Growing up watching sports constantly, in my little kid mind (which I still think makes up about 85 percent of my adult brain) I thought that the job of a professional sports official looked like a great gig. Take NBA
Growing up watching sports constantly, in my little kid mind (which I still think makes up about 85 percent of my adult brain) I thought that the job of a professional sports official looked like a great gig.
Take NBA referees, for instance. They get the best seat in the house for an incredible product, the chance to be around the best athletes on the planet and to even interact with them on a daily basis.
A young hoopster who still hadn’t yet reached five feet tall, I certainly thought my main path to the NBA would be as a player. But if — for some inexplicable reason — all 30 teams somehow overlooked my talents and I would never get to don my own pro uniform, I felt like wearing the striped shirt wouldn’t be a bad fallback option.
As time has gone on and I have gotten to see the game from a number of different perspectives — a player, a statisitician, a spectator, a reporter — one thing that has become abundantly clear is that I had some very bad ideas as a little kid. I’m now certain that I would NEVER want to become a referee.
There seems to be no more thankless job on the planet, while also one that can be so prominent and noticeable at any given moment.
For that reason, I need to proclaim my deep respect for all those who are responsible for a whistle. No matter who is playing who, the one thing that unites all fans is that the zebras are public enemy number one.
It takes a lot of courage and confidence to willingly walk into that situation.
The funny thing is that in every sport, in every game at every level of play, both sides think the refs are out to get them.
Just in the past two weeks, being in the stands for various games around the island, I’ve gotten to hear each school’s fans talk in a nonchalant way about how the refs clearly want the opposition to win.
It’s something I know all too well. There were a few schools in our high school conference that we as players, as well as our families, were convinced had the refs in their pocket.
“Don’t expect to get the benefit of the doubt out there tonight,” our coach would say prior to tip-off.
It didn’t even seem like an opinion. The “fact” was that this school gets all the calls and we had to play our butts off to overcome that obstacle.
It was a great tactic and often helped the team unite and play harder as one.
But the more I think about it now, the more I think it was probably all in our heads. Why would the refs care about the outcome of a 14 and Under traveling basketball game? Sure, it was the most important thing going on in my life, but he was probably just hoping to make it home in time to hang out with his kids and watch a little TV.
Yes, one out of a million referees actually do seem to have it out for a particular player or team. See YouTube for the ref who was “assaulted” by OJ Mayo or interactions between Tim Duncan and Joey Crawford.
But all the rest seem to be good people performing a service. Unfortunately, they are destined to an existence like place kickers, meter maids and IRS auditors — one of pure disdain and mockery at their mere appearance.
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that, as much as I’d like to think differently when watching my favorite teams in action, referees really don’t have any agenda.
Unfortunately for them, heckling remains fun anyway.
Something about those stripes…
