Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModePointing the finger at officials hurts the game, young players
January 23, 2006 —
The controversy over the officiating in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs stirred up a pet peeve of minethat stretches far back to my little league days. Almost everyone (from coaches to players to fans) is far too critical of officiating in sports, creating a double standard in which blame is cast off and little tolerance is given to those who make mistakes.
During the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts game Jan. 15, the officials made several questionable calls (including overturning an apparent interception by Steelers safety Troy Polamalu), enraging armchair quarterbacks everywhere and prompting Steelers linebacker Joey Porter to suggest the officials were cheating and purposely favoring the Colts.
While I do not believe the officials were cheating, I do recognize that the calls they made were probably incorrect. However, unlike Porter and most of the sports world (including the media), I also recognize that the officials are human and just as capable of making mistakes as anyone else.
Officials in all sports need to be given some slack by those who participate in and follow the games. They perform a thankless job where one mistake can leave them the topic of conversation on the countless sports talk programs on radio and television. Just imagine how the average student would feel if the Vanguard covered test scores like sports scores and said, "Well, Jimmy took a pretty good test overall but really blew the multiple choice questions on the second half. Even when the professor threw the red flag and let them use his notes he still couldn't find the right answer."
Chances are, most people would not find such an idea amusing yet often do not hesitate to complain that a bad call cost their team the game (See Michigan versus Nebraska, Alamo Bowl 2005).
I can't begin to tell you how many mistakes (both big and small) that I have made doing my job. I have spelled words wrong, mixed up facts and forgotten information because I am far from flawless. I have never intentionally made these mistakes but do understand that they come with the territory. But in the end, I am confident that I am good at my job and realize that there are even more mistakes to come down the road. Failing is part of life.
So it pains me when I see these officials getting sent to slaughter because people seem to forget that they are human. Excuse me if I'm being too critical when I say that pointing out and scrutinizing another's mistake seems very American. And while I recognize the irony in writing a column about what a mistake it is to point out other's mistakes, I think I can get away with it by saying that everyone needs to work on avoiding finger pointing - including me.
The worst byproduct of such poor sportsmanship, though, is that America's youth is soaking it up. I have played sports all of my life and have done some coaching as well. It frightens me when I see a kid who still has a 9:00 bed time cuss out an umpire because he was called out on a close play. But I'm not surprised this happens, because usually that same kid's mother or father is trying to storm the field to get a few punches in too.
Today's society seems to believe that everyone is out to get everyone else. That is why when an umpire makes a bad call it fails to be an accident but rather a purposeful move to try to cheat the player. And because of this, it is becoming more widely accepted for young players to question umpires, referees and even their own coach. These kids seem to have been taught that life is fair when in actuality, it is far from it.
The bottom line to all of this is that people need to stop being so judgmental about the mistakes of officials in sports because it is negatively impacting far more than just a game. America's youth is beginning to get the hang of pointing fingers too, and it's no telling who they will point their collective finger at next.