As parents, we try desperately to teach our kids the right things - eat your vegetables, don't play with matches, look both ways before crossing the street, and respect the officials at the game. Huh? respect the officials? Yes, in youth sports, we talk to the kids about respecting the officials. Over and over and over I've heard the coaches say "don't argue with the refs."
Flip the page to the NFL in 2012. They are using replacement officials and there has been a lot of frustration surrounding them - blown calls, not following some of the rules, etc. Teams are in an uproar because they feel they were "cheated" out of a victory. The most notable is the Green Bay Packers loss to the Seattle Seahawks on September 24th on the last play of the game. After repeated reviewing by all of us, the official blew a call and it cost the Packers the game.
People are yelling - literally and via social media about "those terrible replacement officials." Some have used language that I won't repeat, others have ranted and still others have been just plain mean.
How then do we reconcile the mixed messages we send our kids? "Son, when you play sports, always respect the officials." With "When I watch the BIG game, I reserve the right to curse, berate, smear, and just plain hate the officials."
Let me offer some perspective.
Once upon a time, I was much more opinionated about my sports teams and the officiating at the games. I've been guilty of yelling (but not cursing) at officials for a bad call during a contest. It's not something I'm particularly proud of, but nevertheless it has happened.
Over the years, I've learned a thing or two from others and have changed my perspective on what officials bring to any sporting contest. The first thing I learned sometime ago from an article that pointed out at the end of a contest, the official goes home to his or her family. That article talked about the family members of the official sitting in the stands and being mortified as spectators used language for their loved one that no one would use on their dog! That article opened my eyes to their humanity and started to change the way I viewed officials at a contest.
The second thing I learned was from a coach that my older boys had. She has said for years, "If they didn't call it, it didn't happen." In other words, you can't change what the official did or didn't see so get over it. This taught me that the officials deserve respect, even when they are wrong.
A blown call is horribly frustrating. Ask Armondo Galarraga who lost a bid to have a perfect game for the Detroit Tigers in 2010 by a blown call from umpire Jim Joyce. Here's what the umpire said after the game, "It was the biggest call of my career," an emotional Joyce told reporters, "and I kicked it. I just cost that kid a perfect game." A perfect game is nearly impossible to complete and this one was taken by a human error.
As frustrated as he was, here's what Armondo said, "I feel terrible. I don't know why life works this way, but sometimes life just isn't fair for people. He's a good umpire."
Fast forward to August 2012. That same umpire with whatever names people wanted to call him in 2010 after the blown call, made the right call and literally saved a woman's life. From Yahoo Sports.com "Joyce, a 24-year veteran of the major leagues, used CPR to help save the life of a woman having a seizure. The woman, a game-day employee of the Arizona Diamondbacks named Jayne Powers, who joined the organization on its first day of existence in 1998, is said to be "doing well" Tuesday. But if Joyce had not stepped forward, who knows if she would have made it?"
I'm pretty confident that Jayne Powers is thankful that umpire Jim Joyce "made the right call" and didn't quit umpiring the day he made a mistake. If he had, maybe she wouldn't be here.
Officials make mistakes, but don't we all? Have you ever yelled at your kids when it wasn't their fault? Have you ever been speeding and didn't get a ticket? How about running a red light? The list goes on to infinity.
The tough part is that an official's job is magnified a thousand times by instant replay with cameras at almost every angle. The human official gets seconds (if that) to make a decision. The rest of us get to watch the play for as long and as slow as we want and then make our decision. How many of us could get all of the calls right with only seconds to watch the play and make a decision?
What are we going to do? Are we going to follow our own advice to the kids and respect the officials? Or are we going to curse, berate, and shout at "those blankety-blank officials until they see it our way?
