Watch Out For Those Whistles

Referees – the sports police in the midst of all the action. Whether they are called judge, official, linesman or umpire, they all are the same. They are there in every sport to make sure the rules are enforced and order is held. All of these refs are well paid and necessary to the game, but the problem is when things go overboard and the refs get a little too involved in sports. Yes, they are placed there to maintain order, but their job also entails that they do so in a fair way.
While sports fans of any kind, share a dislike of refs, Philadelphia fans elevate it to an art. Considering the fact that a city with four major sports teams has not won a title in a quarter century, it’s easy to feel as though the “zebras” have it in for you. There have been many times when Philadelphia teams have been slighted, and though a few mistakes are excusable there have been too many critical moments in which the wrong call was made.
Refs also compromise their impartiality when they allow crowd reaction to make the call: the crowd boos and wants a foul or penalty, the ref grants their wishes. You wantExamples? There are many, but I’ll state an obvious one since it is hockey playoff season. Sidney Crosby #87 of the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, the arrogant youngster if a phenomenal player, yet is constantly helped out by the refs. This very often occurs against the Flyers, giving us more reason to dislike him. The other night, he whacked a Flyer in the face with his stick and after a scrum behind the net, Crosby and Pittsburgh had a two man advantage and eventually took the lead for good. Other than arguing with refs, there isn’t anything players or coaches can do in most cases to get bad calls overturned. Once a call is made it’s final, and can’t be overturned.