In all seriousness, I suggest that people who think the officiating is in
some way biased against their team take a period or so in an upcoming game
to try the following.
 
Try to watch the game from a neutral point of view.  I understand people
thinking the other team may have too many penalties let go because you tend
to watch the game from your team's point of view, and things that may be
called on your team you tend to see as good plays - or noncalls on the
other team look like penalties to you.  But instead of concentrating on
your team, watch both teams.  Keep track of how many bad calls or
noncalls are made against each team.  I'll bet you'll find that the result
will be nearly the same for both sides.
 
Better yet, take in a game where you don't have a rooting interest in
either team, if possible, and do the same.  This isn't possible for many
fans, so what I would suggest is, for example, if you follow BC and go to
see them play BU, instead of watching the play develop from the BC point of
view, watch as if you were a BU fan - watch the way they break out, move
the puck up ice, set up in the other end, etc.  If nothing else, it helps
you gain an appreciation for the strengths of the opposing team.  Sometimes
I'll read comments about how team so-and-so lost because they played
poorly, but there is no mention about how well the other team may have
played.  Again, I understand this because most people watch the game
through rose-colored glasses, but in a way you're also missing half the
game.
 
I rarely comment on the officiating because 1) I rarely see a game where I
think it makes an effect on the outcome of the game, and 2) I can only
think of one game, among the 300 or so I have seen live over the past 8
years, where I thought the officiating seemed clearly biased in favor of
one team.  And that was a game in which I had no rooting interest in either
team.
 
I say all this because I do think the officials are usually unfairly
maligned; I can't comment on the RPI games Rich was referring to since I
didn't see them, but it is not uncommon for me to hear postgame comments
from fans who think the officiating was poor or so obviously against their
team, and I just did not see it that way.  I don't know that this was the
case here, but I can only suggest folks try to do what I said above and see
if it gives them a different perspective.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*