A friend e-mailed me this bit from a sports article over the weekend:
A rock was thrown through the front window of the home of Pete Morelli, the N.F.L. referee who made an incorrect call in last Sunday's playoff game between the Steelers and Colts. Morelli is also a high school principal. The police in Stockton, Calif., where he lives, said it was unclear whether the incident was related to his job at the school or as a referee. There were no suspects and no one was injured.
That's kind of funny.
Not sure if refs are getting worse or we are getting more critical, but it sure looks like they screw up a lot more than I remember 5 years ago. It really really sucks when a bad call decides whether a team advances or plays golf. I guess that is the point of instant replay, but even instant replay doesn't fix everything.
I know that there is some sort of rating system for refs in various sports where they are evaluated on calls they made on the field. I actually remember reading a WSJ (?) story about how the Red Sox got screwed this year because the ump team they drew for a playoff series statistically disfavored their pitching style.
I'd love to learn more about rating umps in various sports. Maybe I'll research it a bit today when I need to take a break from this mind-numbing mediation brief I have been working on...
Posted by: ASSociate | January 24, 2006 at 08:31 AM