Poll
Question:
Read the thread title
Option 1: Basketball
votes: 9
Option 2: Baseball
votes: 4
Option 3: Yankball
votes: 2
Option 4: Fodbol
votes: 11
Option 5: Hockey
votes: 5
I'm inclined towards basketball. Game is quick, the line between a charge and a block is so thin, there's continuous incidental contact and continuous wrestling in the low post and on rebounds.
Football, so many rules, it's crazy.
hockey. just thinking about goal disputes, even in the age of instant replay, is enough reason alone.
I'm going to go with baseball.
There are lots of tough calls in football, and a lesser extent hockey, but this is the age of video replay. That has to take a lot of the pressure off.
But trying to judge the strike zone on a 90mph fastball? And with no video review to speak of? Man thats tough.
Quote from: saskganesh on March 24, 2009, 06:53:52 PM
hockey. just thinking about goal disputes, even in the age of instant replay, is enough reason alone.
Really? It seems to me that anything even a little bit controversial is decided out of Toronto anyways.
Quote from: Neil on March 24, 2009, 07:01:44 PM
Quote from: saskganesh on March 24, 2009, 06:53:52 PM
hockey. just thinking about goal disputes, even in the age of instant replay, is enough reason alone.
Really? It seems to me that anything even a little bit controversial is decided out of Toronto anyways.
yes. but as a ref, you make the first on the spot decision, there's an appeal, the tape goes to review, HNIC replays it by every angle to an audience of 2 million, and then the decision is overturned. the ref loses the room, the ice and the country. his career stalls, manure is dumped on his lawn, a horse head is found in his bed and eventually he retires for family reasons.
Baseball. There are so many close calls in the strike zone and at the bags, and the umpires just have to eyeball them.
I'm going to have say baseball, with the ball moving that fast, just calling balls and strikes must be hard.
I've done both basketball and football, and basketball is a lot harder.
And I do basketball with someone who is a minor league baseball ump, and he says basketball is harder.
Balls and strikes are not really that hard.
There is a saying among basketball officials:
Baseball is a game invented for the players.
Football is a game inventred for the coaches.
Basketball is a game invented for the officials.
No other team sport where the officials have such an intimate influence (for better or worse) on how each game is played. And no other game where the line between legal and illegal play is razor thin, often subjective, and constantly challenged.
Soccer. Ok, a bad referee call in, say, bastetball may cost a team 2, 3, 4 points. That is not that big of a deal in a game where teams frequently score 60-100 points.
One bad call in soccer may cost one goal. Most soccer matches are decided by one or two goals. One decision and it makes or breaks a team for an entire season.
Quote from: Monoriu on March 24, 2009, 09:08:44 PM
Soccer. Ok, a bad referee call in, say, bastetball may cost a team 2, 3, 4 points. That is not that big of a deal in a game where teams frequently score 60-100 points.
One bad call in soccer may cost one goal. Most soccer matches are decided by one or two goals. One decision and it makes or breaks a team for an entire season.
Yeah, but calls in soccer are easy. Every time somebody falls over, you randomly decide which team gets a free kick, since every takedown in soccer includes both a foul and a dive.
American football would have to be physically the toughest, I'd think. I realize that's not exactly what the question was really getting at.
Quote from: Neil on March 24, 2009, 09:24:17 PM
since every takedown in soccer includes both a foul and a dive.
That's the beauty of the sport. ^_^
Quote from: Monoriu on March 24, 2009, 09:08:44 PM
One bad call in soccer may cost one goal. Most soccer matches are decided by one or two goals. One decision and it makes or breaks a team for an entire season.
Over here players usually say, "Referees' misjudgments will cancel each other out over the season." :lol:
They often have to decide within seconds - offsides or no? Did the guy go for the ball or the opponent's shin? Across the line or not? Who touched the ball last before it went out. And all of that without instant replay - it's brought up again and again, but general consensus is that they rather live with human error than take long time outs. If there's a huge fuck up it may lead to the ref being reprimanded, or post-match suspension of players or repeat matches.
Soccer. The field is much bigger, and with just one kick the ball can travel from one corner to the opposite one. Refereeing a soccer match is extremely demanding, quite more than playing it, and referees have to be true athletes.
The pace of hockey and basketball would make me wary of refereeing.
But that's just no lungs talking.
Football.
As the old saying goes rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen, football is a game for gentlemen played by thugs.
So much flack gets thrown around and the media spotlight is very bright. Also since one or two goals make a big difference any wrong decisions really make a much bigger difference than in other games.
Real football. Death threats from fans. Especially if you're German and seem to be favouring England's opposition.
From now on, I think it would be best that the Euros when referring to soccer, either use Soccer or the official name of Association Football.
:bowler:
I have another good friend who is a soccer official, and he says it really isn't all that hard to officiate compared to baseball.
Pretty simple rules, pretty straightforward implementation, and generally it isn't that hard to tell what is going on.
You guys are confusing the impact of the game at the highest levels with how hard it is to officiate the rules and players. You aren't really evaluating the difficulty of officiating as much as your are talking about your opinion about how important your favorite sport is compared to others.
The consequences of a mistake are not relevant to how hard it is to officiate the game, unless you suck as an official so bad you are spending your brain cycles worrying about how a call will look.
As a fan I can usually make the calls myself if I am watching it on TV for most sports (OMG! Offsides! Hey that was a strike! Um...holding that one is coming back...) but with Basketball I can only very rarely spot the fouls or predict what the call is going to be. If it is that hard to see the calls as a fan at a distance I can only imagine what a nightmare officiating on the floor can be.
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 25, 2009, 06:49:17 AM
From now on, I think it would be best that the Euros when referring to soccer, either use Soccer or the official name of Association Football.
:bowler:
No. We invented it so we can call it what we like. Stop calling a game where you hardly use your feet football, foo'.
Quote from: Brazen on March 25, 2009, 08:35:24 AM
No. We invented it so we can call it what we like. Stop calling a game where you hardly use your feet football, foo'.
Right you showed us the game and said it was called soccer. Then later on we discovered you decided to call it football instead. Limey bastards.
Quote from: Valmy on March 25, 2009, 08:41:51 AM
Quote from: Brazen on March 25, 2009, 08:35:24 AM
No. We invented it so we can call it what we like. Stop calling a game where you hardly use your feet football, foo'.
Right you showed us the game and said it was called soccer. Then later on we discovered you decided to call it football instead. Limey bastards.
Perfidious Albion. :(
Yi is owed one (1) kick in the nuts for using the term "yankball".
Quote from: Valmy on March 25, 2009, 08:32:00 AM
As a fan I can usually make the calls myself if I am watching it on TV for most sports (OMG! Offsides! Hey that was a strike! Um...holding that one is coming back...) but with Basketball I can only very rarely spot the fouls or predict what the call is going to be. If it is that hard to see the calls as a fan at a distance I can only imagine what a nightmare officiating on the floor can be.
On tv you have a much better overview of the whole field, though, while the ref and his assistants on the pitch might have their view obstructed by other players, seeing it from a "bad" angle etc. I assume it's easier in basketball with a smaller court and fewer players.
I have avoided this thread for some time, but seeing so many responses, I thought that, surely, this must be some pun in the thread title and the thread is actually about something else than it says (and something interesting).
I was wrong. :(
Quote from: Martinus on March 25, 2009, 09:21:02 AM
I have avoided this thread for some time, but seeing so many responses, I thought that, surely, this must be some pun in the thread title and the thread is actually about something else than it says (and something interesting).
I was wrong. :(
Sports are more compelling than gayness Mart. Sorry.
Quote from: Syt on March 25, 2009, 09:17:22 AM
Quote from: Valmy on March 25, 2009, 08:32:00 AM
As a fan I can usually make the calls myself if I am watching it on TV for most sports (OMG! Offsides! Hey that was a strike! Um...holding that one is coming back...) but with Basketball I can only very rarely spot the fouls or predict what the call is going to be. If it is that hard to see the calls as a fan at a distance I can only imagine what a nightmare officiating on the floor can be.
On tv you have a much better overview of the whole field, though, while the ref and his assistants on the pitch might have their view obstructed by other players, seeing it from a "bad" angle etc. I assume it's easier in basketball with a smaller court and fewer players.
No, it is a hell of a lot harder with a MUCH smaller court, and a MUCH more congested area, and a lot more "space" where play occurs within that area (plenty of action from the feet to the torso and vertically into the space above the playing surface, and you have to see it all. At the same time)
Getting the right angle is often very hard, and the contact is often very subtle - a bump on a shooters elbow, a quick reach in on a dribbler, the slight hand check as the ball handler drives to the basket...did the offensive player in the trap in the corner with three defenders around him shuffle his pivot foot while the 6 arms try to slap the ball away without hitting his arms?
Soccer is easy, as far as I can tell, compared to either football or basketball.
baseball is an easy sport to officiate...until something weird happens. The rules for crap like passed balls, or balls that hit runners, or the hudnred other bizarre things that can happen are difficult.
Football has very complex rules, that can be tough to sort out as well. Penalties on scrimmage kicks, how penalties are done when there are turnovers, things like that are very hard to get right. But the game itself, mostly, is pretty straightforward to officiate.
Basketball has pretty simple rules, comparatively, that are extremely challenging to administer, and require a lot of judgment and subjectivity.
Quote from: Brazen on March 25, 2009, 08:35:24 AMNo. We invented it so we can call it what we like. Stop calling a game where you hardly use your feet football, foo'.
+1
Kevin
Quote from: Eochaid on March 25, 2009, 09:30:44 AM
+1
Kevin
We had two types of football: Rugby football and Association Football. The former got to be called 'Football' and the latter got to be called 'soccer'.
Again it is the Brits fault for calling it 'Rugby Football' and we turned into our own version. So you have nobody to blame but yourselves for our naming conventions. They all come from Blighty.
Quote from: Valmy on March 25, 2009, 09:37:02 AMWe had two types of football: Rugby football and Association Football. The former got to be called 'Football' and the latter got to be called 'soccer'.
Again it is the Brits fault for calling it 'Rugby Football' and we turned into our own version. So you have nobody to blame but yourselves for our naming conventions. They all come from Blighty.
How come every other nation on Earth got it right then :D
Kevin
I agreed with the Admiral's opening statement about basketball so didn't bother to read any other replies. Basketball it is.
Going with Basketball. I could play the sport but I made a terrible ref. After trying to ref a couple games my appreciation for the guys that consistently made the right call really increased.
Quote from: Brazen on March 25, 2009, 08:35:24 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 25, 2009, 06:49:17 AM
From now on, I think it would be best that the Euros when referring to soccer, either use Soccer or the official name of Association Football.
:bowler:
No. We invented it so we can call it what we like. Stop calling a game where you hardly use your feet football, foo'.
The people who called football soccer also called rugby rugger. Why didn't you pick up the latter silly slang too? Be consistant.
Quote from: Eochaid on March 25, 2009, 09:38:44 AM
[ How come every other nation on Earth got it right then :D
Kevin
Because we are North Americans.
Thank Hod the new board left justifies the poll results.
Follow up question: which refs are the coolest?
Hockey: dorkey little helmets.
Fodbol: dorkey little shorts, dorkey little flash cards.
Yankball: some of the motions for indicating penalties look pretty dorkey.
Basketball: nothing really dorkey, but nothing terribly cool either. I guess I kind of like the charge call.
Baseball has the coolest refs. Uniforms are dignified, all the motions and positions for making calls (strike, out, safe) make for impressive visual scenes, the strike out call is completely badass.
QuoteYankball
2 kicks to the nuts now.
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 25, 2009, 02:56:40 PM
2 kicks to the nuts now.
Brave words from the tough guy hiding behind the Vagina Wall of Solitude. :rolleyes:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 25, 2009, 03:00:39 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 25, 2009, 02:56:40 PM
2 kicks to the nuts now.
Brave words from the tough guy hiding behind the Vagina Wall of Solitude. :rolleyes:
When the technology to reach through the internet is perfected, You and Cal better wear a cup.
And I don't own the Vagina wall any more.
I can't do a comparison, but the problem with officiating in soccer and what makes it so hard is that it's hard to be in the right place at the right time. How do you determine who made contact upon whom when you're running full belt to keep up with a counter-attack and are at a crappy angle to see anything? You've got two sets of problems - everyone clustered together in a crowd for a set piece, and then everyone spread out over a large area that you can't see all at once in normal play. The rules are pretty simple at least, except for offside, which changes at FIFA's behest every twenty minutes, and tackling, which no referee seems to have the same standards for judging.
And what do you do when you're officiating Croatia vs. Australia at the World Cup in a must win game and the Croatian defender who keeps fouling has a thick Australian accent?
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 25, 2009, 03:03:20 PM
And I don't own the Vagina wall any more.
:cry: Where will the moths of begging go now?
Quote from: frunk on March 25, 2009, 03:57:25 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 25, 2009, 03:03:20 PM
And I don't own the Vagina wall any more.
:cry: Where will the moths of begging go now?
The bug zapper.
Toss up between basketball and soccer. I chose soccer because it's my personal favorite and I've officiated it before.
Also nothing is more cooler in officiating than running up to a player and yanking out the red card right into his face for everyone to see.
Basketball and hockey look complicated mainly because of the speed they are played at. Football and baseball look easy. That's from the outside, no idea how hard it really is. Soccer has an offside rule that is rather complicated for the referee, but the rest is straightforward. However, as Mono said, a single mistake might make more of a difference than in say basketball or baseball. I guess it might be the most physically demanding though as the referee has to run something like 12-15 km within the 90 minutes. I'd say refereeing soccer is demanding, but not as demanding as hockey or basketball may be.
Offside rule is not Complicated.
However, rather than sports fans competing for the toughest refereeing job. I'd rather suggest that the toughest refereeing job is the game that leaves most to the referees hand, and consequently the game where there is most referee bribing compared to player bribing.
Quote from: Viking on March 25, 2009, 04:51:39 PM
Offside rule is not Complicated.
Correct, but for some people it is. Once some idiot called me offsides
on my own side of the field when I was making a break for the other goal.
Quote from: Viking on March 25, 2009, 04:51:39 PM
Offside rule is not Complicated.
However, rather than sports fans competing for the toughest refereeing job. I'd rather suggest that the toughest refereeing job is the game that leaves most to the referees hand, and consequently the game where there is most referee bribing compared to player bribing.
It's not complicated in theory, but in practice it's often difficult to judge.
An important facet of football reffereeing are red cards. In footie a sent off player is not replaced by another one, thus rendering its team substantially weakened, so a capricious ref may very well cripple one of the teams if he's sloppy with his card handling.
Quote from: FunkMonk on March 25, 2009, 04:10:53 PM
Also nothing is more cooler in officiating than running up to a player and yanking out the red card right into his face for everyone to see.
Dork.
(More cooler?)
Quote from: Brazen on March 25, 2009, 08:35:24 AM
No. We invented it so we can call it what we like. Stop calling a game where you hardly use your feet football, foo'.
Actually, you didn't. Modern (US-style) football came out at about the sme time as (Euro-style)football, and both came from the antecedent of what is now called Rugby, but which used to just be "football" (which was to say, the game played by foorsoldiers as opposed to cavalry).
So, you appeal to antiqueness and originality fails. Sorry. :(
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 25, 2009, 06:15:02 PM
Quote from: FunkMonk on March 25, 2009, 04:10:53 PM
Also nothing is more cooler in officiating than running up to a player and yanking out the red card right into his face for everyone to see.
Dork.
(More cooler?)
Got me :bowler:
I said basketball because it is the sport I see most dominated, in terms of player decisions and coaching decisions, by how they think the refs are calling the game. If they think the refs are calling a loose game, they push the envelope.
Hockey is something like that, but I don't know enough about the game to really tell.
Quote from: grumbler on March 25, 2009, 07:01:14 PM
I said basketball because it is the sport I see most dominated, in terms of player decisions and coaching decisions, by how they think the refs are calling the game. If they think the refs are calling a loose game, they push the envelope.
Hockey is something like that, but I don't know enough about the game to really tell.
Bang on.
Hockey players also play to where they think the refs threshold lies but in hockey that is more situation dependent then in basketball. For example in the 3rd period or overtime of a hockey game the offense has to be really obvious for a penalty to be called. As a result the game becomes a lot more chippy and during those times as compared to the opening periods when penalties are more likely to be called.
In basketball refs are more likely to call the game consistently throughout. The secret is determining what they will be calling and what they will let go.
Edit: in my experience the best refs always gave me a warning that they didnt like something I was doing (holding my harm on the back of the offensive player etc.) before they called the foul so that they clearly communicated their expectations before giving out fouls.
Refereeing the javelin. Jeez, did you ever see the video of that guy getting hit?
Quote from: Viking on March 25, 2009, 04:51:39 PM
Offside rule is not Complicated.
However, rather than sports fans competing for the toughest refereeing job. I'd rather suggest that the toughest refereeing job is the game that leaves most to the referees hand, and consequently the game where there is most referee bribing compared to player bribing.
Hm, I'd say rugby is a game that can really turn on the referee's own application of the laws.
Quote from: Warspite on March 26, 2009, 10:45:43 AM
Hm, I'd say rugby is a game that can really turn on the referee's own application of the laws.
I suppose calling a foul forcing a chance to kick for points but in the flow of the game the ref doesnt have that much influence does he?
Baseball. Staying awake is practically impossible.
Quote from: The Brain on March 26, 2009, 02:34:13 PM
Baseball. Staying awake is practically impossible.
:ultra:
Commie!
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 25, 2009, 02:55:48 PM
Thank Hod the new board left justifies the poll results.
Follow up question: which refs are the coolest?
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsimg.bbc.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F42004000%2Fjpg%2F_42004550_bowd2033.jpg&hash=8a713ae145dabd89872072d97800bfcd700b00e0)
:cool: :unsure: