Referees in every professional sport have made game-changing mistakes which can sometimes determine the winner and loser.
Most recently, 49ers fans claimed that the referees missed a crucial holding call on Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith during Superbowl XLVII.
If the penalty was called, it would have resulted in an automatic first down which would have given the 49ers a chance to win the game.
At this point, many were  blaming the referees, shouting “How could they? They should be penalized for this.”
It is an understandable sentiment shared by many passionate sports fans when they feel the referees could have called a penalty but fail to.
During the men’s basketball gold medal match between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summer Olympics, the officiating crew’s inability to control the floor led to the final seconds of the game being replayed twice.
After discussions among the officials, they decided to put three seconds back on the shot clock, negate the Soviet coach’s request for a timeout and wipe out the entire play all together.
This led to a second do-over much to the dismay of the American players, who believed they had already won the game.
Eventually, the USSR won
the gold medal.
With that said, officiating crews must be held accountable for the calls and decisions they make on the floor given the magnitude of their impact on a game.
The most recent NFL referee lockout prompted discussions on
referee accountability.
Following the controversial Green Bay Packers loss against the Seattle Seahawks on a missed pass-interference call that resulted in a winning touchdown for the Seahawks, attention was brought to the quality
of officiating.
During the lockout, the NFL recently proposed a “referee-benching” system of sorts in which underperforming referees could be replaced.
Unsurprisingly, the referees were not big fans of the proposal since they get paid on a
game-by-game basis.
According to CBS Sports, The average NFL referee makes well over $140,000 a year in addition to  benefits.
But fans must also keep in mind sports regulations can be ambiguous at times and are quite subjective in nature.
Take basketball’s notorious block/charge call for example.
According to the NBA, an offensive foul should be called “if an offensive player causes contact with a defensive player who has established
a legal position.”
The rules also state, “the defender must get into position and allow enough distance for the offensive player to stop and/or change direction.”
Futhermore, “legal position” is not clearly defined and “enough distance” is entirely up for personal interpretation.
We simply can’t expect referees to make the right call every single time within 0.2 seconds.
Bottom line, the referees’ purpose is to ensure the games run smoothly and safely.
As long as they are consistent with their calls, make logical decisions and do not play favorites, I’m fine with a few missed fouls here and there.