Game Management Thought

[jTheUmp]

I've met a few NFL officials at some of the clinics/meetings that I've attended. At one point, one of them went over the grading process they go through for every play of every game.

I don't remember all the details, but I do remember that, in order to be 'playoff qualifed' (which doesn't mean quite what you think... if you miss the cut for being playoff qualified 3 times, you get let go), the Umpire (who has the most margin for error of all the officials, due to the fact that he has the most players to watch on any given play), has to be correct 98.75% of the time. Deep officials (FJ, SJ, BJ) have to be correct 99.5% of the time.

I'm sure the NBA, NHL, MLB, FIFA, etc all have similar grading systems in place.

The takeaway: if you think a pro-level official got the call wrong... he/she almost certainly didn't.