Bad Calls and Low Incentive

Okay, so I have been hearing a lot about the Oklahoma vs. Oregon game which ended in a “controversy” over an on-sides kick call that went to Oregon. Oregon goes on to win; Oklahoma gets pissed; now you are up-to-date.

That damn referee. How dare he make a call, based on one single camera view, to “decide” a million dollar game and then cash his $400 paycheck that he earned and undo a tremendous Oklahoma 4th quarter that allowed Oregon to score 21 points. And how dare he get upset after receiving death threats from Oklahoma fans.

I’m just tired of people getting mad at referees. Yes, sometimes they get calls wrong. But they don’t have the luxury of all you half-assed armchair, Monday morning quarterback ESPN annalists sitting in a studio and replaying the footage from 17 different angles in HD video playback. I dare one of you ESPN sportscasters or SI magazine writers to get out there in black and white and run for 3 hours and make a call that has to be black and white. I guarantee on my life that you would all crash and burn.

I’ve called my fair share of games, nothing even close to a professional level, and I am man enough to admit that it was much easier and less stressful to play the game than it was to call it.

So my advice to you Oklahoma fans is this: play well enough to not have a 3 minute, 14 point run ruin your chance of a win. You don’t let Oregon score the first 14 in that fourth quarter and that call doesn’t make a difference. But since a loss can’t be our own fault, it’s good to have referees to blame things on.