Pat,
 
Please excuse me: I addressed you as Peter in my last xmsg.
 
I watch a number of NCAA hockey games via satellite. Among these
have been CCHA games which you ref.
 
To your comments on consistency: AMEN. I fully support your position
on one ref/one linesman. I have seen the two ref system work well at
times; however, more often than not, it seems that the ref's have a
hard time supporting each other. Most of the time, one ref will make
calls while the other more or less shrinks back. I have seen cases
where the two refs will actually argue against each other on the ice
or shake their head at a particular call. The problem seems to be that
no one is in charge and no one can agree on what is right or wrong.
 
I know that ref's are constantly evaluated by coaches and other league
officials. In one case in the WCHA, I have seen this greatly improve a
particular ref. He started off one of the worst but steadily improved.
Now he is among the best in the WCHA. On the other hand, there are
few (no where near the majority) who do not seem to improve and
do not seem to be weeded out. It has gotten so bad in the WCHA that
the coaches refuse to allow certain refs officiate at their home games.
It does not seem right to allow coaches to pick and choose refs for
their games. Either the ref is capable or he is not. If he is not, then
he should not ref anywhere.
 
I also realize that the coaches can not themselves agree on how the
game should be played. In the WCHA, Woog (U of Minn) and Gwozdecki (DU)
are noted for being in favor of a kinder, more gentle, game of hockey such
as played at the high school level in Minnesota. On the other hand
Saur (U of Wisc) and Mancini (MTU) desire a game with more contact such
as in the pro game and the Canadian leagues. This in itself is reflected
in schism of officials. As a member of the "shinny alumni" I am biased
towards the contact game with penalties called when safety is at stake.
 
The situation with part time officials is problematic. I fully believe
that the revenue that is being brought in by coaches and the NCAA through
television and corporate endorsements should allow enough funding for
at least one professional official per NCAA sanctioned game. As it stands
now, you all have to be matyrs to two different employment systems. It is
not the fault of the NCAA refs that there is so much variability in skills
and performance. In my mind, this is one of the problems with the NCAA.
 
I highly doubt that officials chose to ref for a need of money: there just
ain't that much. Instead, I believe that you do do for the love of hockey.
I suspect that the reason that I continue to provide summaries of the
MTU games (even if at times, my lenses do seem to fill with black, silver
and gold ... I have no excuse: I graduated from a school with the colors
black, gray and gold) is that I also love the game. That doesn't make me
right or good at this. As much as I love the game and dedicate an amount
of unpaid time towards it, I can not hope to develop the understanding of
game and its finer points as well as a coach or even a player. I am also
not a professional journalist and don't hope to be a professional sports
writer. Nor can I match the skills of such people. Instead, I fill a void
that I think needs filling. NCAA and,in particular, MTU hockey is good
hockey and the word needs to get out. I know that several MTU alumni and
parents of MTU read my comments, as bad as they are, religiously. Each
week, I get back comments: sometimes they tell my I am full of ...; other
comments express appreciation since they can get the information in no
other way. I think the same is true of refs. You probably spend more time
with the game than I do. I commend your dedication to the game. My intent
and I hope it is yours and other officials as well is to improve where
ever I can possibly contribute.
 
Your comments give us another view, a view that I don't have. I also don't
know where else this view can be found. Thus your comments are extremely
timely and enlightening. Thank you.
 
 
Walt Olson
 
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