Bad officiating

I'm not a fan of coaches and players blaming a loss on bad officiating. The refs have a very difficult job and one job I really wouldn't want. I remember the days I volunteered to be an umpire for little league baseball. My first game was horrifying. On that particular day, I was on the field making calls. Since there were only two umps to a game, I positioned myself behind second base. I'd then have to run to first to make a call when a batter hit the ball into play. No complaints that day. I did a pretty good job. The next game I found myself behind home plate calling balls and strikes. Even though I played catcher in most of my playing days, this was a totally different perspective. It can be difficult to tell if the ball nipped the edge of the plate within the strikezone and you can't delay the call. You have to make a decision whether right or wrong almost without thinking. Oh and of course there had to be a close play at the plate. Goodness gracious, I probably made a few bad calls on both sides so it sort of balanced itself out.

Back to my point. The Super Bowl officials made some horrendous calls and all went against Seattle. I expect fans, spectators and the media to talk all about the bad officiating for weeks. I can understand that players and coaches would be mad as hell but you shouldn't continue to "blame" your loss on the officials. Mike Holgrem sunk down low and continued to criticize the refs in a very public setting. He came off like a sore loser and drew attention away from the fact he made some bad calls of his own especially at the end of both halves.

The latest whiner, Phil Jackson, Mr. I have nine NBA championships, complained about the refs making poor calls and blowing their whistles in favor of the Dallas Mavericks. He then blamed it on the Mavs owner Mark Cuban because Cuban reviews the tapes, files complaints to the league about bum officiating. This causes the refs to be fearful of Cuban so they call more fouls on the Mavs opponents. Dude, your team got blown out of the water and you blame the poor effort of your team on the refs. Classy, real classy.

My advice, stop complaining and just play the game. Do your best to win the game and overcome any calls that go against your team. If you lose, oh well. Bitch all you want at home and in private. You can talk about it publicly if that's not your only excuse for losing.