Well, having officiated basketball, baseball, and football before (albeit at non collegiate or professional levels), I don't agree that bitching at football refs makes as much of a difference as it does in other sports.
Well, sounds like you were a shitty ref that got bitched at a lot and you hold a grudge. I too did some reffing and while I didn't want to hear what coaches had to say most of the time, it does make you more aware.
Absolutely it makes you more aware. It also could mean the difference between calling a borderline call one way or the other.
I don't know why it would sound like that.
You are too biased on this subject to realize you are mocking your own idiotic criticisms.
It is actually kind of an interesting argument. Is it effective to argue with refs? Or to yell at them? Or to get in their ear? Part of me says that maybe you end up just pissing the ref off and you get no calls the rest of the way. Of course if done tactfully maybe the ref realizes his mistake and gives you a makeup call. There is no question that NFL games are rarely officiated equally and fairly and it certainly seems like certain teams get the benefit of the doubt more often then other teams. The Steelers are a team that comes to mind that seems to always get calls in their favor. This year I think the Bronco's are kind of being treated as the darling by all officials.
Eh, I imagine it all evens out. Some refs tune it out altogether, those that listen probably split 50/50 on whether it makes them more or less likely to make a call in favor of the whiner. In the Super Bowl where it seemed all the calls went in favor of the Steelers, it was Mike Holmgren on the other sideline, and it wasn't like he was just standing there letting it happen. Garrett certainly talks to them, but I don't know that there are any coaches that consistently obtain an advantage with the refs through their sideline tirades.
And I don't feel I'm a Garrett apologist and I criticize him when I feel it is warranted, in fact I've criticized about several things, including saying he had to shorten up his passing routes last season (that was clearly wrong), saying he needed better time management, etc.
Well that's because every little issue becomes another way to say how much he sucks, it's people projecting their biases and looking for ways that he must be deficient. Nine times out of ten you jump in with what everyone else is saying, just like nine times out of ten I disagree with the criticism.
It's definitely you as much as it is me. You're not fooling anyone with the "I give Garrett credit when he deserves" -- please, if your bias isn't proven by that line sounding exactly like me when I say I criticize Garrett, then nothing will.
