Which sport has the worst officiating?
 

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.

Can horseracing be considered a "team sport"?

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.

Soccer
 

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.

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:

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?

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.

Can't tell the players without a program.

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.

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.

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.

They are also part time employees.

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.

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.

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