Too many times during a basketball game someone ends up yelling or blaming a ref for a bad or no call on a certain play. We have all done it and I am probably guiltier of this than anyone because I coach high school basketball. I have told refs many times that they were wrong and that I was right as well as they needed to go reread the rule book of basketball. I know that most of what I say is emotionally charged and being caught up in the moment of the game, but there is a difference because I was a referee before I became a coach. I have been on both sides of the yelling, I have had parents tell me I am the worse thing on this earth. I mention those scenarios to show how referees think they are entitled now and believe they have to control the game, which is completely against the definition of a referee. A referee’s main job is defined as a person who has the responsibility to enforce the rules and maintain the order of the game.1 That is all they have to do in a game but now it seems as though the players are being penalized for being outstanding athletes.
NCAA Officials might be the worst of all officials in all sports. All the way through the NCAA divisional ranks, referees have become uncontrollable dictators on the court. I say this because I have been watching the NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament and all of the officials are put on the national radar. Instead of enjoying the games that they are a part of, they are trying to become the deciding factor in the games as a whole, WHICH IS NOT THEIR JOB! In the Division 2 Men’s Elite Eight tournament held in Frisco, Texas last week, our Tarleton State Texans basketball team became a victim to horrific officiating. In the second half alone, the opponent Augustana shot 31 free throws to Tarleton’s 7 free throws with the final count being 44 for Augustana to Tarleton’s 192. When the final seconds ticked off, Tarleton lost the game by 7 points, after leading by 10 at the half. Augustana would go on to win the National Championship. Coach Reisman will say that you can’t blame losses on bad officiating but from a spectator's standpoint, the referees tried to have more of an impact than the actual players.
A possible solution to fix some of the problems among officials is to fine them, after all they are paid very nicely for being a NCAA official. Yes I said it! The NCAA needs to fine these referees to get the point across that bad officiating will not be tolerated at any level of competition. The competitions need to won by the athletes not the guys in the striped shirts.
References
1 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/referee
2http://www.tarletonsports.com/news/2016/3/23/mens-basketball-tarletons-season-ends-with-86-79-loss-to-augustana-in-elite-eight.aspx
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http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/03/bob_katz_s_the_whistleblower_excerpt_why_you_hate_ncaa_refs.html
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