Which sport has the worst officiating?

[Valuist]

Talking about team sports here. I'd have to say baseball. Replay and the pitch tracker have shown just how many mistakes there are. The most common mistake? Umpires make a lot of calls on the bases based strictly if the throw beat the runner, and not if the tag was properly applied.

The NBA refs have their own issues; calling games differently in the final minutes....different rules for star players.

I'm certainly not a fan of all the pass interference calls in the NFL, but based on the rule changes, the DBs have to do/try whatever they can.

[thaskalos]

Can horseracing be considered a "team sport"?

[Robert Fischer]

Which sport has the worst officiating?
Talking about team sports here.
...


Good question.

I don't know. A lot of room for judgment in refereeing, and different standards of judgement at different times can certainly shape the score or outcome.

[horses4courses]

Although it's one of my favorite sports, I'd have to say soccer.

A reluctance to progress along with modern technology,
namely the refusal to adopt instant replay for crucial decisions,
has hurt the game, in my opinion.

Instant replay, even in a limited form, has helped baseball and football.
Soccer should do something similar,
but doesn't look like doing so anytime soon.

"Goal line technology" is a token gesture that does nothing to compensate
for the poor officiating that happens too often in both international matches,
and throughout the leagues of the world - even the biggest ones.

[horses4courses]

Talking about team sports here. I'd have to say baseball. Replay and the pitch tracker have shown just how many mistakes there are. The most common mistake? Umpires make a lot of calls on the bases based strictly if the throw beat the runner, and not if the tag was properly applied.

The NBA refs have their own issues; calling games differently in the final minutes....different rules for star players.

I'm certainly not a fan of all the pass interference calls in the NFL, but based on the rule changes, the DBs have to do/try whatever they can.

For me, the biggest problem in baseball (my favorite sport),
is the inconsistency of the strike zone.
It's been a problem for a long time.

Remembering back in the 60's, when I was introduced to the game,
the letters on the chest of your uniform were there for a reason.
Called strikes started up there and went down to the knees.
Nowadays, the zone starts at the waist and can drop below the knees.

The problem is, though, that's it's not consistent.
It varies from ump to ump. :ThmbDown:

[Ocala Mike]

Nobody says pro football? Aren't all the officials (except for a handful) basically spot hires from college and high school coaching ranks or maybe even gym teachers and other assorted jocksniffers?

[Valuist]

Can horseracing be considered a "team sport"?

There may be some tracks that have stewards that make questionable calls, but generally speaking, I think they get it right more often than MLB or the NBA.

[MutuelClerk]

Can horseracing be considered a "team sport"?

Can't tell the players without a program.

[thaskalos]

There may be some tracks that have stewards that make questionable calls, but generally speaking, I think they get it right more often than MLB or the NBA.

When the stewards have multi-angle replays at their disposal, and there is so much riding on their decisions...then even the rare mistake cannot be tolerated...IMO. The horseracing officiating mistakes may be much fewer in number...but they are much more damaging in effect.

[TJDave]

Although it's one of my favorite sports, I'd have to say soccer.

I would agree but what really get's me PO'd is the NBA. I understand no one calls travelling or palming anymore but can't they at least change the rules? It's insulting when you only have to count to two.

[Stillriledup]

It probably depends on whether or not you think the refs are skewing calls for their company to get additional revenue, or they're trying to be honest and just suck. If they're trying to be honest and just suck we have to ask ourselves why they're still employed.

Also, ever notice that the 'sucking' most always seems to benefit the team who needs the game. Nobody seems to remember or care about Joey 'the cooler of the team In the series lead' Crawford's 'oops I made a boo boo' calls in game 2 of the Clips Spurs series. He just made a few key booboos that are all forgotten, especially since the Clips would have been equally tired if that series went 5 or 7, just happened to go 7 though.

[dirty moose]

Nobody says pro football? Aren't all the officials (except for a handful) basically spot hires from college and high school coaching ranks or maybe even gym teachers and other assorted jocksniffers?

They are also part time employees.

[Robert Goren]

The NBA! Not even close. In fairness to the NBA refs, the rules are very complex and full of nuisances and none of us fans have any idea what they are. Neither do most of the TV announcers. And since the league is based on the popularity of a few larger than life players, there is tremendous pressure to make those Superstars look even better than they are. It is a no win situation.

[zico20]

For a couple of decades it was the NHL without a doubt. Nobody knew what a penalty was. Each ref had his own set of rules. Mick Mcgeough would call interference 4 times a game where as another ref wouldn't call interference for a whole month. The NHL has gotten so much better today.

While we could start another thread on this I also have to say the NHL refs were the most biased in all of sports. Certain refs ALWAYS called games in favor of certain teams or against certain teams. Richard Trottier screwed the Blues every time he took the ice. He once called 14 penalties to 2 in a game against Buffalo. Thankfully the NHL has cleaned up its act.

[badcompany]

I would go with Professional Wrestling. Those Refs fall for the same stuff time and time again. ;)

[Marshall Bennett]

Beach-Volleyball. :D

[Valuist]

Nobody says pro football? Aren't all the officials (except for a handful) basically spot hires from college and high school coaching ranks or maybe even gym teachers and other assorted jocksniffers?

The problem isn't the officials. Its the rules, which really, really suck now.

[cj]

Baseball umpires are pretty bad, particularly balls and strikes.

[Marshall Bennett]

Baseball umpires are pretty bad, particularly balls and strikes.
If they're consistent with their zone though-out the game I have no issues. It has to be difficult at the major league level wearing a mask, squatting behind a catcher that constantly moves about, calling balls and strikes. Fastballs at 90+ mph with movement and breaking pitches that fall off the table. I think the umpires do okay considering.

[dav4463]

I would go with Professional Wrestling. Those Refs fall for the same stuff time and time again. ;)

I know! They never see the outside interference or foreign objects until it's too late! :D

[Valuist]

If they're consistent with their zone though-out the game I have no issues. It has to be difficult at the major league level wearing a mask, squatting behind a catcher that constantly moves about, calling balls and strikes. Fastballs at 90+ mph with movement and breaking pitches that fall off the table. I think the umpires do okay considering.

I don't buy this. They've had to work their way up the system. If they can't handle squatting, the system would weed them out long before they get the callup to The Show. And they aren't the ones who have to hit those pitches, or catch them. But my personal pet peeve is umpires who make their calls strictly if the throw beats the runner, because they are too lazy to get into proper position to see if the tag was applied.

[EMD4ME]

I would go with Professional Wrestling. Those Refs fall for the same stuff time and time again. ;)

I know...They're just like us Horseplayers LMAO.....

[Elliott Sidewater]

Olympic Ice Dancing

[Hoofless_Wonder]

Roller Derby. The refs just prolong the fights.

[AndyC]

Nobody says pro football? Aren't all the officials (except for a handful) basically spot hires from college and high school coaching ranks or maybe even gym teachers and other assorted jocksniffers?

A good friend of mine was an on field official in the NFL for 20 years. He now works for the NFL full-time off the field with a team that evaluates the performance of each official EVERY game.

To answer your question, no the officials are not spot hires. They pay their dues at lower levels usually starting in high school and then moving up to NCAA. To get to the NFL each official is scrutinized as though they were applying to the CIA. Their on-field and off-field performance must meet high standards. There are officials who get fired every year for shoddy on-field work.

[Stillriledup]

A good friend of mine was an on field official in the NFL for 20 years. He now works for the NFL full-time off the field with a team that evaluates the performance of each official EVERY game.

To answer your question, no the officials are not spot hires. They pay their dues at lower levels usually starting in high school and then moving up to NCAA. To get to the NFL each official is scrutinized as though they were applying to the CIA. Their on-field and off-field performance must meet high standards. There are officials who get fired every year for shoddy on-field work.

Which NFL refs were fired over the last 5 years (give me one per year starting in 2010) and what was the specific reason (game, call, etc) they were let go. And no the replacements don't count.

[_______]

Which NFL refs were fired over the last 5 years (give me one per year starting in 2010) and what was the specific reason (game, call, etc) they were let go. And no the replacements don't count.

11 officials turned over between the 2013 and 2014 seasons. 2 were retirements. The NFL doesn't comment on personnel matters for the same reason other employers don't.

But 2 retired. 9 others weren't there anymore.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/127837/inside-slant-nfl-officiating-quietly-changes

[AndyC]

Which NFL refs were fired over the last 5 years (give me one per year starting in 2010) and what was the specific reason (game, call, etc) they were let go. And no the replacements don't count.

I've got better things to do than make up stories about NFL refs. My post was simply to add a differing perspective to an obviously ignorant post.

[Stillriledup]

11 officials turned over between the 2013 and 2014 seasons. 2 were retirements. The NFL doesn't comment on personnel matters for the same reason other employers don't.

But 2 retired. 9 others weren't there anymore.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/127837/inside-slant-nfl-officiating-quietly-changes

Of course they don't comment, they're the NFL, their silence speaks volumes.

[AndyC]

Of course they don't comment, they're the NFL, their silence speaks volumes.

If you have a point why don't you just make it?

[_______]

Of course they don't comment, they're the NFL, their silence speaks volumes.

No employer discusses the reasons an employee was terminated in public. There is zero upside to doing so.

Congrats on 20,000, btw.

[Stillriledup]

No employer discusses the reasons an employee was terminated in public. There is zero upside to doing so.

Congrats on 20,000, btw.

Thanks underline, appreciate it.

Dont you think sports is different though? If a player gets 'fired' we know why, we also know players salaries, if a ref makes a bad call and thats the reason he gets canned, why does that have to be kept on the QT?

[_______]

Thanks underline, appreciate it.

Dont you think sports is different though? If a player gets 'fired' we know why, we also know players salaries, if a ref makes a bad call and thats the reason he gets canned, why does that have to be kept on the QT?


We know that two guys retired and nine guys were let go for performance issues.

We know that it probably wasn't any single play that cost any of them. I don't think it works that way. I expect they are graded on each game and if they make one mistake, it affects that weeks grade. Guys that aren't showing improvement from unsatisfactory performances are at risk of going back to the NCAA.

As far as public disclosure, it's a dog eat dog world already. Why make it worse?

[Stillriledup]

We know that two guys retired and nine guys were let go for performance issues.

We know that it probably wasn't any single play that cost any of them. I don't think it works that way. I expect they are graded on each game and if they make one mistake, it affects that weeks grade. Guys that aren't showing improvement from unsatisfactory performances are at risk of going back to the NCAA.

As far as public disclosure, it's a dog eat dog world already. Why make it worse?

Good points.

[Dark Horse]

Amateur sports have the worst officiating (including college). Pro sports have both the best and, at times, the most corrupt officiating.

The pro sport with the most 'wrong' decisions per game is the NBA, because it's the sport with the most whistles (where a single whistle can decide the outcome). The cleanest pro sport in my opinion is MLB.

[cj]

Amateur sports have the worst officiating (including college). Pro sports have both the best and, at times, the most corrupt officiating.

The pro sport with the most 'wrong' decisions per game is the NBA, because it's the sport with the most whistles (where a single whistle can decide the outcome). The cleanest pro sport in my opinion is MLB.

I'm not sure the NBA has more whistles per play than the NFL. Would be interesting to find out how close it is if you count a possession in basketball the same as a play in football. You'd also have to consider fouls that were intentional in basketball.

[Inner Dirt]

Amateur sports have the worst officiating (including college). Pro sports have both the best and, at times, the most corrupt officiating.

The pro sport with the most 'wrong' decisions per game is the NBA, because it's the sport with the most whistles (where a single whistle can decide the outcome). The cleanest pro sport in my opinion is MLB.

That and the fact no two games are called alike. If two teams have a habit of rough play against each other refs will call a lot of early fouls to "Set the tone". Also a player's status or reputation alters how he gets calls for or against. If Lebron runs over the Milwaukee Buck's 12th man on the way to the hoop 99% of the time that call goes Lebron's way. If a game is tied with 3 seconds left and the team on offense tries to inbound into the paint, they will let them play, rarely calling a foul, if the same aggressiveness happened a quarter earlier there would have been a whistle.

[Dark Horse]

I'm not sure the NBA has more whistles per play than the NFL. Would be interesting to find out how close it is if you count a possession in basketball the same as a play in football. You'd also have to consider fouls that were intentional in basketball.

It's apples and oranges. In the NBA a foul is not isolated, but can have repercussions for the rest of the game. If Duncan has two early fouls he's either taken out of the game or will get out of the way on defense instead of picking up the third. Next thing you know the refs may not whistle as much, but the other team is getting easy baskets inside. (I used to bet on the other team immediately if Shaq or Duncan picked up two early fouls, regardless of the score).