>>
>>>Helga Dimitrov writes:
>>>>Dave Aiello wrote:
>>>>[edited]
 
>>>I
>>>believe a lot of the fan hostility toward officials comes from the
>>>perception that officials think they 1)can't be wrong 2)are in charge and
>>>therefore they can do whatever they want and 3)are accountable to no one
>>>but themselves. Of course not every official is like this.
 
Mike Machnik wrote:
>I would say that with very few exceptions, no DivI college hockey
>official is like this.
 
But we're talking about ill-informed fans here. To them, every official is
a roadblock to their team winning. The *perception* is that officials
believe they are above it all. I guess "Of course not every official is
like this" should have been written "Of course not every official is
*perceived* like this" to make it more clear.
 
>I also think that the fan hostility actually comes about from several
>reasons:
>
>* The fans' belief that because they paid to get in, they can scream
>whatever they want at the players and officials;
>* A desire to show off in front of friends or fellow fans by harassing
>officials; and, typically,
>* A serious lack of knowledge of the playing rules and the manner in
>which they are to be applied.
 
Yes, these are the people I'm talking about. The discussion started with
comments about people feeling their team got the shaft when the truth was
they didn't understand the rules.
 
>Mike Tuell's comments posted by Wayne last week should be a clear
>indication that officials know they are responsible for their actions
>and are accountable to the powers that be.
 
But how many Neanderthal fans (or even average fans) are aware of this? And
how many could tell you who the "powers that be" are? Are you talking about
coaches? Conferences? Officials' supervisors? All of the above? None of the
above? Joe Fan who thinks Ref X is awful and keeps seeing Ref X officiating
games does not perceive that Ref X has been accountable to anyone. The
faulty logic is "he sucks, he keeps officiating games, *they* hate my team,
*they're* out to keep us down." I never said any of it was rational or
justified. It's just out there in some people's minds and you'll have a
hell of a time changing that.
 
>>>>Finally, every game official deserves the courtesy of being referred to by
>>>>his full name, or "Mr." and his last name.
 
>>>Give me a break. You want my respect? Call a good game. Be consistent. Show
>>>that you take your job seriously. Don't tell me you *deserve* to be called
>>>mister because you choose to wear a striped shirt in a game.
 
>Apparently Hockey East agrees with Dave, since HE officials are
>introduced as "Mister" so-and-so before each game at HE rinks.  I
>believe this is the case at most other rinks, too.
 
>Besides, I have seen enough games where officials did call a good
>game, were consistent, and still took a boatload of abuse.  Simply
>meeting these criteria is just not going to be enough to cause fans to
>respect them.
 
It's enough to get *my* respect, which is what I said. And it's enough,
I'll bet, to get the respect of most "good" fans. The other ones need far
more work than being told to use "Mister" to ever see an official as
anything but evil to their team's cause.
________________________________
Helga Dimitrov
CWRU Magazine, Office of Public Affairs
Case Western Reserve University
235 Yost Hall, 216/368-6949 voice, -4835 fax