The Devil's Advocate

[sir_eldren]

heh heh heh!

I've always enjoyed this particular topic of conversation. I remember officiating the Division 2 championship game last Spring in ice hockey and having the losing team's goalie come up to me after the game and complain about the game being about the players, not the officials. Apparently I had cost them the game!

You see, I made the mistake of witnessing, on two instances, penalties being committed by the would-be losing team. So, as my job requires me to do, I put them in the penalty box. It was horrible: the opposing team scored on both power plays, giving them a 4 to 2 lead.

So after the game the goaltender is getting in my face about my penalty calls. I simply told him that I wouldn't have called anything if his team hadn't have done anything. He started following me to my locker room, so my partner cut him off. I heard him tell the guy that we didn't cause them to lose, his anability to stop the puck cost them the game. The goalie drooped his head and walked away.

A couple of weeks ago I had the great displeasure of officiating that team again. My partner and I called 3 penalties each during the game: all on that team. They lost by one goal. But the worst part was listening to all of their chirping. Not a thing has changed amongst them. LOL! But their goalie kept his mouth shut for once. ;o)