Officially awful: Officials making the story

Any anthropologist would quickly discover that our sports community hates officials, umpires, and referees. They dominate the airwaves of sports radio, create the buzz of blogs, and anger fans the point of no trust.

What happened in last night’s Celtics loss to the Magic was what most NBA theorists expected: the goon squad was sent in to make some awful calls against the road team and extend the series. This brings us to question one: Did the NBA send in Eddie F. Rush (no word yet if “F” stands for “fouls”) to sway the calls in favor of the Magic? We can never know for sure, but as Tim Donaghy told WEEI's Dennis and Callahan today (http://audio.weei.com/m/31376352/tim-donaghy-former-nba-ref.htm) this is exactly what the NBA does, sometimes discretely, sometimes not. The fact that the integrity of the game has to be questioned after last night’s brutal officiating performance speaks volumes.

In yesterday’s White Sox victory over the Indians, Chicago starter (and typically class-act) Mark Buehrle was ejected following his second balk of the game, not longer after manager Ozzie Guillen was given his own exit. Via Joe West, Chicago was swimming in a mess of bad umpiring. Whether Joe West got the balk calls right or wrong was not the issue. The issue at hand is that the umpire made the story of the game, not the players. Cue in Ozzie Guillen, "Sometimes he thinks [expletive] people pay to watch him [expletive] umpire.”

"He's the type of guy that wants to control the game. I deserve respect and the players here deserve respect here, too.
"When you tell the manager to get the [expletive] off the field, I don't think that's a good way to handle situations. I'll be waiting for my fine."
The casual fan doesn’t know Joe West, but he has a long history and reputation of being a terrible umpire. Many Red Sox fans remember his bitter complaining about Yankees-Sox games taking too long. West also came under scrutiny for poor umpiring during last year’s postseason. But all of that isn’t the issue here.

When the umpire, referee, or official makes the story instead of the game itself, it’s a disgrace to sports. Eddie F. Rush had no business or reason to make himself a part of NBA history last night. He single-handedly could have cost the Celtics the series by preventing Kendrick Perkins to play in game 6 Friday night. Many referees and umpires police the game with hostility and anger – waiting to hear words that tick them off and become quick to establish authority. It is like a cop looking for trouble because he is trigger-happy. These officials are killing the integrity of the game away because they are taking everything personally.

Question two: can it be fixed? Unknown. The NBA doesn’t admit it has an officiating problem, but they would truly have to be idiots not to see the issue in front of them. David Stern may or may not have blood on his hands, but this game is being murdered. Sports were meant to be played by the players and coached by the coaches. If it were as simple as wiping out all of the officials and starting fresh, then maybe the game would have a chance. But until then, here’s to enjoying twenty-four hours without hearing a whistle.

JMO