I’ve been a United States Tennis Association official for almost a decade now. I’ve had the opportunity to officiate matches with professional players, including John McEnroe and Andy Roddick. One time, Roddick hit a 130-mile-per-hour service, and he disagreed with my call. The replay showed that I was right (by about a 1/16 inch). How did I do that? Well, I’ve been training a lot, but I’ve also made plenty of mistakes along the way!
Over the years, I haven’t been as accurate as I’d like to be. There have been days when I’ve been feeling under the weather, but I still had to officiate because there was no one else available. Did I do well? I’d say I did as well as Randy Moss or Tom Brady if they were playing with a 101-degree fever!
I have to live with those mistakes, though. Officiating is a whole different ball game. One time, when I was on my way to officiate a McEnroe match, the head official gave us a motivational speech. He said something that I’ll never forget: “You’re expected to be 100% perfect out there, and you’re expected to improve on that!” That’s how society looks at officials.
I’ve grown accustomed to accepting perfectionist expectations. Ed Hochuli’s acknowledgment of a call error in a recent game is human, but it shouldn’t happen to an official. What bothers me is society’s tendency to find easy scapegoats for losses. Did the official’s mistake cost the Chargers the game? I doubt it.
How can I say that? I watched most of that game. If we hold officials to one apparent mistake, we should ban them. We should ban several receivers for dropping a pass right in their arms. We should ban many defensive players for missing an easy tackle. We should ban offensive players who negated a significant gain by grabbing onto a defensive player and throwing them to the ground. But those are forgiven as issues in a stressful situation by a player who makes $10 million a year. However, the official who earns $80,000 a year must not make a single mistake, which could mean a death sentence.
In baseball, should we ban outfielders who drop easy-fly balls? Hockey players who miss open net shots? Or the countless botched lay-ups in basketball? Slam dunks missed, too. But we wouldn’t say such a thing. The San Diego Chargers made more mistakes, which ultimately cost them the game. Did the official goof up? Yes, but he’s the only one people want to fire, harm, or ridicule.
Interestingly, the most vocal critics have never officiated a high-level game. If they did, they’d understand officiating is a stressful job that requires dedication.
I’ve seen a shortage of officials in all sports. Many great ones have left due to mistakes and backlash. If I were Ed Hochuli, I’d retire, losing a quality official, but still having the players who made mistakes. But he and I keep officiating through name-calling and threats. Are we sick?
That could explain why I want to run 100 miles.
No comments:
Post a Comment