Sent to you by nigel via Google Reader:
Over at Basketball.org, former Pacer and Piston head coach George Irvine is talking about the heartache and second-guessing that players and coaches go through after tough games.
Then he wonders if referees feel the same way:
This weekend, I'm watching a very close game and a ref completely blows a call that directly prevented a team from winning the game, outright. If that ref had not made the call he made, the game was flat out over . As it turns out, the team that would have won, went on to lose the game, making some real mistakes. But, I go back to that bad call. The game would have and should have been over.
My question is: Do you think that referee feels any responsibility for the outcome of the game?
When the referee goes over the tape of the game, which he should do, does he feel any responsibility for the blown call, and the effect it had on the outcome? I doubt many refs look at this blog, but if one does, I would love a response. However, I do know what one supervisor of officials in a college conference once told me when I was in a discussion with him about officiating. He told me that, "no ref has every been responsible for winning or losing a game."
That statement has bothered me for a long time.
Too bad all referees won't admit to feeling bad. It seems so obvious: Everyone wants to be good at what they do, right?
I'm totally thrilled to report that I have heard two NBA referee-types address this issue, and both Bennett Salvatore and Bernie Fryer were passionate in admitting, at length, that blown calls are personally devastating.
Fryer even showed the assembled media slow-motion video of one of his worst calls, which probably decided a game incorrectly. I don't think he's acting when he says that kind of stuff ruins his day. And, like Irvine, I suspect a passionate desire to get it right has to come with some pain when you get it wrong.
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