
still had fun and never complained.
 
As a previous poster noted, if a team commits a penalty which
results in a power play goal against it, the team has nobody else
to blame but itself. Not calling a penalty DOES affect the game.
What do you tell the guy who was tripped as he streaked to the
goal with nobody but the goalie in the way?
_____________________________________________________________________
Ryan Robbins               "Nothing in fine print is ever good news."
University of Maine                                  -- Andy Rooney
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