As others have noted, the recent bout of ref-bashing is probably not
justified in any rational way, but since when are fans rational? :-)
I think Frank Cole is one of the better Eastern refs; I was at that
Wisconsin-LSSU game in Albany when the Badgers went berserk at the
calls. I admit I was rooting for the Lakers, but my memory says that I
thought the Wisconsin players were very wrong in their complaints. The
calls were pretty fair, I thought. The fact that the Badgers were losing
may have influenced their thinking, of course .... :-))
Several of the Hockey East folks have referred to Bob Fowkes reffing
games this year with and/without McBride. I think everyone might mean
Rich Fowkes. (They're not the same, right?) McBride can ref good games,
but his style tends to get coaches, players, and fans more upset, I
think; he often spends a lot of time talking and explaining to everyone,
and I think this just gives them more opportunity to vent. (On the other
hand, he does have a history of making the occasional bizarre call ...)
The bashing happens every year, it seems, and with almost no exceptions
the refereeing does not cause a team to lose or win a particular game. I
don't expect things to change, though; fans and teams will still
complain. On the whole Hockey East refs are pretty good.
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Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
Yes, H-L in Cincy!!!! A hopeful BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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