Alrighty, I’ve got a bone to pick.
The last couple of games I’ve played have been…how does one put it?
”…over-officiated. ”
Never have I seen so many cards flayed about for seemingly incongruous events in the game. I’m talking about games that are being played in good spirit, with a bit of friendly banter between opponents and the Umpires seem dead keen on stamping it out, as if they think the game is getting out of their control. For the record – I’m going to be talking about men’s competitions here, and ladies please fill us in on your experiences, and to explain, I’m speaking from personal experience and from watching a fair bit of hockey in the four years we’ve been doing The Hockey Show.
The problem is, these games are for more in control than I think umpires think. A bit of fire in the belly and a competetive edge is great, and should be encouraged I reckon. Stick to umpiring, getting the feet right, the bad tackles etc (don’t even get me started on the “I heard a stick clash…so therefore it’s a bad tackle” remark often heard from Umpires…) just stick to officiating the rules of the game.
I of course understand when the chat can get OUT OF CONTROL, but a bit of understanding and leniancy would be appreciated. I dare say it tends to be the younger umpires, trying to stamp their authortiy over older blokes. Thinking that to be respected, you have to be officious. This is rubbish. Respect from players comes from an understanding of the game and the way that it should be played. Understand the game, then make decisions. The best umpires are the ones that are happy to hear players sides of the story, and explain their decisions. This whole, “talk to the hand” business is so bloody frustrating and i reckon umpires should be taught a lesson in being decent human beings.
…I’m probably going to get carded for this next week.
Right, that’s my rant.
Discuss.
Related posts:
August 4th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Oh great, just what we need – more umpire bashing.
August 4th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Ballza – Anyone who has seen you play would not be surprised that the cards get flashed about when you are on the park! Lay off the ref and just play the game!
August 4th, 2008 at 11:02 am
F**K YEAH! ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON BALLZA.
I hate that this is coming into our game more and more.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Agreed. Our womens 1st’s match last weekend had 10 cards (i think), almost all for talking. It was an absolute joke!
August 4th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Dear Jan,
This is not umpire bashing. This is someone telling it how it is out there in the big bad world.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
As a player, I appreciate Ballza’s comments because I think that’s how a lot of people feel. I’ll also start by saying I have very little to do with MPB or MPD as a player or umpire.
Now, with my umpiring hat on…
Over-officious umpires annoy me too. They make the rest of us look bad. BUT players need to pull their heads in and show some umpires more respect. Since we’re generalising, I’ll give a few of my own.
-> young umpires get shown very little respect from players. They cop players “trying things on” to see what they’ll get away with, and then alternately get told to “control the game ump” if they don’t show cards or “geez, that was harsh” if they do.
-> A player will make at least as many mistakes in a match as an umpire will. Nobody is perfect, and it’s not fair to expect officials to be just because they wear a different coloured shirt.
-> Most players have an outdated or second-hand understanding of the rules.
-> It’s better that a game is over-controlled than out of control.
-> The ‘over-officiousness’ discussed here has probably developed over several weeks of ‘suggestions’/complaints/abuse directed at these umpires and they have just had enough.
From my own point of view, I believe hockey is a game for the players, and umpires should only be there to allow the game to happen fairly. I don’t go out there to be the centre of attention, but I don’t appreciate when players think they can do a better job than I can.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Big bad world yeah right. Grow up you idiot.
Maybe if you all just shut up then there would not be any cards. Had you thought of that?!
I realise some umpires aren’t that great but they are doing thier best and enough’s enough.
Without them you wouldn’t have a game and its getting hard enough to get some umpires into the game let alone letting them get trained up to be good ones.
Ever thought that some umpires take your idiot comments personally?
Get over it people.
BTW there was a directive from HV to all umpires to be tougher on talk too. I guess they are getting just as sick of umpire bashing as I am.
August 4th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Jan I agree with what you are saying, but your argument would resonate far better with me if you did not put yourself above the perceived flaws in players attitudes towards umpires.
Apparently you never complained about a decision? Saying without them YOU wouldnt have a game, you mean WE wouldnt have a game (i hope). “If YOU all just shut up”.
The Moral High ground is a slippery slope, hope you are wearing studs ;)
August 4th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Umpire’s may take it personally but do they ever come back after a game and say ‘sorry i made a mistake!’
The umpiring and overall attitude of officials is creating a breed of hockey players that resemble ‘geek robots’. Where’s the emotion???
Why shouldn’t we complain or at least question a decison when a mistake is made? When we as players make a mistake we get punished. i.e. Player (mis-timed tackle= yellow) vs Umpire (bad decision= ?????)
Sounds like a protected species to me!!!
August 4th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Jimbob, on one hand you are correct, officials are protected deliberately to retain them as part of the game.
There are flaws in your logic, though.
Player (mis-timed tackle = free hit. Deliberate bad tackle = yellow card)
Umpire (mistake = free hit “wrong” way. Deliberate cheating = tribunal)
It takes guts to admit to a player you made a mistake, because there is a broad fear of being ripped to shreds for it.
Almost everyone who has played the game has queried a decision – that’s not what we’re talking about (I hope). It’s belligerent badgering, complaining or abuse that we don’t want to see.
Put it this way, if an umpire spoke to a player like they get spoken to, there would be uproar. We expect professionalism from officials, so why not players as well?
August 4th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan,
Pull your head out of the sand for a second – or from where ever else you have it hidden.
The issue here is about ‘over officiated’.
Your attitude and condecending comments are a perfect example of exactly the sort of attitude that pisses players off.
Players are generally prepared to put up with a few bad decisions, if the ump has demonstrated a ‘human’ understanding of the game. If however, the ump wants to stand above all that, then the players tend to expect the decisions to be above reproach also.
Their are 2 classic arguments that always get thrown up in these discussion- both of them moronic.
(1) “Without them you wouldn’t have a game”. Well that is the height of naivity. Most games below about PB standard could easily be umpired by club provided umpires – and in most cases the clubs would prefer it.
(2) “A player makes more mistakes than an umpire” OMG – what is that arguement about? It is ridiculous to compare mistakes made by a player with those of an umpire. The umpire just has to make decisions and interpretations on what they see, and get in the best position see them.
The hard bit about umpiring is ‘managing’ the game and players – not the decision making.
August 4th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I cant think of a single time it has made me feel any better to have an umpire come up after a game and say they were wrong. By that stage you might as well just let it go. Unless they were going to report you and have changed their mind, then it is worth knowing
August 4th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
You get fired from your job if you keep churning out shit yet it seems some umpires are happy to rock up, do a shit job, not let any question them at all and then take the $110 for a pennant A and state league game. Im not saying this because my team was unfairly dealt with, im saying it because both teams had shit decisions thrown their way and it ruins the games.
I agree junior umpires who are learning and who are umpiring lower grade games for experience need to be given a break in most circumstances, but senior umpires are getting paid enough to deal with critism without over reacting and should be able to answer questioning of their decisions with a clear response, not just a “i dont wanna hear it”.
August 4th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I would be happy with a consistant umpire…on the weekend one of the state league 1 girls was carded for a shocking hack tackle…the umpire blew time…gave a green card and said if it happens again then it would be a yellow…got it spot on…or so I thought…
I counted 9 hack tackles later the other umpire sent her off with a yellow for belting a player from behind…what was worse…if one of the players who was hacked by the said player appealled to the umpire they were ignored or told to get on with it…once even having a 10 metre penalty against for asking a question???
Got to get it right??? And that was League 1 level…
August 4th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
side note: stopping games for greens, waste of time. have a quiet word at a short corner break, or when they are next near you. Stopping play lets team that has fouled get numbers back behind ball.
Players dont have to be warned before they get a yellow with an official green, if its worthy of a yellow send them off.
August 4th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Scotto – Well put!
Jim Bob – I have had umpires say they made a mistake. This happens as part of a general discussion after a game. We’ll discuss various decision in the game amongst other things. They may acknowledge an error. I may acknowledge that they might have right after all. We may agree to disagree. I agree with Anonymous – an ump admitting an error didn’t make me feel any better…. only winning the game does that.
Overall, in hockey, there is a rule book. However, the rules need to be interpreted and applied. In an ideal world, this would be consistent. In reality, this varies from umpire to umpire and day to day. As a player, the only aspect of umpiring that is of concern is “do I need to play differently to suit this umpire’s interpretation/application of the rules?” Then, it is simply a matter of playing accordingly. This is very much the case in international matches, where the interpretations of European and Asian umpires can be substantially different. No point tearing your hair out over it. Just work out how to make the best of it and win the game.
Reminds me of incidents with Deo umpiring…. just had to make sure that any free hit was with a dead stationary ball (or sideline hit exactly on the line), just you didn’t cop a reversal of a free (which would invariably occur late in the 2nd half of a tight contest if he was given the chance!)
August 4th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Doc, extremely well said.
I think this is the issue as you’ve said – the interpretation of the rules and the ability to be flexible and use a bit of common sense to avoid dissent from players and increasing tempers that will eventually lead to things getting out of control. That is the crucial thing.
I’ve once heard an umpire who spends a lot of time on the forums and on this front page mention the words “…last time i checked, there was no rule about pushing players in the back” when giving a free hit against a player who had been deliberately taken out in the oppositions attempt to get the ball off him. This said umpire made a call based on an apparent obstruction that he saw – but wouldn’t listen to the player’s thoughts on the issue claiming THE RULEBOOK was the be all and end all. The attitude is wrong. And yes – it was a younger guy trying to be a bigger man. Concede to listen and be rewarded with respect from the players.
Problems in attitudes from umpires. This is the issue here.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I have a feeling i know who your talking about ballza…
I don’t think junior(umpiring seniors) umpires officiate much differently to senior umpires… The tackling is bad in all grades and I think the only thing an umpire can do is blow hard whistle, warn, then yellow, they don’t have much of a choice yet people get stirred up when there sent off. If the umps don’t send anyone off for bad tackles it will become worse and stopping tackles will become acceptable.
August 4th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I once heard an umpire in a game actually say the words “play on, play on”. Then when a shot was just about to be taken on goal everyone was yelling from the opposition. So he took it back and then said “sorry i shouldnt have said that”. That didnt make me happy he admitted to the mistake, that was just annoying.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
saw a women’s sl2 match on the weekend, 2 teams, would harldy say a physical match at all. cards were flying out every 2 mins. by half time..6 greens..by then end of the game i think another 3 green and a 1 yellow.
the teams were not even top of the ladders teams, one of the teams was quite low on the ladder and there was maybe 1 bad tackle that should of got a card. not really sure what us wrong with some of the umpires. have they been told to be more ‘harsh…and this is how they are doing it?
August 6th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Coach, I (think I) was one of the umpires in this game at YVG (MCC v DON). Of course if it’s the wrong game, then the balance of my comment is irrelevant and it’s just a funny anecdote about how how players/coaches/spectators (and especially coaches, I’m a coach myself as well) can get ideas into their head as to what happens in a game, often which actually bear no relation to actual events.
For clarification’s sake – the first green was given to a player who had her hand on a player from behind, and was given a green and told “do that again and you’re off”. How the push was seen as a “shocking hack tackle” is beyond me!
There were subsequently a few FRONT ON tackles by the same player attempting to play the ball which missed and only hit stick. A few meaning perhaps 3 or 4 standard tackles which missed the ball, not 9 (which I presume was the highest figure available for credibility purposes). Nothing overly malicious, nothing from behind, nothing deserving more than a loudish whistle. Last time I checked, if a defender tackles front on, trys to play the ball and misses it, it’s commonly referred to as a free hit. Not a cardable offence. Certainly not yellow cardable especially when it had nothing to do with the initial green card.
The same player then made a similar tackle from the side and received a verbal warning from me of “do that again and you’re off”. I then did explain to the bench that it wasn’t what the first GC was for, hence there was no YC issued.
The same player then got a YC from the other umpire. Not for “belting a player from behind”. It was actually very soft as a standalone incident – she again put her hand on a player from behind, with minimal force. But she had been warned, so a YC was automatic.
There is no doubt that many coaches at SL1 level have a heap of experience and can offer invaluable constructive and critical feedback to SL1 umpires. The problem of course is comments from players/coaches/spectators who:
(a) need to (re)read a rulebook;
(b) need to (re)read FIH/HA/HV directives as to how to interpret what is written in the rulebook;
(c) feel it is easier to turn on umpires for one or two decisions which they disagree with as an explanatory factor for a result, rather than the other 69 and a half minutes of gametime; and
(d) only encourage players by their actions to unnecessarily arc up during games.
I’m not a perfect umpire. Far from it in fact. But I’d obviously like to be as good as I possibly can, because the players are owed at least that much. I’m personally happy for players to ask (with some common courtesy) why a free hit was given . But once the answer is given, if they want to go a step further and criticise, I’ll blow 10 yards.
I’m also happy to chat to coaches/players after every game, about any decision. Can’t guarantee I’ll remember it, but as Dr Dre said, sometimes you have to agree to disagree. It’s all part of game management.
Personally, I’d like to think that most of my games this year have been well controlled and the players/coaches/spectators haven’t had too much to be fussed about. But it’s important to ensure that constructive criticism is precisely that – constructive – and not just accusations or excuses for a team’s own performance.
Anyhow, there are 4 weeks left and it promises to be a smashing end to the season, at the pointy ends of both SL1/PA and WSL1/WPA. Let’s just all get out there, do the best we possibly can as players/coaches/umpires and enjoy it!
August 7th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
haha umpire bashing? I bet half of you here are umpires.. And get offended about this stuff. Get over it.. Some don’t even know the rules properly.
Some people take this way to seriously.
Hehe :)