from Paul Stewart at the Huffington Post,
As with all referees and officiating supervisors who have ever worked in this game, I have grown all-too-familiar over the years with the following scenario: A controversial call goes against Team A. Perhaps it was the right call, perhaps not. Shortly thereafter, there is another disputed call. This one goes in favor of Team A. Maybe it was the right call, maybe it wasn't.
Either which way, there is a Pavlovian response from Team B: "Make-up call!"
I'm not going to deny that some officials feel compelled at times to try to "even things out." However, it does not happen nearly as often or as automatically as many people seem to think.
There are a lot of things that happen on the ice that people in the stands and watching on television are not privy to see or hear. For instance, there were many times in my career where I'd cut a player a break on a borderline penalty with a warning that the next time he did it, he was going to sit. If he ignored the warning, I was true to my word. He sat.
Create an Account
In order to leave a comment, please create an account.