While every sports fan can agree that a team's performance and all-around talent is what wins a game, a referee can have a colossal impact on the outcome as well. A biased referee can tip the scales significantly in favor of one team or another.
One example of such a game is the University of Richmond Spiders versus the Hampton University Pirates football game last Saturday. The referees were making calls that each team considered unfair. Throughout the first half, the Spiders suffered the consequences of such calls. Many mistakes were made, including a missed call of an illegal tackle that resulted in the injury of Tafon Mainsah, a defensive back for the Spiders. In the final minutes of the game, a call was made for unsportsmanlike conduct against a Hampton player that coach Connell Maynor said lost the game for the Pirates. The officials of the game are being disciplined because they "did not consistently maintain game control and lacked the appropriate judgement [sic] on several calls,” according to a release from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
After the Penn State versus Maryland basketball game last February, Penn State coach Pat Chambers had a lot to say about their loss. He was outraged about a foul that was called against one of his players, and has theorized that the referees tend to be biased in favor of a more elite or established team -- a winning team. In a close game, a referee is more likely to make calls that result in the "winning team's" win.
Football and basketball aren't the only sports that have this problem. Most sports are overseen by some kind of official to ensure that all team members adhere to the rules of the game. If the officials are biased, however, is the outcome truly a measure of the talent of each team, or is it a false result? It is important in sports to have someone who is keeping the game fair? And if the official who is responsible for that job isn't doing it well, then who will?
