Ugh!

[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by ajs8207

Maybe I was misinterpreting it. I was always interpreting it as lets let them play unless something crazy happens, and get out of here as quickly as we can. I guess I shouldn't interpret it that way?

Perhaps there are officials that interpret "call the obvious" as you have stated. But that's not what most us mean when we state it. As you call more games, you will see that there are calls made based on "circumstantial evidence", or what the official "thinks" happened. Those are not obvious calls, and those are the ones that get officials in trouble.

There seems to be a natural progression in officials as they gain more experience. Early, officials may be afraid to blow the whistle. Then they learn to blow the whistle all the time, even for things they think they see, or things that simply look funny. Many of these calls are made because the official is not in the proper spot to see the play. After a while, as they get better, they learn to distinguish what actually is a foul or violation from things that look bad. Those are the obvious calls. Then the really good officials learn about positioning, so they can be in position to see more of the obvious calls.