I'm glad no one responded to his moronic, insult laden posting that
followed this one. At least this one had a modicum of logic and
lack of moronicity (is that a word?) in it.
 
Scott Williams wrote:
 
>Well, I am not a hockey official, but I can answer this question as a
>baseball umpire.  First, I don't think many people realize that if in
>hockey, baseball, or any sport that requires judgement calls by
>officials, if a game were called EXACTLY as the rules say, the games
>would be as boring as hell.  If a hockey referee called every single
>infraction as laid out in the rules, the game would be stopped so often
>that there would be very little action and the game would not have the
>non-stop action that makes hockey fun to watch and play.
 
Of COURSE officiating requires judgement. However, players have a right
to expect the refs to be relatively consistent. Everyone in the NHL knows
that Paul Stewart will never blow the whistle unless you're unconscious for
20 seconds. Thus the players adjust. ECAC players know that someone like
John Gallagher will call a penalty every 20 seconds. The players adjust.
The players need to know what they have to adjust to.
 
>        Secondly a penalty or foul or ball/strike is not the same in the
>beginning of a game as in the end.  From my baseball experience, I can
>tell you that if a pitcher is throwing strikes consistantly throughout
>the game, later in the game he will get the close calls.  A pitcher with
>inconsistant control will not get a call in his favor on a pitch that is in
>the same
>location as the first pitcher.  Also, if there is a close play on a steal
>of second in the 9th inning by a team that is up by sereral runs, he will
>be out, even if he was safe (assuming a _very_ close play).  In hockey,
>near the end of a close game, the refs (same as in basketball) let the
>players play.
 
No, that's wrong. If he's safe, he's safe. If he's out, he's out. I've
officiated baseball games too and you have to make a split-second
instantaneous call. You don't have time to stop and think "what call
would make the game more intestering?"
 
If an umpire is consistently calling pitches on the outside corner,
both the pitcher and batter will adjust (by throwing more pitches there
or swinging at close pitches). But if the ump keeps alteranting what he
calls on the corner, no one will know what the hell is going on.
 
>Flagrant and obvious penalties are called, but the closer
>stuff is let go.  I am of the opinion that officials late in the game
>should let calls go and let the players play and decide the game.  I am
>not advocating a free-for-all on the ice, or a no-autopsy/no-foul policy,
>the officials still need to keep control of the game, but they should
>also let the little things go and let the players decide the game.
 
Thing is, that if you're going to let the close stuff go, that's ok. But
LET IT GO THE WHOLE GAME NOT JUST IN THE THIRD PERIOD.
 
>       Finally, Ryan Robbins, said something about regardless if the
>score is a blowout.  Near the end of a game the score makes all the
>difference in what is and what is not called.  With a minute to go, team
>A (who is losing by 4 goals) steals the puck and has a 2 on 1 breakaway, but
>one guy is offsides by 2 a couple of inches.  No ref in thier right mind
>is going to blow the whistle on that and I don't think ( and hope) that
>anyone reading this would do the same.
 
True but the defensive team in this case is going to be furious. That is
PRECISELY the time when you have to blow the whistle. You don't want a game
to be won under questionable circumstances. You want "the players to decide
it".
 
>In a close game in the Final
>Four, when a call like that has same meaning, I sure hope it gets
>called, but not in some (relatively) meaningless non-league game in early
>November.
 
So the refs shouldn't have assesed Chris Weber a technical foul because
it was in the last seconds of the championship game? Shoulda just let
that one go, I guess.
 
************
Bri Farenell
[log in to unmask]                Clarkson Univ. '95
Glens Falls High Class of '91                   Go Erin Whitten (GFH '89)!
NCAA and AHL (among others) contact for rec.sport.hockey
Join the AHL mailing list: [log in to unmask]      Go USA Hockey!
Adirondack Red Wings, AHL Calder Cup Champions: 1981    1986    1989    1992