>And Scott adds, "They have to see the whole ice with out the benefit of
>being elevated and removed from the action."
 
No they don't. I thought that was the reason that linesmen were
made assistant referees. I have seen numerous occasions this year where
assistant referees have had a clear view of obvious infractions and
not made a call. Other than too many men on the ice, I haven't seen
an assistant referee make one penalty call this year at the RPI Field House.
 
>The real thorn in the fans' side is when these pathetic refs get
>important games. Was anyone in Albany to see Lake Superior State vs
>Wisconsin? It is the process by which individuals get chosen that is the
>most secretive and dumbfounding problem.
 
Yes, I was there. As a non-combatant (I had no favorite between UW and LSSU),
I agree that the officiating was awful in that game. Maybe the refs are
human like the rest of us. Maybe they're chosen because they're good refs,
but sometimes they have bad days.
 
Just in time to prove my point,Larry Weintraub wrote:
>Actually, since the officials seem to suffer from the typical problem in
>judging a phenomenon based on natural observation (notice of the bad
>officiating only) I'd like to comment that I saw two well officiated games
>this weekend.  Especially Friday night, where Doiron let them play, did not
>call every big hit that occurred, and avoided some ugliness at the end with
>swift action.  A very nice job.
>Murphy did adequately the next night as well.
 
Murphy did the RPI-Clarkson game Friday night and was awful. Not only
did the entire crowd boo him (not unusual), but RPI coach Dan Fridgen was
so frustrated, RPI was given 2 bench minors for comments Fridgen made.
 
Taylor refereed the RPI-SLU game the next night (and we've had some bad
nights with him), but Saturday's game was fine.
 
Granted that each referee has his own idea of how the game should be played.
Each player and coach needs to adjust his play to the ref's style.
And complain that I do about refs (and I do complain), I really have
no problem with different ref's having different styles.
 
What burns me is the inconsistency of calls.  If it's a penalty in the
first period, then it's a penalty in overtime. I don't buy that crap
about the refs not wanting their calls to determine the outcome of the
game. A goal scored on a power play in the first period counts just as
much as one scored in ot. As long as the referee makes it clear early what
he will and what he won't allow, then he does not control the outcome of
the game. Instead it's the stupid player who commits the penalty.
 
 
 
Mark Lewin
RPI - class of '69
 
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