What a job to have

Written by Daniel Gunderson Friday, 04 December 2009 08:00

As Rodney Dangerfield would say, “I get no respect.” That is probably how sports officials feel when they are doing their jobs.

It does not matter what sport you are officiating over, nobody believes you are doing it right. You make a call to benefit the home team and you are a homer. You make a call to benefit the visiting team and now you’re just trying to make sure you don’t seem like a homer. It is a vicious cycle.

You also have sometimes thousands of “officials” sitting around you judging your every call. Basketball might be the worst. There is no sport where the crowd is so close to the action.

In baseball, the home plate umpire has an impact on every pitch, but the crowd is not nearly as close as those fans that sit court-side at NBA games. You have to admit, if you are willing to sacrifice a kidney and your first born child for season tickets that put you that close, you have the right to yell at the refs.

I got the pleasure to sit courtside at two NDSU home games this past weekend. I also got the opportunity to hear some very intelligent arguments rifled from the crowd towards the referees. If there is such a thing as Minnesota nice, I have to believe that the gentlemen behind me were not residents of the state.

Every call that went against NDSU was the worst call they had ever seen. Height, gender, I am pretty sure one guy called an official the name of an animal I had never heard of. It was all fair game to the people in the crowd. If those fans had been calling that game, it would have never ended. NDSU might still be shooting free throws.

The players, as well, can be a handful to deal with. The women seem a little bit more compliant with officials, but that does not mean they don’t sometimes shoot the officials a look. The kind of look you would get from your girlfriend when you say that girl on TV is kind of cute. Only difference is the refs do not have to buy anybody dinner later.

With the men, they tend to be more vocal. It usually turns into a discussion rather than a shouting match. Most men players will ask the ref what he saw, then tell him what he thought happened. Chances are that stories do not match.

All in all, you have to have pretty thick skin to be an official at any level. I am glad that I will never have to go through such a rigorous experience.