“Never complain about the officiating.
It does no good. During the game,
I don’t want to be fighting two opponents.”

~ Coach John Wooden

In light of my previous post, I guess it’s no surprise that I would begin this article with another quote by the incredible John Wooden. Coach Wooden’s name is normally associated with basketball, leadership, and life lessons. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard his name brought up in a discussion about professional football, yet his words quoted above might be invaluable for any number of coaches, players, or fans of sports at all levels.

The officiating of sports can be somewhat problematic. It’s an imperfect science. Ideally, college game officials would be better than those at the high school level. There is certainly an expectation that those officiating professional football would be even better than those at the collegiate level. Still, the men and women who wear the black and white stripes are human. And humans are imperfect. 

Even the replay officials have been criticized recently for making some calls that seemed inconceivable to those watching the game. It is important for us to remember that, despite all the technology at their disposal, they, too, are human.

Author Drew Curtis made an excellent point when he wrote, “You don’t notice the referee during the game unless he makes a bad call” — or, perhaps, unless you think he made a bad call. It amazes me that, given the number of split-second decisions a game official must make, most calls, whether we like them or not, are accurate.

Mistakes will be made. For this reason, I appreciate the voice of reason offered by Scottish footballer Jock Stein who said, “If you’re good enough, the referee doesn’t matter.”  

Would I like to be a game official? No, thank you! For many people, the game of football — or any sport, for that matter — is serious business. Very serious business. For this reason, I think it’s helpful to look on the lighter side of things from time to time. I appreciate the humor comedian Jay Leno shared about officiating in sports:

“I wanted to have a career in sports when I
was young, but I had to give up the idea.
I’m only six feet tall, so I couldn’t play basketball.
I’m only 190 pounds, so I couldn’t play football.
And I have 20/20 vision, so I couldn’t be a referee.”