Bad Officiating Essay

Over my lifetime I’ve officiated a few sports in basketball, flag football, and judging track and field. In the future I don’t really plan on expanding my officiating resume. I’ve officiated basketball more times than any other sport so that is the one where I have my most experience and a brighter future in. When I officiate basketball games one issue I notice with not just myself but with other officiating crews is that its not always officiated fairly. This is a big issue in all of sports because if some of the officials aren’t calling the game fairly then the outcome of the game can be drastically changed. Most officials don’t go into a sporting event planning to help one of the teams out more than the other team. Often times what I think happens is one of the players, coaches, or even a fan of one team in particular rubs the official the wrong way and I think that is what leads to some bad officiating sometimes.
For the official to do better and to help himself out he or she needs to consciously think to themselves to have a short memory. Officials are the ones that are supposed to be keeping their tempers in check, by having a short memory this will help them do so. Another way officials can be made to do better is have someone pay attention to their calls and if they miss a lot of calls they will lose their credibility which in turn leads to officiating fewer games. Another issue I’ve noticed when officiating basketball games is that sometimes it can be hard to keep control of the game. More than likely during any sporting event tempers flair and yell at the official or a player for example. If the game is getting out of hand because of a player, coach, or fan’s actions the official cannot be afraid to draw a line and eject the player or coach or throw a fan out of the venue. By kicking someone who is out of control out of the game will help keep the game safer and more fun to play as well as