NOTES FROM THE CENTERLINE

++ NOBODY LIKES A REFEREE. There is one call that a referee can make in any sport to make everyone happy. No matter what is called, someone is going to complain and whoever gets the foul called on them is going to second guess you, pretty much without fail. It takes a much more patience and focus than most jobs, because everyone is watching and everyone is going to catch all of the referee's mistakes. The second the referee loses focus and zones out is the (only) time when something is going to happen and they're going to miss it. Once a call is missed, it's all downhill from there. There is a fine line between calling fouls and stopping the game every five seconds and letting the game play. Too many whistles and the game lacks continuity, too few whistles and the game gets rough and people start to get injured. Being fair and calling a fair game shouldn't be an issue. Overaggressive teams make for hard games to referee, because they'll always get the fouls called on them and never think it's a foul. So when every whistle goes against them, they start to complain that it's not fair. It's probably one of the most thankless jobs I've ever worked. ++