Dave Smith writes:
>> but it is possible for a ref to ruin a good game. (Kenny you had to see it
>> to believe it...and I don't think you saw it).
>
>Like Kenny Z. doesn't hear this enough already :-)
 
Hah!  :-)   VERY funny...   enough said.    :-)
 
On a serious note, however, it's been quite interesting to see the real
extreme degrees of pleasure/displeasure with the officiating for the
final game, even to the point that some say the game was consistently
called, while others feel it was inconsistent.  I mean, it can't be BOTH,
right?  Or can it?  Fact of the matter is, we all see the game differently,
so our judgements will be many and varying.
 
It's funny, I remember refereeing a NIHOA game this season (two-man), and
a fight broke out between two players.  I was looking right at the play
and the actions which started up the fight, and assigned penalties
accordingly.  After the game, I was talking with my partner, who asked why
I called what I did, and I explained.  He then explained what he saw, and
what he would have called.  He was also looking right at the play.  So
both of us saw the same play differently, and it was amusing.
 
Point is, that's just TWO of us.  Put a few hundred or a few thousand fans --
opinionated, and sometimes ignorant (of course, not HOCKEY-Ler's...  :-) )
fans -- together, and you're gonna get a wide variety of play interpretations.
The fact remains that no matter what the players/coaches/fans think of the
officiating, the respect level still has to be there.  The Badgers failed
at this, and to me, have disgraced themselves, their school, and the
sport of college hockey.  I was not at the game, unfortunately, but if
what I heard about the abuse of the referee is true, then I believe severe
action should be taken against the offending players.  Sorry if that sounds
harsh, but there's no excuse or room for it in this sport.  Period.  Even
the newspapers, in an attempt to jump on the "blame-the-ref" bandwagon,
seem to forget this.  I hope we, as the "educated elite fans", do not
lose site of it.               -- kennyz
 
--
Kenny Zalewski -- Information Technology Services at Rensselaer
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 83 Albright Court, Troy, NY, 12180
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