What Sport is Most Difficult to Officiate?

[fondybrewfan]

Of the major sports I have to believe that basketball is by far the hardest. It is probably the most subjective of the sports. Baseball might be the easiest because for the most part it is cut and dry. Obviously strike zones vary for different umps and your lucky if there is one close call on the basepaths each game. Football I really don't think would be that tough, just because the officials are much anonymous than other refs. And it seems penalties are blatantly obvious in football as well. I dont know enough about soccer or hockey to say whether officiating would be tough.

 

I have reffed basketball before and it is amazing how pissed people can get at you. you also seem to hear much more officiating horrow stories in basketball than in any other sport

[BuckyTuba]

I'd say baseball is very easy since there's 4 umpires on the field watching basically 1 ball go around...

 

football is hard, but there are 7-8 officials on the field with assigned duties.

 

basketball is insane because there is so much going on! and only 3 referees. those referees are rotating duties as they move up and down the court (one side of the court, watching the 3 second violations, boundaries... other side you're looking for primarily fouls). i'd say the best workout comes from basketball too, since you're trying to keep up with the action.

 

when i worked at the sports camp in massachusetts, they wouldn't let me referee basketball although it was a sport that i was considered "proficient" in. i only umpired and coached baseball.

[jason21nl]

id go with basketball as well. When a guy goes up for a block, or swipes at a ball, its really hard to see if its all ball, or the player committed a foul. Although football has a crazy about of rules and every year one pops up where I just go What? I have never heard of that. So basketball is harder to make the correct call, but football has more rules that I have never heard about.

[samwise]

I have officiated high school football and basketball. Basketball is significantly harder for a few reasons. You are so close to the action that everyone in the stands sees you, can yell directly at you, and any call can be very critical. You control the flow of the game as a basketball official. In high school with 2 man crews there are places on the floor that are hard to cover. Physically it can be difficult because there is a ton of running.

 

Football officials are on an island, there are a couple of them to divy up the field and responsibilities, and you can meet after the call and figure out what is going on.

 

I still think it would be very hard to call a consistent game behind the plate. Every call in essence is a judgement call.

[Baldkin]

Hockey, hands down.

 

First off, you're on skates, second off, there's only 3 of you covering a much larger area than a basketball court, and 3rd... you ever tried to jump over a puck when you're on ice skates? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[samwise]

Hockey, hands down.

Forgot about that. Yeah it is Hockey hands down. The violence and speed of the game, plus a small little puck screaming around the ice, and you have to do it on skates.

 

[tristarscoop]

Ok, I'll give you the skates in hockey, but my bid is for soccer. Especially when you don't have linesmen to help you. You're covering the area of a football field, but you don't have any help. Add offsides to that (there's no handy blue line to distinguish with, like in hockey) Halves are 45 minutes and you don't stop running.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'd say baseball is very easy since there's 4 umpires on the field watching basically 1 ball go around...

 

You'd be wrong then. It's definitely not 'very easy.' Especially since the vast majority of baseball umping is done with 3 or fewer umpires.

 

Hardest would probably come from soccer, hockey, & basketball. Too tough to pick imo.

[Patrick425]

Black bear wrestling.

 

Ok, I know, not a sport. But if it was, I'm guessing it would be tough to officiate, because the bear would never follow the rules.

[stoutdude04]

Hockey and Tennis, both of which I have done were very difficult for me. I havent done any of the others so I cant say about those. But both were tough, tennis not as much in the pros because they watch just one line. Being a line judge for more then one court is definatly a chore.

[sauveb]

I have officiated Basketball, Baseball and Football for over 20 years. Of the three, basketball is by far the hardest. Baseball would be next and it isn't as easy as it looks. There are so many interpretations to the game. Football is a piece of cake. I might feel that way because that is where I have reached my highest level of competition. If you know your rules you are way ahead because most people don't know them very well. Also, everyone watches the ball and most penalties occur away from the ball.

[NeedMoreFans]

One thing else to consider in hockey...I think they still have one referee and two linesmen. The ref is the only one that can call penalties, so players can get away with a lot of things behind the play. Still, all three are difficult jobs.

[brewerjamie15]

Hockey.

Basketball is tough, but you get more breaks than in hockey, plus hockey is all out, all the time.

[BuckyTuba]

in a baseball game, there's maybe 1 or 2 bang-bang plays in the entire game. plus you're not moving at all.... no physical activity required.... you wonder why baseball umpires are the fattest? even if you get 3 umpires, then you have 1 ump on each baseline and a homeplate ump

 

i forgot hockey.... i still say it's basketball, hockey, football, baseball

[TooLiveBrew]

in a baseball game, there's maybe 1 or 2 bang-bang plays in the entire game. plus you're not moving at all.... no physical activity required....

I'm going to go out on a limb & guess that you've never umped softball or baseball. 'No physical activity' is all I need to arrive at that conclusion. Also, there are at least 2 bang-bang plays in any game I've worked.

[jason21nl]

I don't know if anyone has watched sports science. If you haven't i recommend watching it. For one, its really cool, and they did a test about being a MLB ump. How split second you have to call a ball or strike. To be a MLB umpire behind the plate, would be very very hard

 

 

another another episode they had a guy get nailed in the "boys" to see how high his heart rate went up. just awesomely painful to watch

[bacon06]

Having reffed soccer for 7 years, I'm going to go with that. Being the man in the middle is being on an island cause you get all the scrutiny from parents who know nothing about the rules but have loud voices. There are six magic words that gives the head ref ultimate power "In the opinion of the referee" There is so much of your own opinion that goes into making calls that there is no black and white definition for some fouls. Just because the ball touched a players hand doesn't mean it's a hand ball.

 

And for posterity's sake, I recently got a perfect score on the referee recertification test. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[samwise]

in a baseball game, there's maybe 1 or 2 bang-bang plays in the entire game. plus you're not moving at all.... no physical activity required....

I'm going to go out on a limb & guess that you've never umped softball or baseball. 'No physical activity' is all I need to arrive at that conclusion. Also, there are at least 2 bang-bang plays in any game I've worked.

TLB, of all the sports we are discussing, baseball/softball is the least physically demanding. In terms of making calls, baseball/softball is pretty difficult, but not physically.

 

[sheetswannabe]

Hockey most likely. With underwater basket weaving getting an honorable mention.

[brewcrewreview]

I am currently a high school football referee. Next year will be my tenth year. I agree that football officials can conference as a crew on major plays, but baseball and basketball officials can do this also. I agree that basketball is the most subject sport to officiate, but that's why I think it is the easiest. Because it is so objective, you can weasel your way out of any call because of the subjectiveness of it. It all boils down to your interpretation of a call and/or a rule and, as an official, your interpretation is all that really matters. I think baseball is the hardest because the reality of the sport is that there is a right and a wrong call all the time, there is no subjectivity, so there is no excuse to make the wrong call. Football and basketball are more subjective, thus less "right or wrong" calls. I sit in football official association meetings where half the officials judge a call one way and the other half go another. I know nothing of soccer and hockey so I can't comment on it.

So I'm going to say to professional wrestling is the hardest sport to officiate. Managers are constantly interfering, hidden weapons are always lying around that you can't see, it's hard to see all of the cheating that goes on, and wrestlers seem to collide into referrees and knock them out a lot. The worst part is all of the steel chairs you get hit with and getting thrown over the top rope isn't the greatest feeling as well.

[fondybrewfan]

I dont believe there may be a right or wrong call when determining a strike zone call. That part of baseball is extremely subjective.

[TooLiveBrew]

TLB, of all the sports we are discussing, baseball/softball is the least physically demanding. In terms of making calls, baseball/softball is pretty difficult, but not physically.

 

Oh, no argument with that. However, it's very incorrect to say there's no physical demand/exertion, or that there are only one or two tough calls per game.

[samwise]

TLB, you are correct. Behind the plate umpiring especially is brutal, you have to be so fast ans accurate in terms of balls and strikes and you have a good chance of having to call a few bang-bang plays.

[PlayerHader]

I've reffed baseball/softball, wrestling and basketball. I would say the hardest one to be really good at and the easiest one to be really bad at is wrestling. Basketball isn't very difficult if you have a clue. I will say that basketball players are the biggest whiners, though.

[And That]

I would say the hardest one to be really good at and the easiest one to be really bad at is wrestling.

That's a good call. Of all the sports I played between middle school and high school, watching and competing in wrestling matches officiated by an idiot were the most frustrating.Wrestling is the ultimate one-on-one sport and every single instant of a match is usually crucial.