Bad Calls, Good Calls—What's the Right Response When the Refs are Wrong?
Players and fans need umps and refs. What should happen when they disagree—or the refs simply blow it? Monday Night Football with the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers has people talking.
Photos
Fans are howling over the way Monday Night Football ended, with what many say were muffed calls by the NFL's replacement referees allowing the Seattle Seahawks to beat the Green Bay Packers 14-12. (Watch ESPN's video of the final Hail Mary pass.)
Most team sports beyond sandlot level require some kind of referees. What happens when the refs mess up? What should happen?
In Fridley, there's youth sports, school sports for kids and action for adults such as basketball league play at Life Time Fitness, or City of Fridley Park and Recreation softball and touch football at Community Park and broomball at Commons Park.
Do different levels of competition call for different levels of referee responsibility and respect? How have you dealt with disputed calls—either as a parent, fan or player—or as a referee yourself?
In This article
-
Community Park
7000 University Ave NE, Fridley, MN -
-
Commons Park
6249 7th St NE, Fridley, MN -
-
Life Time Fitness
2100 Northdale Blvd NW, Coon Rapids, MN
Courtney Rathke
11:59 pm on Monday, September 24, 2012
It depends on the level of play; in youth sports, the refs themselves are generally not as experienced. As the level of play progresses, so would the response; one can take a grievance to the MN State High School League, for instance. In the case of the NFL game this evening, fans can (some would say should) complain to the NFL, although that has historically not been a productive response. Under no circumstances should a fan directly engage the ref--not only is it a distraction to the team, it can result in the fan being ejected, or in extreme cases, loss of downs or awarding of free throws, etc--and then the fan who engaged the referee has caused harm to their team that could have been avoided.