Why Officials Are Wrong

This post was adapted from something that I had previously written. I should also point out that this was in a backlog of mine and is not aimed at the NHL playoffs that are currently in progress.

Ever since the NHL came out of the lockout of 2004-05, I have been furious with the quality of officiating in the league. In all fairness, I’m biased. So are the officials and the league itself. I do feel like the officiating has gotten out of hand, but let me explain why I tend to be so critical of officials. While I will be discussing frustrations with the NHL, keep in mind that what I am saying is not tied strictly to the world of hockey.
Neutrality is impossible. This is on my list of defining beliefs. There is always something that will push officials to favor one team over the other. This is not a conscious decision to help a team out, but something that ensures that games will never be played on a truly level playing field.

Even though bias is unavoidable, I really wish that more would be done to minimize the impact. If an official has a strong connection with a team or if an official has a solid history with a team (good or bad), that official should not be inserted in games involving those teams. There are actually rules in place for international play that prevent refs from officiating games involving their home nations. This isn’t a distrust of officials. This is common sense. Unfortunately, the major sports leagues lack this common sense.

Of course, the officials aren’t the only ones with bias. I have my own bias. Since I believe that neutrality is impossible, I feel that the officials have to lean one way or the other. This leads to two possibilities that go through my mind. If the officials like the team that I’m rooting for, then I have to accept losses and question wins. If they don’t like the team that I’m rooting for, then I have to accept wins and question losses. I like to think that I am rooting for a good team, so the latter option is much easier for me to believe.

You have your own bias. Perhaps you are among those who feel that you need to defend the officials. Perhaps defending officials is justified, but you could certainly be influenced by a desire to think that outcomes are entirely up to the players. If this is the case, you could actually develop a tendency to agree with calls regardless of teams involved. You could think that officiating is far better than it really is. You could also be like me and find yourself frequently furious with officiating. Let’s just hope that we aren’t rooting for teams that face each other.

In many games, I have felt that my bias doesn’t come close to explaining calls. The NHL (and I believe all of the major sports leagues) tends to defend its officials regardless of their actions. There have been officials that have clearly been caught making poor decisions just to have Gary Bettman (NHL commissioner) insist that officials can do no wrong. I find this scary. While there are people who feel that there have been fixed games (I would be surprised if there haven’t been any), I don’t care about the past. The message being sent is that officials can fix games and the league will still defend them. Does anyone honestly believe that we can trust 100% of officials in the league today and in the future? From the looks of things, there will be a major scandal in the NHL’s future. It’s only a matter of time.